Templar rare frrequency versus market costs

[pryingtuna85649]

So I'm just curious what everyone's opinion on this is. I'm not making any kind of statement on whether or not some rares show up more frequently than others, because I know they are supposed to purely random. And I know that some people encounter certain rares more and less frequently than other people...which is actually what I'm asking about and why I said opinion above (I don't mean for this to be an another annoying repeat thread, as I'm asking a question beyond the typical frequency question).

Anyway, I've been buying Templar packs the last several days in order to have a few cards to sell and hopefully get duplicates of the last few Templar rares I need. After seeing the market prices for Templar rares versus the ones that popped up in my packs and seeing tuism's thread with the rare's spreadsheet counts, I thought market prices seemed curious.

In the thread, it sounded as if people were constantly encountering Cesare Borgia in packs. I thought market prices seemed right for him, because I've only encountered one...and that was pre-market. But there are others that I've only opened one of in packs that sell for MUCH lower, such as Change of Plans and Pontifical High Mass. Then there are ones that are in between, such as Merchant's Guild (I've only opened one in a pack, and it runs around 300). But I do run into Lanz fairly frequently, who also runs in the 300 range on the market.

What has surprised you guys with market prices? I don't know much about Assassin packs, but if there's something interesting about that anyone has encountered, I'd be interested to know.

[gamemaestro]

The biggest determinant of market price is how many people want 5 of a card. Over the entire playing population the rares SHOULD even out, but some cards aren't in demand.

[pryingtuna85649]

Interesting...I didn't think of it that way. I just assumed because I wanted 5 of each card that most other people would, too. Ie, stress on the ass.

[Tuism]

Perceived value - people THINK a card is cool. They'll pay more for it. People think a card isn't cool. They'll not pay more for it. That's why High Profile Assassination has a bad price despite it being as rare as other Assassin/Crime rare.

Supply and demand. The market prices are there cos there are people willing to pay that much for them. If you look through the SELL prices you'll see of course there's a whole variation of prices. But only the lowest counts. Same for BUY.

So it is pretty much open game, unless there's someone with WAY too much time on their hands buying up a whole pile of cheapest offers to offer it himself at a higher price. But really, one man against a market... Well it's feasible, but again, they'd have to be really bored and really vested in the market. In which case, let him make his couple hundred/thousand credits. What's that, a couple dollars?

Rarity doesn't determine prices alone. E.g. An ugly person is rare, but that doesn't mean their rarity makes them valuable and able to bag "average" opposite of the gender because of that rarity

(please don't kill me for using a pragmatic example )

[thest4lker]

And, how many people want 5 of a card is only somewhat related to how powerful a card is in game, see the price of a femme fatal...

[pryingtuna85649]

Tuism, BEST. EXAMPLE. EVER. That's hilarious!

thest4lker, I haven't looked at that card's price in a while. I knew it was expensive and that I'd be waiting a while before getting it. And I haven't bothered because it's such a boring way to play to me. When I do get around to getting them, I'll make a deck to just try out, but it's not a strategy I'll want to focus on. Just seems boring.

[jeremyat]

May 16, 2012 0:36:18 GMT -5 Tuism said:

So it is pretty much open game, unless there's someone with WAY too much time on their hands buying up a whole pile of cheapest offers to offer it himself at a higher price. But really, one man against a market... Well it's feasible, but again, they'd have to be really bored and really vested in the market. In which case, let him make his couple hundred/thousand credits. What's that, a couple dollars?

You'd actually be surprised--there are a number of players who use the market to gain credits (I know there was a post by someone who got five of every card by using the market). Ukhlim (I think) and Donutsnuke come to mind right off hand. They trade everything--commons, uncommons, rares, it doesn't matter. They usually offer one credit more than the highest bid on the sell side and offer one credit less than the lowest bid on the buy side. I don't really have a problem with it, but if I'm selling a card (instead of offering it on the buy side), I usually will sell to a lower bidder simply because I want to sell the card to someone who wants to use it as opposed to someone who wants to turn it over for a profit.

[Tuism]

I'm sure there are, I mean there's one guy who's told everyone he got 5 of everything without spending a cent. But honestly that's the exception rather than the norm, and if they want to spend their lives playing the virtual market where they'll gain no real monies, more power to them And they deserve to get what they have. It's really not real money, in any case

My time is better spent actually playing the game or something else

[pryingtuna85649]

Yeah I've been buying packs and selling the extras on the market, but I'm not trying to play the market by setting lower prices and buying up a bunch of extras. And with Templar packs, there are still several rares I need duplicates of. But the app is starting to crash a lot because I have too much on the market, so I'm gonna have to take down my cards I'm selling for 1$ each for a while. It's fun, but the more cards I've opened, the less time I've had to throw cards up. Especially when combined with the app lag. It takes a lot of dedication, because it's definitely tedious. But I could care less about playing the market like some of these people are. Like tuism said, time is precious.