This is silly

[ZachIes]

So, I know that they used Alchemy as a gold sink, but I think it would have been a good idea to have all of the components in the Alchemy shop so people can't just jack the prices up on components and formulas that aren't. It's like inflation, I guess. If the components are in the shop at a fixed price, for example, Toggle was 10g in the Bitfrost shop, no one would buy it in the Marketplace for 20k.

Does anyone else get this?

[Istoleyourtaco]

Cuppa Love

So, I know that they used Alchemy as a gold sink, but I think it would have been a good idea to have all of the components in the Alchemy shop so people can't just jack the prices up on components and formulas that aren't. It's like inflation, I guess. If the components are in the shop at a fixed price, for example, Toggle was 10g in the Bitfrost shop, no one would buy it in the Marketplace for 20k.

Does anyone else get this?

I'm not going to tell you there isn't a problem with alchemy but your mistake is like most other people the market place is not part of the alchemy system it is just a side effect . the point of alchemy is not a gold sink the players are the ones that made it a gold sink . the point of alchemy is to get more players to play games lik fishing, booty grab, daily chance , towns, zomg, ect. all the items that are expensive are also free it just takes some work. the real problem is the drop rates for the daily chance items like the toggles are to low making them to rare.

[ZachIes]

Istoleyourtaco

The way I hear it, it's meant to be a gold sink. And I've never seen an Alchemy component drop ever in zOMG! or Booty Grab, and I do both every day.
talk2hand

[Istoleyourtaco]

Cuppa Love

Istoleyourtaco

The way I hear it, it's meant to be a gold sink. And I've never seen an Alchemy component drop ever in zOMG! or Booty Grab, and I do both every day.
talk2hand

when I said drop rate I meant for daily chance. but there is components in booty garb [ enki's catch, pink gift boxes, gold gift boxes ect ] and zomg [ rubber , gnome recipes, ect] most games have at least one component in it. The reason people think it is a gold sink is because they want to buy the items from the mp instead of finding the items which is very expensive . but if you find the items it is very cheap formulas that cost 500k or a mil or 2 become way cheaper this way so cheap you can actually make money. It is just a matter of what way you choose buy every thing at the mp [ which is expensive] or find the items in games[ which is free].

[Opera Phantomess]

Masquerade! Paper faces on parade. Masquerade!

Alchemy is not the gold sink they are making it out to be; it is an item sink that only inflates the prices of items that are in limited quantity to make them more rare, hence why even many of the components and formulas, which are destroyed once an item is successfully crafted, are insanely high in price. Some common drops from the Cache are used in multiple formulas in large quantities (Sugar Crystals is the main contender here), so their prices and availabilities are sky high and none-existent respectively. The same can be said of formulas, but mostly due to the Case being a huge pain in the a** to not only craft because of needing one thousand of each trash/flower/bug it calls for, but because it is also more expensive to purchase the formula and craft it overall.

Alchemy was intended for the select few that had the gold and/or real life money to spend in order to raise in level even though they seem to shove the feature everywhere the entire userbase treads *coughholidayeventscough*.

Hide your face so the world will never find you.

[amalgamation77]

I don't think that alchemy is nothing but a gold sink. Like someone else mentioned, it is a way for Gaia to self-promote their own games and other areas on the site to ensure that users are spending more time here. Alchemy is not a requirement of Gaia Online - you can participate in it if you want to, just like everything else here on the site. However, it is also not an instant gratification kind of game like some of the others. Instead, it steers you to use the instant gratification games on here to get one of the rare items utilized in the formulas...and then you must do so more than several times because there are so many of each compenent required to craft the formula.
The marketplace is an entity within itself. WE set the prices and the limits WE are going to pay on the MP. Without set prices on most of the alchemic compenents, sure they are going to be more expensive, just like other items you can find on the MP.
I guess the short version of where I was going with all this is if you want to participate in Alchemy, you must have patience, young padawan. xd I think the idea is pretty cool, but I don't have the major funds to craft anything really fun. So, I sit back and collect what I can through the different areas on the site and maybe, just MAYBE, by next November I'll be able to make a wig or something. mrgreen