Synergistic Splendors Await! (29/11/2010)Follow

This is probably buried too deep after a Rog sidetrack to be seen, however, I worry about the mis-information that people give as "fact" about crafting -

Why are people unable to consider that their way of doing crafting is unprofitable - but not all ways? Not to brag, but last week I probably made almost 100k per day from crafting. My time investment was small (I don't have much time to play these days).

There are enormous opportunities for crafting for a profit these days. The old style of power-leveling your craft to 100, selling to NPCs or undercutting the market is the real problem. You have people who leveled crafts and learned nothing about their market along the way (actually they hurt their market along the way).

If you just craft what the AH is out of - you make money. Plain and simple. I'm not against leveling my crafts - I have all of them over 50. But raising my crafting level is a side-benefit - my purpose is to feed, clothe, arm and equip myself. . . and make gil. If any one synth makes uber profits, it doesn't for long. Having 100+ in a craft helps, but being sensible about what you craft helps more.

Crafting may not be for everyone. But that there is no profit in it is a myth.

If I could change people's mind about one thing it is this - undercutting is counter-productive, even for the under-cutter. No businessperson in real life destroys their own market the way "smart" crafters do in this game.

I know I shouldn't get into an argument with Rog, he's going to make this one of his pyramid-conversation reply, counter-reply. . . but


This is untrue in more ways than I care to mention. If allowed, most businesses would manage competition through agreements with their competitors. That is why in the real world we have anti-competition, anti-collusion, anti-monopoly laws.

Undercutting the competition has the detrimental effect of reducing what consumers are willing to pay. If leads to further undercutting.

If you pay attention to the market of something like thief tools, you'll see a period where there is a reasonable profit, and then a power-leveler plows through, cutting the prices, dumping stuff at a loss, and creating a sales history that people seem to sheepishly follow long after the power-leveler has gone on to ruin a new synth. It can take weeks, months, for that item to recover a sensible sales price.

In the end, people who want to buy the product are hurt because most sensible crafters have moved on to make other stuff. Often the result is after the price hits bottom - you won't find anyone crafting that thing anymore. (Thief tools may not be the best example because you can buy them from an NPC, but you get the idea.)

Lady Jinte, I mostly agree with you -


However, my issue isn't that there is this vicious cycle, but rather that there are people who hold to religious-like beliefs when it comes to crafting (or economics in general). The "crafting is expensive" crowd, or the Mike's Justice bible of crafting that encourages power-leveling of crafting that emphasizes speed and obscene volumes of synths in the quest to 100 that has no relation to the market and is basically killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

One need only look at how almost all airlines are loosing money, and are at risk of folding or leaving a monopoly of a few - to see that this vicious cycle is hard to avoid. But its the fanboys who repeat slogans like "everybody undercuts" or "competition is good" that pulls me out of the woodwork.

My purpose in posting is simply to encourage people who are looking for ways to make gil in the game to consider crafting. Some people do it wrong and lose money. That is about them, not crafting. As someone who has crafted in the game for around 5 years, I can tell you the profitability is a bit cyclical. But it sure beats being a subsistence farmer and farming bee hive chips and silk thread for a living.

Gil that rolls in basically on it's own, with a very low amount of time investment that leaves you free to do other things while it adds up... I don't know, I can respect that.
It doesn't all have to be "big nums or no nums" in the game. People are saying you can't make a profit crafting, this person is getting basically free gil... I see nothing wrong there, no matter the amount.

On second thought, you guys are right. Crafting isn't for you. It is a bad idea. Don't bother. Crafting is a bad deal, no money there. Just leave it for the dumb noobs like me. You're just too smart for me.