Guide
| Attention! Please note that the metrics specified in the article were collected on the Ru server. |
Finally, the time has come when we, the community managers, were able to fall into the economists' office and culturally, over a cup of tea, discuss all the pressing issues of the players, not forgetting to find out how they work here and how heavy this burden is - sticking to blinding Excel tablets…
“It's all right! If you don't look…” © Boreus
Meet Boreus, the head of the Economics department. He and his boys are the ones responsible for how many crappites you get in the dangerous Exclusion Zone! In every sense.
The economics department is part of the game design team and deals with balancing the progression of the game and players, keeping track of the cycle of resource gaining and spending.
In the course of their work, economists interact with many departments, from coders to analysts, about whom, by the way, we have already published a full article, as it says:
Navigation
Bet the cap of this young man that it is better to get acquainted in detail with the work of the economics department on real examples. And for more clarity, below is a list of sections with them:
Economy and inflation
Let's get straight to the point! We've seen players complain about inflation repeatedly and just couldn't help but ask what it is.
Inflation in games is the process of devaluing game currency due to an increase in its quantity without a corresponding increase in the supply of goods or services, which inevitably leads to higher prices.
It appeared to be, without a minute, a huge whirlpool of mechanics and problems… Let's look into it.
Inflation mythology
Let's start with a basic example — spare parts. Their price at auction is constantly changing: in June, for example, it fell slightly, and since the beginning of autumn it has risen rapidly:
Median price of spare parts at auction
And you'd think, “So there's more money in the game, players are willing to pay so much, so the price has jumped!”, but in fact these price changes are mostly unrelated to currency.
The thing is, STALCRAFT: X has a birthday during the warmest time of the year. And specifically this summer, the project turned 10 years old! Holy cow… What caused the Season Pass and not just the Season Pass to have an abundance of spare parts in the Zone:
| When there are more goods and the number of people willing to buy them is the same, the prices go down. |
In early autumn, when the number of spares from all sides was cut, and there were only more people willing to get them (due to the addition of new guns in barter and Season Pass), the price skyrocketed:
| When there are fewer goods and more people willing to buy them, the prices go up. |
Besides, if inflation really did reach unprecedented heights, the prices of the same Viburnum Branch would also go up. However, they, on the contrary, went down:
Median price of Viburnum Branch of common, uncommon, special and rare quality at auction
So sometimes, despite the rising prices of certain goods, inflation may not be the guilty party at all… Anyway, we'll return to the Season Pass rewards and its adjustments later, but for now let's look at another case.
Currency outputs and inputs
One late Friday night, one of the developers picked up a glass, a big glass of apple juice, and said:
“What if… bring the OFT back? Ummm, take morphine and epinephrine out of the purchase from the supplier?” © Zone Pensioner
And then it started! Every second a tonne… no, a kilotonne of currency kept being added! Our courageous economists, together with other departments, urgently analysed the situation and returned the weakened analogues to the supplier.
What happened? It's as simple as that. Players who were forever spending a tidy sum on consumables like morphine and epinephrine were no longer physically able to do that. As a result, the currency in the SC: X ecosystem has started to accumulate quite well, leading to inflation.
Clearly, in addition to this, other problems that arose after the global Day X update were solved in parallel. So that's just one tiny example of all that serious turmoil.
And now remember, “We have an endless input of currency out of thin air in the game”, for example, in the format of selling junk to a merchant.
Consequently, unlike the real economy where governments cannot print money without limits, in SC: X the currency is refilled every second.
So in order to control this unlimited flow somehow, developers often have to interfere with the economy and integrate currency outputs into the mechanics of the game, as in the example above:
Buying consumables is the process of purchasing medicines and ammo, both of which players have to spend a lot of money on in order to be able to fight back in battle.
And for extra effect, here's a little scribbled list of currency outputs we found somewhere in a pile of miscellaneous papers, labelled: “Use in case of nuclear attack with inflation messages”.
| № | Ways to output currency in game mechanics |
| 1 | Gear barter; |
| 2 | Consumables purchase; |
| 3 | Auction bail and fee; |
| 4 | Re-opening crates; |
| 5 | Transitions between factions; |
| 6 | Machine tool purchase for the hideout; |
| 7 | A deposit for the delivery of backpacks; |
| 8 | Recharging, exploring artefacts; |
| 9 | Repairing suits and weapons; |
| 10 | Charging of detectors and devices. |
And we also have players in the game constantly renewing, and when one of them finally leaves STALCRAFT: X, the currency is usually still on his account, which is why it's actually outputting.
Ultimately, this is the picture we have:
| Factors affecting inflation | Factors that are not related to inflation |
| Infinite currency input, for example, selling to a fence and others. | Temporary increase in the number of people willing to buy an item at auction. |
| Infinite currency output, such as buying consumables and others. | Temporary decrease in the quantity of an item at auction. |
| Making it easier or harder to get currency, for example, using Premium. | Change of goods characteristics and subsequent change of prices at the auction. |
| Players finally leaving the game along with their currency. | Players selling season crates, passes, and other goods at auction. |
But even if we take into account all of the above, with the update of the North, the raids did become easier, causing the currency inflow in the game to increase.
Probability of successful raid from Yanov from Old North and Mines/Inflow
So, according to the head of the economics department, inflation was still in play at the beginning of autumn, but by now its level has dropped significantly.
Anyway, to prevent the situation from worsening, the department intends to fight for the stability of the economy by updating old and adding new ways of withdrawing currency, as well as addressing other problems in the Exclusion Zone.
How are problems solved in the game economy?
“For 70,000,000, you can only sniff it.” © forum user Bi1ly_Herringt0
👤 Idea author of the meme: nbts
And no joke, the prices of the contents of season cases started skyrocketing since Day X, when a lot of players returned to the game. Then they reached their peak at the end of September, when newcomers who started playing from the same Day X reached the point of thinking about buying such goods:
Median price of Elbrus at auction from the user resource: stalcraftdb
All this together formed a huge number of people who wanted to get the most valuable item from the cases — Elbrus, while the total amount of goods from them remained unchanged. As a result, prices have skyrocketed.
To solve this issue, a new Advanced Case was added to the game at the end of October, with an increased chance of valuable rewards set by the economics department. As a result, prices rushed down:
Median price of Elbrus at auction from the user resource: stalcraftdb
Thus, it was possible to partially solve this problem. But this is just the beginning, here's how the head of economics commented the future of this issue:
| Boreus |
|
The advanced case was added, among other things, to bring the Elbrus price situation back to some normality. Our plan is to continue to take action on case goods to prevent significant price swings like those of the past few months. |
Auction update
Phew… Those were some complicated letters, hopefully the inflation thing is a little clearer now. Leave your feedback over there. Well, you get it…
And since we keep mentioning the auction, we should obviously tell you about its future transformation as well!
Warning!
Keep in mind that since the auction is in the development stage, things can change ten times before the final version is complete.
Especially when it's just a concept with notional numbers from the economics department, provided as an example to simplify the task for designers:
The main tab of a new auction (exchange): Search block ⮕ Price stack ⮕ Analytics block (Price history)
Current orders tab: Buy order block ⮕ Sell order block
Order history tab
| Boreus |
|
With the auction redesign, we want to introduce market orders for quick selling and buying, as well as limited orders where the player will be able to price themselves. Moreover, we plan to add a full-fledged chart with the history of sales of goods and in general to create an ecosystem with the maximum possible display of various information, so that any goods can be conveniently traded. |
Thus, the current auction will be replaced by nothing less than an exchange! To better understand the changes, let's have a closer look at market and limited orders:
Market orders
Market order: Instantly buy/sell goods at market price
With the market type of orders, everything is simple: you choose the desired item and sell or buy it at the current market price, which is calculated on the basis of completed transactions on the exchange (does not apply to artefacts).
In addition, for both types of orders, the item no longer needs to be taken out of the personal storage area and carried to the Auctioneer — just click a couple of buttons in the interface.
Limited orders
Limited order: Price/quantity/time to buy/sell is placed independently
Limited orders are a little more complicated. By selecting them, you will be able to create requests for sale or buy at the desired price, quantity, time, and in the case of artefacts — also by upgrading and rarity.
In addition, this set of features should not only increase convenience, but also solve the issue with bots, because these two types of orders actually provide the same functionality as bots, which would make them useless.
Auction from EXBO
But that's not all! Since we have an open market economy in the game:
An open market economy is an economic system where developers have no direct influence on trade and players are free to set prices, quantities, and times of selling goods.
Those who missed the definition are being witched with “not a priority”… Tho, we have fences and speculators. And no, we're not going to get into the details of what kind of fruit these are.
Just keep in mind that the economics department is considering the option of reducing their market impact by introducing a separate section on the exchange:
Possible variation of the main tab of a new auction (exchange) with “Auction from EXBO”
| Boreus |
| At the same time, we are looking at stuffing goods into the auction as a separate mechanic within this redesign and, in addition to that, we will try to introduce some mechanism so that speculators hit less hard. |
In other words, another section of the exchange is possible, where once in a while there is a product for purchase from the developers in the format of an auction: whoever of the players offers more game currency, they will get it.
According to the idea, this should reduce the influence on the market of those players who buy up all the available goods of one type and then sell them at an inflated price. That's how it is.
What does the activity reward depend on?
Moving on to the next wave of exploration… Next on the schedule is the open world theme, and more specifically:
“What does the activity reward depend on?” © Grinding Padawan
| Steps | For an example, consider an event in the North, specifically the ZIVCAS Outpost |
| Step 1 | Initially the type of activity, in this case an event with people with the barter resource Substance 07270 being gained from, is determined. |
| Step 2 |
Next, a complexity is assigned, formed from:
|
| Step 3 |
The obtained data is then multiplied to get the coefficient, which again is multiplied by the base value.
|
| Step 4 | That's what the reward is based on. |
| Step 5 |
And after this, the distribution of the reward between the participants of the activity is set up.
|
| Step 6 | And after a period of time, adjustments to the reward are made, if necessary, based on updated location game data. |
This data is collected by the analytics department, and here's a small example of what it looks like in the form of metrics:
The travel time of all factions from their bases to Forge-11. Average: 1.4-2 minutes
This kind of template is used for most events in the game, but there are exceptions. For example, competitive activities that aim to challenge players to fight over… a cardboard box? What did you want? There is a shortage of cardboard in the Zone.
And just on that subject, there's one hot topic — outpost rewards:
| Boreus |
| Quantum Batteries used to be nearly impossible to get, now with the global North update, outposts have been added that were just designed as an activity specifically for getting batteries, making their currency rewards pretty average. |
Alas, this applies to all levels of matchmaking, and no changes are planned on this subject at this time. However, if in the future it becomes possible to change the reward subtly, e.g. only on one of the levels, then anything is conceivable.
And before you run out to write how much you love us… Let's change the subject and discuss a small but important issue.
Why are reward adjustments coming out with a delay?
With the release of the global update, Labyrinth became a real goldmine of the Zone, but a little over two weeks later it was suddenly and tangibly so cut, and we are all well aware of that:
If it wasn't, players would continue to easily obtain a lot of money out of thin air by selling resources to a fence, which would eventually trigger that very inflation.
The question is — why has the Labyrinth nerf been delayed so much?
| Boreus |
| Labyrinth nerf has taken so long because it took at least a few weeks of data to collect first. This was necessary to avoid cutting everything to zero and making the location completely unprofitable for any farming. |
Nerf is a reduction in the effectiveness of some element of the game.
So to answer the question asked — it's all about long term data collection.
Amount of Gamma for 15 minutes of pure farming in Labyrinth and Black detour/Reflection
As you can see from the metrics above, with this neat approach Labyrinth even after the wings clipped off is still pretty good for farming, at least compared to the same Reflection.
What does the economics department usually work on?
Let's go to the next pressing issues! In a brief format, let's quickly cover the remaining upcoming innovations from the economics department, including their related projects, besides the auction. It's not just the rewards that are planned to change here.
But again, consider them only as plus or minus, roughly approximate plans…
Anomaly Research Installations
| Boreus |
|
We are now in the process of redesigning the Anomaly Research Installations, which should change the quality of play within this activity. Without too many spoilers, the terrain will be updated where appropriate underneath, and the reward will be redesigned because the completion time will change too. |
Should Spirits pack their bags? Find out by playing… Okay, okay, you don't have to — but completing them will no longer be the main danger. The activity is now for scientist suits.
Hideout
| Boreus |
|
About the hideout, we plan to diversify it significantly, add more activities besides crafting and deepen them. As well as interacting with the redesigned auction, which should dramatically increase the comfort of playing within the hideout. |
We are looking forward to the fact that in the most dangerous Exclusion Zone, full of mutants, anomalies, and eternal armed conflicts, the most bloodthirsty battles will become… card games.
Daily tasks
| Boreus |
|
There are now two types of daily tasks in the game: in the pass and on the board. This makes it quite difficult to interact with them, and we intend to solve this issue. Plus, we're working to make selecting and tracking tasks more convenient. |
Session battles
| Boreus |
| We're also in the process of redesigning rewards and creating progression in session battles to make it more fun for players. |
The Dead Time rewards, on the other hand, are a bit more complicated… The developers are thinking about removing or replacing the mode, so we're holding back tears for now.
Other
Sketches of the rebuilt South
As for the rest, the economists are now involved in the rebuilding of the South and are making sure that resource gain in the Stalker and Bandit locations are about the same there.
And once they're done with that, their attention vector will be directed towards reworking various half-dead activities such as signals and dig-out caches. Eh… Does anyone need a renovation pit in the centre of St. Petersburg? Cheap…
Plus, in addition to all of the above, the economics department is working in the background on:
- Building progression in event modes;
- Adjusting barter recipes (anomalous serum, by the way, is not planned to be affected at the moment);
- Balancing North rewards;
- And some other… ing of season pass.
Season pass
Talking of which: probably one of the loudest questions from players on its soul:
“Will the ability to purchase pieces of legendary gear remain in the next act?” © Prisoners of Forge-11
Parts of legendary gear in the shop for Act 1 Tickets
Preliminary plans on this issue:
| № | What happens after the end of the first act on 31.05.2025? |
| 1 | After the first act is completed, the tickets are converted into trade coins. |
| 2 | However, all items purchased with tickets will remain. |
| 3 | And parts of the Albatross Heavy Assault Armored Exoskeleton and Gauss Rifle will continue to be available for purchase in the shop, for a new currency: Act 2 Tickets. |
That's how it is, so if you only started collecting Albatross Heavy Assault Armored Exoskeleton this season, there's no need to worry. You'll be able to collect the missing parts of the exoskeleton in the next act.
Although… Don't discount the portable, for a minute, fridge! In the Zone, such things are no less valuable… *the sound of a can being opened*
Ooh… The basis of the article has been kind of dealt with, and now, as promised earlier, let's discuss:
Rewards and their adjustments in the Season pass
And while we've already told you about the summer goodies giveaway, we haven't yet told you about the difference between spring and autumn season.
Folktale Spring season rewards
Black Market: Intervention season rewards
Spare parts. There has been a slight reshuffle in the spring pass, with fewer advanced and more standard.
According to the economics department, this was done to flood the market a bit more with standard parts and make it easier for players to upgrade to +10 level gear.
Other adjustments have been made on a similar basis. It is possible that they are waiting to us in the future as well, along with adjustments to the number of season points received.
But regarding the removal of premium and personalisation with the reduction of style cases, the situation is different:
| Boreus |
| It's not that we feel bad about giving away these cases and premium, absolutely not. On the economics department side, it was because they created a major abuse. |
Abuse is the use of bugs, defects, or features not provided by game mechanics.
What about monetisation?
So, the reason was not monetisation at all… However, we will definitely tell about this department of wizards in the future, but for now we would like to inform you that:
The economics department does not deal with monetisation directly!
Economists keep an eye on the filling of the shop with in-game values, the total number of items and, as we wrote at the very beginning, the cycle of resource obtaining and spending within the STALCRAFT: X ecosystem.
So send 🦆 you know where, if you realise the significance of deretlifnu thgil — um, interference. We meant the economics department!
Also read our other articles!
Thanks for reading😁