You know what's fun? ROLLBACKS. Rollbacks and GIFs.

[Errodu]

Solution #43 on "Errodu's Guide to Fixing Gaia" involves a rollback.

If you haven't been around for 2005 (or was it 2004? It was so long ago...) there was an issue with the marketplace and people at that time were abusing a glitch to gain MILLIONS of gold!

"Millions?! OUTRAGEOUS!!"

With a huge unprecedented amount of gold circulating the economy, our hero Lanzer and the original dev-force-five called upon us for forgiveness as they issued a rollback for all the gold squeezed out of the glitch. Ultimately, much gold was reclaimed and the gaians were unscathed from the event, as most felt it was right to do and they went on with their daily lives. Everyone lived happily ever after.

[CITATION NEEDED.]



So we come to today, an economy bursting with so much inflation it could make a balloon factory jealous. Let's discuss for funzies what a rollback would be like for Gaia! biggrin

SUUUUUUURE some, if not most, PAID for your gold.
SUUUUUUURE some, if not most, are hoarding it hoping everything will be done and they'll come out richer than others.
SUUUUUUURE some, if not most, break the billion's mark again and again.
SUUUUUUURE some, if not most, are questing for an avatar that's worth ten billion.


But stem that cautionary voice that says "IT'S A BAD IDEA" in your mind, because unfortunately, the doubt is there. Every day this forum, GDC, gets a "What happened to Gaia?" post. Every day this forum gets a "Marketplace is F*CKED!" thread. Every day this forum gets a "I can't take it anymore, I'm leaving." notice.

emotion_awesome Maybe a little chaos would be interesting. Could even make a plot out of it too and finally get a new manga update.

So contribute to this discussion, nerds. I'll leave the holes open for you to fill talk2hand

gaia_angelleft A Gold Rollback. Forced deletion of gold... DUNDUNDUN.
gaia_nitemareleft How UNFAIR is that to you? Huh? Don't worry, I got tissues ready for da baw. 3nodding
gaia_angelleft Good or bad for Gaia for a rollback to happen? Kinda obvious to some.
gaia_nitemareleft Discuss methods of a fair rollback. The rich get hit the hardest? Compensated?
gaia_angelleft Discuss the aftermath of a rollback. Would it work if there would be no more gold rigs released on Gaia afterwards?
gaia_diamond SECRET BONUS DISCUSSION: Post some gifs with your topic that relate to your content.

Let's get this topic poppin'.

[2Del]

Yeah let's just rollback 5 years that should make everybody happy

[Sparkly Death]

A roll back would piss off cash buyers, unless they gave everyone a refund in gc for what the bought. Theres ways they could fix the economy without pissing off a large portion (it would take time not an insta-fix bullet), but its not gonna happen.

[Bowie-Spawan]

Rollbacks, when they happen are usually a last resort when something happens that fudges up a game unintentionally. Meaning, the assumption would be, that the inflation is unintentional lol. The gold that gets pumped in by gold gens is not a glitch or exploit.

My mmo had a single rollback in the 4 years I've played it. It happened due to a misprice in their cash shop that allowed people to refine their gear for a fraction of what it usually costs, meaning the company lost a lot of money. Refunding people the money they charged during that period was a real hassle too.

How would you refund people that got their gold from gold generators? If the excess gold is just summarily deleted without a refund to those who payed real money to make it, be prepared for a lot of very angry customers.

[Espeonel]

I don't mean to be rude and it's probably the hour I'm posting this influencing my mood... but don't you sorta already know the site would burn down if Gaia decided to rollback the gold they released, even with a quick and comprehensive refund? What's the point of this topic? And in this digital world, I don't resent the filthy rich nearly as much as I do the real-life ones that somehow manage to pay $34 in taxes and then create the myth of welfare queens. Certainly not enough to take gold they paid for.

Hell, if you're buying gold generators, I don't think you're a bad person or have crummy morals or anything. It's not really helping anything, but I sure as s**t wouldn't confiscate your gold to help inflation. That's just... stupider than the idea of the gold generators in the first place.

[Jaffah]

Because they haven't updated any other ways of earning gold 90% the gold income has been from gold generators so if you did delete a s**t ton of gold and stopped releasing gold generators the economy should be fine I guess, IDK don't ask me I'm no expert

But then the old ways of earning gold would be viable again!!

[Einrick]

Somehow, I doubt that removing all of the gold and items that people have purchased over the years, while hanging onto the millions of real dollars spent, will make anyone happy.

[Bea Bishop]

While it would be a dandy way to fix up economy swiftly, as a self-proclaimed business woman who spent many working hours in the market place, I would still be raging, hahaha... hah...

Ha.

...

[Lord Mephisto]

Wasn't there a rollback when the fishing shop came out? I think they let it deal with negative quantities so you could sell a practically infinite amount of fish you didn't own....

Bartuc got banned... I think they rolled back...

[Aristeia]

ROLLBAK scream

It was 2005. I have actually forgotten what I lost in the rollback. Probably nothing significant though as I only got like 5 big misprices throughout my vending career. The ones crying loudest were the ones snagging the most misprices.

A Gold Rollback. Forced deletion of gold... DUNDUNDUN.
How UNFAIR is that to you? Huh? Don't worry, I got tissues ready for da baw.
Only gold? The gold I currently have is 1.5% of the worth of my inventory, so... OK I guess. I'll just make it again. cool (Also, deletion of gold isn't exactly a rollback. Rollback means you return to a time in the past, so trades are undone and gold are recalled, can't be selective)

Good or bad for Gaia for a rollback to happen? Kinda obvious to some.
Bad! It'd be a crazy business decision. I imagine the ones most angry are people who had put in the most real life money (not necessarily richest inside Gaia itself), and it's mostly thanks to them Gaia can run. While the company is protected legally by the TOS, they are not protected from the loss of paying customers.

Discuss methods of a fair rollback. The rich get hit the hardest? Compensated?
The rich get hit the hardest, but also have the comfiest cushion to break the fall (read: big invo). Compensation is not needed because a gold rollback will not change the wealth distribution much. Unless there's some crazy rich Gaian with billions of gold but a very small inventory.

Discuss the aftermath of a rollback. Would it work if there would be no more gold rigs released on Gaia afterwards?
As a non-GC-user, I would selfishly love that there's no more gold RIGs, and am ready to make my way back in the aftermath. But I'm not sure how many Gaians would stay. There will first be chaos and anger. Barter will probably grow, but with collective disorientation about barter rates (how many Devil Tails is a Halo? how many Dolces is a Kitten Star?). Some might still try using old prices as basis but as time goes, supply & demand will form new prices. People might open Exchange threads with: Have - items A, B, C. Want - items D, E, F. After a significant amount of gold is reintroduced in the system, people would demand that the MP's 2% tax be lift. Gold shop items will be sold back (which means people who have Loyals' most expensive items will have an advantage).

And I shall end this post with cute bunnies.

[DYRL]

Oh man, people would riot at Gaia HQ if that ever happen.

Sure it's for the good of the users, but screw everyone if I can't have it my way right now.

[Platonix]

Errodu

Every day this forum, GDC,

God-Damned Complainers?

Generator Data Center?

Gaia's Decline Commentary?


...seriously, though...I don't see a rollback being a good idea when you'd have to roll back several months to accomplish anything meaningful.

[Okay Shut Up]

For the amount of money people spent on purchasing GC, I hardly think they would do such a thing.

The only thing a rollback would do right now is probably cause more rage. lol

[Trundlebug]

What you maybe don't realize is that during a rollback, it's not just the gold that would be reversed, but the items too. It doesn't matter what items someone has, or how much gold is in their account, a rollback to a certain date would erase all of it depending on when they acquired it.

A rollback is really something that can only be enacted by a problem that's caught quickly. Gaia's inflation has been purposeful and has been going on for a loooong time.

Besides, there's no way Gaia could refund everyone anyway. Unless their bills want to rollback themselves too. rofl

[Jayce Reinhardt]

The thought of the resulting s**t storm is amusing but Gaia would never intentionally piss off it's beloved female lolita/Yaoi fangirl demographic.