| Deflation: Where to From Here |
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| Written by Moloneys Cojones |
| Thursday, 01 July 2010 19:55 |
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Are prices in freefall, or can something be done?
As I said in the previous article, this is not a gripe. Fuck, I wouldn’t still be at this game 3 years after I started if I thought it was shit. Far from it, this is an excellent game, but the economy issue needs to be acknowledged and then addressed. I know for example, that TM gets more impressions per day now than it ever has and that pro numbers have jumped and that is all good. However, I see that as being an expected result when you have a larger core of managers who have been at the game for upwards of a year each. New managers don’t login half as much as older players. So we had a fairly lively forum discussion and while it appears that most managers recognise that prices are falling, plenty of us see the bright side to deflation. It does make it easier and possibly less discouraging for new managers while rampant inflation is just unworkable. However because of the way the economy works, when we have increasing numbers of new managers, that’s when we get inflation. Wouldn’t it be brilliant if there was a way to somehow stabilise the economy and encode that into the game?  A sizeable market, but not all future TMers Ultimately the economy is dependent on the number of new managers joining. It would be naïve to expect that it could do this indefinitely. Although there are 6 billion people in the world, the market for online football management simulations is considerably smaller. Sooner or later the TM economy will need to be rationalised if it is to function with a manager number that has stabilised. However back to the problem at hand and a quick summary of the causes of deflation:
The first and seemingly most obvious solution for this current deflation is to bring in more managers. It appears that the Devs are aware of this and that the Facebook application could go a long way in providing the new blood for the game. But will they bring inflation back with them? It was brought to my attention that the transfer tax was instituted as a mechanism to control money supply in the game and that the Devs had the facility for gauging and even monitoring how much money is in the economy. I was under the impression that the transfer tax was to impede day trading. If it is a control mechanism, then it is great news. Once prices are at what is felt are realistic levels (whether up or down), then perhaps the TM economy should be assessed at the start of each season and the transfer tax adjusted to reflect how inflated the economy is. Maybe the ban on ‘transfer spam’ advertising threads should also be looked at, particularly as non-pros cannot search by player skills with the new transfer-list. This limitation for non-pros in transfer searches should be re-considered. It gives an in-game advantage to pros and left the way it is could result in higher rates of inactivity. In terms of the new ME, it would be ridiculous to change this again. Leave as is. There have been a couple of suggestions from fellow managers to control deflation, namely reducing facility or salary costs or increasing the methods to make money in the game. Although these may alleviate some of the current stresses for managers at a certain level in the game – those who are relying heavily on youth development and training to better their squads – they could contribute to higher rates of inflation if large numbers of new managers join again. These strategies would also strongly favour teams at the peak of TM, who would have even more disposable cash. Introducing ‘new money’ to solve the current price drop in an arbitrary fashion, could be like dousing the fire with petrol.  Petrol on a barbie - we've all been there Any tinkering with costs or expenses need to be linked to an accurate appraisal of how much money is in the game. I’m not a Hattrick expert by any means, but my understanding is that deflation and how it was handled wrecked the game over there. In short I am not bothered by inflation or deflation as such as long as I am assured that the TM economy is being monitored and we have a mechanism to control it if needs be. Because at some point the game will peak in terms of manager numbers and without a rational method of auditing the economy and adjusting it if necessary, then we could go the way of Hattrick. And on many levels, I do not think any of us want that. So is TM HQ able to accurately ascertain how much disposable income is in the TM economy and can/ is this done on a regular basis? That’s the $64,000,000 question I guess (or indeed $43,000,000 at today’s prices)! Next week, I’ll go through some tips on how to cope with the TM 'Recession', feel free to post your suggestions here. |
| Last Updated ( Saturday, 10 July 2010 12:19 ) |
