Star Wars: The Old Republic’s Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert has been speaking about the Companion Character mission system and the possibility of using your CC Crew Skills for farm and fortune.
Vette, go farm me 500 of these glowy neck brooches, m'kay?
A forum poster asked if he was logged-in and playing his Jedi Knight could he have, say, his Smuggler’s companions out collecting resources simultaneously. Schubert answered “Yes.”
In response to another poster’s worries about players making numerous alts and sending their companions out farming goods – possibly destroying the in-game economy – Schubert had this to say:
“There are some preconceptions about the missions system, such as that it’s an infinite money machine. Quite the opposite: it costs money to send your CC out looking for stuff, typically more than you can sell the returns for to a vendor. You can hit the jackpot, but this is because you find items that are of high utility to yourself or other players. For example, you might find rare crafting materials to make ubergear. The value in these items is what you sell them to other players for.
This is a delicate balance, of course, but a player who tries to farm non-stop is going to have a pretty severe cash flow problem, and basic economics says that if too many people are flooding the market with too many of the same goods, it’s going to be difficult for you to get a price for the goods more than the cost to acquire it. Supply and demand, y’know, which most of the time should self-correct.
Could you send every CC on every character out all the time? Sure, if you have infinite cash. It’s my team’s responsibility to be sure that doesn’t happen. =)”
So, go ahead and send your companions out farming all day long. Before you know it you’ll be broke as a joke and your moisture farm will now be a dirt farm.
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In before: Oh Teh Noes, Damion Schubert and his pals are planning to steal my MMO lunch money!
/Laughs, Runs!
I predict that in the future if you pay $1 you can send your alts out without spending any in game credits. ::PANIC::
lets hope not, there are enough gold farmers in WoW to last a life time.
Sounds like one of those mechanics they stated they had to keep high end crafting limited to those of us who are more obsessed with crafting than your average Joe!
Can’t wait to spend all my credits on farming crafting materials! =D
Seriously though, it sets my mind a bit more at ease that I may not have to roll 7 alts to stay competitive with my crafting.
heh I figure my crafting will be done as I get to the next 10th level, 10,20,30,40,50 that way I have some decent gear as I level up, crafting is not my drive but it is nice to have reliable gear.
I have to admit, I was already planning to fill a server with alts… so this puts my mind at ease as well, not having to farm like crazy to be competitive. I do very much enjoy the “auction house game” though, it’s a bit of a mini-game to me in WoW.
I don’t understand. How can farming cost more than you make? In other MMOs you can make lots of money gathering rather than crafting. Usually crafting is the money sink where it costs you more in mats than the item you make. What? Do you to pay the Empire a tax for the right to go gathering? Makes no sense.