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Guild Wars 2 restricts gem store purchase options [Updated]
An attempt to streamline Guild Wars 2's gem currency exchange may be causing more consternation than celebration among the game's playerbase. ArenaNet simplified the exchange in a recent build, giving players preset options to buy gems with gold or sell gems for gold. However, as the lowest gem bundle price point is 400, it's irked players who wish to buy smaller increments for some of the cheaper options in the store and feel as though they're overbuying gems in these situations. Forum Communications Team Lead Gaile Gray gave an explanation for the change and said that the team is evaluating feedback: "The goal was to make the gem store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now. You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That's not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn't be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past. The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it's practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs." [Update: Gaile Gray has reassured players that ArenaNet will reverse course on GemGate. "In light of your feedback, we will update the Currency Exchange so that you can decide how you want to use it," she wrote on the official forums. "We will keep the new streamlined system and also offer a new 'Custom' button on the panel that you can use to exchange any increment of gems or gold. We anticipate rolling this out soon. Stay tuned!"]
Bing now shows how much your Bitcoin is worth in other currencies
While some may be opposed to the idea of Bitcoin, others are doing all they can to adjust to the recent digital currency rush. Today, Bing, in partnership with Coinbase, announced it has added support for Bitcoin within its currency-conversion tools. Simply put, you can now use Microsoft's search engine to see what the value of your new-age money is in, say, dollars, pesos, euros or any of the other 50-plus currencies Bing has indexed. And it's all done in real time, too. No Bitcoin? No problem -- there's nothing wrong with entering some random numbers for fun's sake.
Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange back in action
As promised, Mt. Gox has reenabled cash withdrawals after taking its system offline to iron out the kinks. The Bitcoin exchange says it's successfully processed over $1,000,000 worth of transactions during these past two weeks of testing, which has given it the confidence to resume business -- despite a backlog on some transactions. Mt. Gox is also announcing that it's signed more banking partnerships "in Japan and around the world," though no specific companies were named. If you want to get into this whole Bitcoin thing, but don't know where to start, we got you covered.
Star Trek Online explains the nuances of dilithium
Dilithium -- how can Star Trek Online explain it? Perhaps the development team can take and frame-by-frame it to have players mine, refine, and spend it. And that's just what's been done in a new development diary explaining to new players and returning players how dilithium works. It's the game's universal currency, in short, but it also serves to bridge the gap between having plenty of real money and having lots of in-game money with less real money. Dilithium is rewarded to players through several means, but it's awarded as unrefined ore. The refining process is slow, with players having a soft limit of about 8000 refined dilithium a week (veteran and subscription players can refine slightly more). You can also trade it for the game's microtransaction currency on a live market. Once you have it, you can use it to buy new ships, rare crafting items, special gear, and certain Duty Officers. The full guide should answer any lingering questions you have about the currency, although it does not ask at any point if the players are down with dilithium.
Star Trek Online opens up testing for the dilithium exchange
The economy of free-to-play games can be a tricky business. Usually, they're managed by keeping a strict distinction between in-game currency and purchased currency, but Star Trek Online is taking a slightly different approach. The upcoming overarching currency dilithium can be traded for Cryptic Points via the new dilithium exchange service, which has just gone live on the Tribble server for players to test. But the trade isn't a straight one, instead working on an auction-type system. The newest Path to F2P blog outlines the means for players to use the exchange system, which works both ways -- players can look to buy dilithium or Cryptic Points and are able to browse the overall market and see what other players are offering or asking. It's not quite as simple as being able to swipe your credit card and then grab some in-game money, but it's certainly blurring the lines between real currency and game money.
Captain's Log: More on the economy
Captain's Log, Stardate 65303.9... Hello, computer (and players)! As I discussed last week, heated discussions surround Star Trek Online's change to a F2P hybrid model and planned game mechanics updates. While new updates are being pushed to the Tribble server for testing and feedback, many aspects are in a state of flux as such feedback is collected, evaluated, and implemented. The biggest area affected is the economy. While everyone has his own thoughts on the matter, Cryptic is leaving no feedback forum post unread -- the players will help shape these changes. Last week, we saw the push of another patch that seems to have made some giant strides toward solving some of the biggest concerns, including significant reductions in prices for most items and the return of free ship tokens for most ranks. Stephen D'Angelo, acting Executive Producer and Emergency Executive Producer Hologram (EEPH), explained: "Based on how rapidly we're getting data and revising the game, we're still probably two more weeks away from having the economy in a state that is close to good enough." Since he said a lot more in his recent dev blog post, I thought I should take some time to expound on it. Ensign, warp 10! Let's take a look at what else the EEPH had to say and break it down...
Taiwanese Apple suppliers may be forced to raise prices
While the modern global economy has allowed companies in far-flung parts of the world to get into manufacturing, one of the many issues they face is exchange rate fluctuations. Electronics manufacturers in Taiwan are currently feeling the pinch as the Taiwan dollar has climbed more than other currencies in the region, jumping 2.5 percent in the past month and 7.2 percent in the past year. Each percentage point of exchange rate increase translates to 0.5 percent of profit margin according to Wintek, which produces touch panels for many Apple devices. Suppliers like Wintek rarely manage to achieve the sort of enormous profit margins that Apple does when selling to the consumer, and losing 3 percent off the top is tough to swallow. As a result, Taiwan-based companies may have to look at increasing the prices charged to Apple and other customers. Apple's premium pricing to end customers means that it has some flexibility to absorb price increases from suppliers in the short term. That will, of course, hurt its profits, which it won't tolerate for very long. Given the competitive marketplace, Apple will be reluctant to increase prices, but if the exchange rate situation doesn't improve soon, we'll probably see some decontenting or a slow-down in the spec increases. Instead of seeing next-gen MacBooks and iPhones getting more memory or better cameras, they will probably hold steady. [Via Electronista]
