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Character Bazaar

 
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Some Thoughts on Character Prices
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EOH Lummox
Brothers ln Arms
#1 - 2011-12-22 14:40:31 UTC
Hello all,

Some thoughts on character prices I thought I’d share showing the correlation that should occur between PLEX prices character price, and therefore the approx prices characters are worth. I assume this is the most relevant forum, although I suppose it might get moved to Markets.

Firstly I’d like to set some points and assumptions:-

The maximum rate at which you can train a skill is 2772 SP/h if you have +5 skill implants inserted.
I will relate everything back to PLEX costs, which we’ll assume to be 450m per PLEX.
We will assume that you can juggle the skill training around re-maps so that you always train at maximum SP/h rate.
Assume 30 days per month.
Assume the seller is paying for the transfer using PLEX.

Ok so,

2772 SP/h * 24 = 66528 SP per day
66528 SP/d * 30 = 1995840 SP per month
Ok so if we round that up to 2m SPs per month of training.

To implement a transfer costs the seller 2 x PLEX.
So, if you were to price a character purely on the basis of the Skill Points it has and the cost to transfer then every character has a base of 2 PLEX cost and another PLEX cost per 2m Skill Points.

So a 6m SP character has a cost using this method of 5 PLEX. At 450m per PLEX this values the character at 2.25b ISK.

A 10m SP character has a cost using this method of 7 PLEX. At 450m per PLEX this values the character at 3.15b ISK.

A 20m SP character has a cost using this method of 12 PLEX. At 450m per PLEX this values the character at 5.4b ISK.

A 100m SP character has a cost using this method of 52 PLEX. At 450m per PLEX this values the character at 23.4b ISK.

Of course by buying the character the buyer does not have to wait for his character, which should attract a premium to the price he is willing to pay. Conversely he is not able to pick the name or race, which makes training his own a better option if that is very important to him. Rarity of character (generally high SP characters) also increases their value, hence why 100+m SP characters usually go for significantly more than 23.4b.

Of course this is only highlighting the cost of the SP, there is no allowance for the cost of all the skill books that are required, something which again pushes up the price of high SP characters.

Additionally, all the SP calculations are made on the assumption that the character has a full +5 implant set. This obviously has a value, although I have not added this to the calculation as it is a very subjective value to determine as they cannot be re-sold.

So really these calculations are to determine minimum values for characters based on PLEX value, and I thought people may find them interesting. Notice that all the way through I have made assumption that lower the end cost so that it can be used as a guide to the minimum value.
Deuce Bigalo
Pizza Delivery Express
#2 - 2011-12-22 14:44:46 UTC
You may find your topic being REMOVED from this CHARACTER BAZAAR!!

The "Chatty-Stuff" is next door.....
Mira Annages
Doomheim
#3 - 2011-12-22 14:44:49 UTC
Generally speaking those values are correct, however you must also take into account the current (very) inflated prices on characters.

This is normal around winter and especially with the current expansion and all its changes.

6 months ago I bought and sold Characters for around 1bil per 5m sp, give or take based on focus and demand for the characters. However with people paying the extremely inflated prices the market is defiantly a sellers market atm.
Katarina Reid
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#4 - 2011-12-22 14:51:36 UTC
Supply and demand changes prices. A focused combat char will go for more than a bad name/ unfocused/bad sec/indy char. Standing matter if its a pve char just going by skill point is good for the bad or standard chars not for the others.
mingetek
Brainless in Space
#5 - 2011-12-22 14:53:14 UTC
1st and last.. there is no more 2772 sp an hour max is now 2700.
..
EOH Lummox
Brothers ln Arms
#6 - 2011-12-22 14:55:18 UTC  |  Edited by: EOH Lummox
I certainly agree that there is other factors, one of which is time of year. I was merely looking to establish the minimum prices I'd expect characters to go for. Again there can be factors that decrease the character value like unfocused training or the name.

Additionally, thank you for pointing out my error on what the maximum SP rate now is.
mingetek
Brainless in Space
#7 - 2011-12-22 15:26:55 UTC
EOH Lummox wrote:
I certainly agree that there is other factors, one of which is time of year. I was merely looking to establish the minimum prices I'd expect characters to go for. Again there can be factors that decrease the character value like unfocused training or the name.

Additionally, thank you for pointing out my error on what the maximum SP rate now is.



you are welcome.

also another thing is.. weather or not the character in questin is kos in parts of empire.

to some thats a HUGE hurdle. others liek me? who cares :)
..
Grady Eltoren
Hogyoku
#8 - 2011-12-22 15:30:09 UTC
Thank you for making this post. I think it is completely relavent to the CHAR BAZAAR. So I hope it doesn't get taken down.

I have often thought and advocated exactly what you said in your post EOH.

I use this calculation (modified for other additional variables) when looking at character values.

Often times it agrevates me to see people basing character values on some "appraisal" website. If you do the math for how much PLEX it would cost to train the toon up (via 400m PLEXs or 450m - now almost 500m PLEXs) you see a much different number like you said.

Not to MENTION the time and energy and WAITING factor to train a toon and some OTHER variables I listed below. Basically I like to point out also that many do not think of the hours it took you to get up in the middle of the night (before skill queues) and the hours of planning on EVEMON to get there. These things have to factor into price (besides just pure PLEX cost) as much as supply and demand (yes I agree supply and demand are factors for all the trolls out there).

Some other things I would like to emphasize/add to your pricing that I think many don't consider and should be factored in:

1) Skillbooks - like you said but adding that without even a CAP ship pilot, these can be in the BILLIONS.
2) Implants - like you said (a few hundred million at least here).
3) Standings - Those took WEEKS and MONTHS to grind and I do not think it unreasonable to see that has ISK/hour value. I would say at least worth a few billion for toons with really high faction (meaning you can anchor a tower, get great research agents aka Free Passive Income, ETC ETC)
4) Remaps - This has to have some value as the gift ones are few and far between. Not to mention it can make or break a training plan for a whole year.
5) Skill points unallocated. Enough said.
6 and 6a) Character Recustomization and a good name!! (This can be worth quite alot or nothing at all to the right buyer so I assume it has some value - I know it matters to me!)
7) A clean corp history and or background. The less baggage the better in my book.
8) Age of character - Older toons are worth a lot more in my book just because they carry that fear factor and prestige.
9) Supply and demand (as mentioned before) - but finding the right character to me can mute this to a great degree.

10) Others?

Cheers,

Grady
Eirro
EIH JCC Lmtd.
#9 - 2011-12-22 16:00:28 UTC
10) Fashion, which is affected by a.o. game mechanics and affects supply and demand. Right now there seems to be an insatiable demand for Tengu pilots and an endless supply of them and they fetch irrational prices. I'm not experienced enough to know why this is. Surely the universe only needs so many Tengu pilots.