WTB Manastone (65k)

[Skope]

Originally Posted by Daldolma [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It's not inflation -- it's the fact that the server population is bound to double with Kunark, but the number of Manastones remain the same. It's also the fact that every other item from classic reduces in value, whereas the Manastone increases. Inflation plays a role in the price, but the value isn't equivalent. Adjusted for inflation, the manastone's raw value today is far less than what it will be in the future. But most people don't want to wait.

the manastone will decrease in price significantly. every class but wizards/druids will likely sell theirs and most likely all at once (just before/after kunark).

EDIT: much the same happened with rubi BPs. the item itself became more of a status symbol than an actually useful item

[Toony]

If you cant use it in Kunark how does its value increase? The whole bind/port thing is a pita. I remember the bottom dropping out of them right as Kunark launched on live. Why would things be all that different here?

[Daldolma]

Originally Posted by Toony [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If you cant use it in Kunark how does its value increase? The whole bind/port thing is a pita. I remember the bottom dropping out of them right as Kunark launched on live. Why would things be all that different here?

I don't know what server you played on, but within the first 3 months of Kunark on my server, manastone's price jumped 250%. They were going for 50-75k before release, and 150-200k within 3 months of the start of Kunark.

And the bind/port thing is not a pita. You have a druid take a cleric team to GFay and they all gate back FM 2 minutes later. Wizards can port out, eat up manastone hits on their epic's rune, and gate back FM. Any group/raid with a porter and a healer can get any and all casters they want to FM in a matter of about 2 minutes with a manastone.

The item just becomes more and more useful as mana pools grow. It's literally an invaluable item. A cleric with a manastone can run himself OOM at the beginning of a raid encounter, get ported out, manastone to full, gate back, and be FM again for the same encounter. Wizards are insanely OP'd burst DPS with epic/manastone. Druids are the most obvious users. It's just a game-changer. If you're a caster, and more specifically a cleric, wizard, or druid, it's literally the most valuable item in the game for you. And it's still highly useful for other casters. And that completely ignores the toy, status-symbol aspect of the item.

[gprater]

was running thru nek the other day and saw a CoF offered for 810K...i did a spit take

[azxten]

Actually there is a ton of manastones sitting on inactive accounts from people who got bored and left. When Kunark comes out they'll be back and flooding the market for awhile.

[Alawen Everywhere]

Why do humans think they can predict the future?

Manastones are not comparable to rubicite breastplates. There are not multiple upgrades for manastone in Kunark.

[Noleafclover]

Originally Posted by Alawen Everywhere [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Why do humans think they can predict the future?

Manastones are not comparable to rubicite breastplates. There are not multiple upgrades for manastone in Kunark.

Can make a lot of money if you can predict what will happen in the future correctly 51% of the time.

I can't obviously predict correctly, but I'm willing to bet that manastones will drop in a way obviously related to kunark by 10 or more k.

And we both know you won't take me up on that.

[Alawen Everywhere]

Originally Posted by Noleafclover [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Can make a lot of money if you can predict what will happen in the future correctly 51% of the time.

I can't obviously predict correctly, but I'm willing to bet that manastones will drop in a way obviously related to kunark by 10 or more k.

And we both know you won't take me up on that.

How much would you like to wager? I saw a WTB in East Commons today for 80K for at least two hours. Here is my bet: the price will continue to climb and it will be 10K or more higher than it is by the time Kunark release. I further stipulate that the price will be at least another 10K higher 60 days after Kunark's release than the price at release.

I've done a little bit of research about this. Somewhere between 250 and 400 legitimate manastones dropped on this server. That's not enough for even half of the population at prime time. Some people have more than one. Many people who had manastones have quit or been banned.

Anyone who lacks the cleverness to realize that the item is still amazing after Kunark and for the life of this server will learn from the people who are clever. If there is a significant price drop after the Kunark release, it will be brief and most of the manastones sold during that time will not be resold later.

If someone is duplicating manastones, they are being so careful about selling them that it doesn't appear to be affecting the market at all.

Manastone is possibly the most rare and valuable item for the duration of this server. If I didn't already have mine, I would be trying to scrape together 75K.

[Toony]

Originally Posted by Alawen Everywhere [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I've done a little bit of research about this. Somewhere between 250 and 400 legitimate manastones dropped on this server.

Just out of curiosity how'd you determine that number?

[Alawen Everywhere]

Originally Posted by Toony [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Just out of curiosity how'd you determine that number?

I talked to about 20 people who had camped it about how long their camps took both before the camp was nerfed around the beginning of the year and afterwards, assumed that it was camped 24/7 whenever the server was up until the drop was removed and came up with low numbers and high numbers based on the rates those people agreed sounded within their experience. I never had the camp myself, although I sat there several times waiting until I decided that it would be easier to farm the platinum and buy one than to get screwed repeatedly.

Edit: I should add that some of the people I talked to had the camp for long periods of time, often 24 hours or more. Also, I think Daldolma's explanation is very good and hard to argue against.

Edit #2: Also, as a small note, paralleling the wizard epic, druids get increasingly efficient regeneration, both in terms of hit points per tick and mana cost per hit point over time.