49 replies to this topic

[Ultistic]

Hey guys,

 

Lately, we have started talking about the possibility of adding a tax on the Trading Post. The main reason we've considered this is to make sure that the economy on Alora stays as strong as it now, and we think that by adding this we can achieve that and benefit the great economy we already have even more. 

 

As you know, there is always new gold being created in Alora every second that wasn't there before. This can be from thieving, alching, monster drops, and so many more methods. The problem is, as time goes on and new players join, all of this gold accumulates. Without gold sinks (for example: Well of Goodwill) the economy will inflate pretty quickly without any sort of control. 

 

What does this mean for you? This means that the blowpipe that you used to be able to purchase for 40m now costs 70m.. But it hasn't gotten much easier for you to get that 70m through conventional methods. If you're thieving, that ~10k gp stall doesn't really change so inflation is only hurting your purchasing power.

 

 

 

With that being said, we're proposing a non-intrusive tax on the Trading post that most players probably won't even notice, and we'll discuss how this will work if it's added and get some feedback from the awesome community we have.

 

 

Pros

• Less money in the economy and more price stability
  • This also means that if you take a break from Alora and come back after a month, your money can still buy almost exactly what you were able to buy with it when you come back.
• Less GP = Less inflation (items won't increase in value as much)
  • Since we don't change the money that comes in through drops/thieving/alching, price stability is very important so that we can keep new players and make sure everyone doesn't have too much trouble affording necessities.

 

Cons

• Seller loses a % of GP from the item sold
  • Our plan was to impose the fees on the seller, so when they claim their GP a certain amount would be subtracted for fees.
• Trading post will be used less and basic trading methods will be more popular.
  • This may not even be a consequence, but we might see more people trading off of the TP. On one hand this promotes interaction between our community, but on the other hand it could mean less goods are available on the TP.

 

 

Example

Lowkey sells a pair of ranger boots for 15m to Omicron, (basing this off of a 2% tax) Lowkey would only be left with 14.7M (300k disappears from the game permanently).

 

 

Will give you guys some options to vote on, and I would love to hear some feedback and your thoughts on this being introduced into the game. Any other questions regarding this can either be asked down below or by sending me a message on forums.

 

 

Lowkey

Alora Administration Team

[Fat nerd]

ill just sit at home and yell selling items rather then use tp lol

[Postimees]

I personally think a better money sink could be introduced into the game, wouldn't wanna see a tax on the trading post myself. Lets see how the votes turn out.

[Omicron]

To add on to this, I personally think that a ~2% tax would be a great idea that you wouldn't really notice too much. In the long run, it'll do a great deal to keep Alora's economy healthy.

[Ny x]

Not a bad idea at all, I would actually opt for the highest tax. Even as a new player.

 

Exactly how the tax system works in WoW AH.

 

EDIT: May I just add that this content poll won't really represent much. As you're splitting the vote across those in favor and those against. It should read introduce a tax yes/no, then a separate poll for the amount.

[Imsuchaskill]

You selling ranger boots for 15m ?...

​I'm going to wait for that day !

​I would go for 2%, you will not notice the change.

[Jubes]

uhm no

[Alyonsa]

I hate taxes but 5% speaks to me.

[Kyroe]

  Coming from Elkoy I've dealt with their tax system. It worked as far as im concern however the tax would be on the buyers. My only concern with it being proposed on the seller is that every person/mercher is going to have to have a calculator out to see if their purchase is profitable. I mean it's okay, I just really preferred being able to see how much the tax was.

 

Edit: Another possibility is increasing the amount for the well, its on like all the time xD I love xp though xD

 

 Obviously noone likes spending extra money but your argument is valid, with people coming on every day, blowpipes will soon be 40m>30m in a couple months or less.

 - Kyroe  

[Omicron]

Not a bad idea at all, I would actually opt for the highest tax. Even as a new player.

 

Exactly how the tax system works in WoW AH.

 

EDIT: May I just add that this content poll won't really represent much. As you're splitting the vote across those in favor and those against. It should read introduce a tax yes/no, then a separate poll for the amount.

We're counting the votes on percentages as "yes" for any percentage. So we're essentially combining all of those options together to get the community's opinion. Right now, 21 people voted on yes to some sort of rate (combined) and 23 people voted no.

[Live to kill]

I think implementing other forms of money sinks into the game that come from osrs should be implemented first to combat the imcominggp into the game.
Examples:

 

Bonds turning untradeable after trading with a % fee to make them tradeable again.

 

Degrading armour and weapons, Barrows equipment, Crystal equipment, Abyssal tentcale, etc.

 

Nightmare zone has also taken a lot of gp out of osrs if that were ever to be implemented here, not that it would be neede for leveling but maybe for the rewards like snapegrass for ironman.

[Kef]

I like the idea of the tax on TP, but the only thing I would suggest is that the buyer pays the tax, not the seller.

[Polatrus]

I think the idea of keeping the economy where it is right now is a good idea but this Trading Post tax is not the approach we need to take. There are many other ways to take money out of the game. You could easily add more instanced boss rooms and make them cost more, i.e: Dagganoth Kings...

 

 

[Hate You]

I think that having a tax system could be beneficial, but as long as it's not over the top tax. 2% Sounds good.

[Kramnik]

As an economist I can tell you that taxation is not the solution for problem. What you should do is to cut money supply. First of all what you should do is to cut thieving. As central bank is the one which isues money and controls money supply by intrest rate so you could control the money supply by changing how much you receive by thieving. A small inflation is good, that means a healthy economy if there would not be any inflation it would get harder and harder to buy items from each other. But it is necessary to keep an eye for it for it won't get to high.

Back on thieving. I don't know the exact statistics but what I have seen I think thieving is the main instrument to introduce liquid money to economy. So by manipulating how much money stalls give you can control economy. And by lowering these values when necessary you could livin up the game. People would go to fish, woodcut, hunt, slay and craft etc. more instead of thieving for money. And trading post would be a great place a great place to sell it for other players as it wont be time consuming.

If you want more of my knowledge how real life economy tendencies could work in game contact me

[Ny x]

We're counting the votes on percentages as "yes" for any percentage. So we're essentially combining all of those options together to get the community's opinion. Right now, 21 people voted on yes to some sort of rate (combined) and 23 people voted no.

Unfortunately, if a taxation were to pass you then miss the vote for those that voted no against it at the start. To understand what their preference would be should it pass.

 

Potentially, leading to disgruntled players - just a thought.

[Scenery]

5% applied on both the buyers end and sellers. Its a nominal fee for the ease of access. Don't want to pay taxes? Dont use the trading post and sit there for 20 minutes trying to buy your precious bandos boots.

[Mewtwo]

Support on 5% taxes, thinking about the future of Alora economy only, we see some common items that most of the community need such as vote books being merched easily everyday when it's not supposed to in my opnion.

[Morgen]

Feels more and more like real life......

 

Enough trolling aside, I have mixed feelings about this but I support the idea and if I were to choose it would be 5%, I think it would really be helpful for the long run, I have been playing for quite awhile and I play a lot and in that time I have noticed how everything has been either merched extremely high, or has risen a lot in price, Vote books are very helpful for a player who is attempting to go for max cape but to have to pay 3m+ every hour if they have voted already is just too much in my opinion....

 

I support the idea for the long run basis but at the same time, I personally kinda like getting a blowpipe and selling it for like a lot I mean...

 

Support. 

[Jedzio]

Hello, Jedzio here. I'm here to represent my client as their lawyer for equals rights. I represent the ASC(Alora Sellers Community). We are those that are constantly selling items in the Trading Post. After seeing whats going on here my client immediately contacted me their concerns about the terms that this is being discussed on. I must say that the way this is being done is completely against any kind of equal rights movement that Alora has been trying to maintain since it started in November. The reason behind this is because you only want to tax the seller, which is unfair to my party since it will directed affect their earnings. The proposition I stand here before the Jury of the administration to present is that both parties are taxed. Sellers & Buyers. This would mean that instead of taxing 5% from the seller, something more appropriate can be done such as a 2.5% tax on both ends. That way the trading post will still be regularly used, the tax cash is removed from the economy and there isn't a lawsuit in Omicron's hands due to prejury and biased economical decisions. Seeing as without the tax that should work like any other tax that are imposed directly on the consumer of goods purchased without sales tax, generally items purchased from a vendor not under the jurisdiction of the taxing authority such as a vendor in Alora. It is the complete opposite.

 

TLDR; Tax both the buyer & the Seller.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ps. The first block of text is just created out of my boredom. The ASC doesn't exist, and I will not be sueing Omicron.. lol xD