One of the many things that we, as Snakehead Games Adminstrators, are required to manage is the economy. One of the many roles that keep our milliner busy as all get out is hard wearing of the Central Bankers bowler hat. Like other central bankers we aim for the goldilocks economy – not too hot and not too cold. Unlike RL Central Bankers, we are pretty good at both detecting and pricking bubbles of irrational exuberance before they ruin the games’ economies. It’s not popular with some but it’s required.
Hence as of April 9th, NOMs in www.starpirates.net and AWEs in SB 2165 (www.spybattle.com) were no longer findable on the hourly search. They will remain findable when searching again using points.
In addition, the sellback price of NOMs/AWEs to the game became half of the previous value:
New Sellback Price of AWEs/NOMs
Very Rare sellback for 25 points.
Rare+ sellback for 10 points.
Rare sellback for 5 points.
Uncommon+ NOMs sellback for $4,000 and will no longer be sellable for points.
This was not a surprise to either community as over a week’s notice was given, allowing for ample time to sell existing stockpiles and search for new ones.
Why did SHG Make this Move?
Reducing the point creation may seem counter-intuitive however the points created are used for fuelling additional cargo-creating ventures. We have issued repeated warnings that NOMs are able to be found in overabundance to establish supply and this would be adjusted in future. Rather than restricting NOM findability across the board (which would make item upgrades extremely difficult, especially with Very Rare+ items) these two measure will instead be applied, allowing the upgrades to occur yet restoring the overall supply and conversion.
Will SHG be Making More Changes in the Near Future?
The short answer is no. All calculations we have run show that this is necessary to enable point inflation to progress no further while allowing items to remain at their established point conversions and should represent the end of the necessary economic adjustments and corrections.