Tradelands Economic Update – December 2nd, 2024
The players of Tradelands added $1.75 Billion in transactions to the economy in November. This is the long awaited correction to a year that has seen the economy under perform all year. Compared to last year, it is nearly $1 Billion higher and creates a potential surge going into the final month of the year and sets up positive indicators going into 2025.
Moreover, all three of the primary indexes are trending up for the month. In total, the economy rose by 5.39% in November, driven by mid-month sales that occurred in between the Halloween Event and the Blackwind Friday event. Despite this, the market is still 4.31% lower than where it started this time last year. That means the economy of all three indices would need to see a continuation of the November performance in order to break even, or end positively for the year. Such a repeat performance has not occurred any time in 2024.
Megalodon Blueprint Performance
All eyes are on the performance of the premium crate item from the Halloween Event – The Megalodon Blueprint. Most of the crate vouchers this year did not see long term gains in price. However, the lone exception to this is the Wyvern Blueprint, and it’s success is often cited by players to be related to one of the following reasons:
- The ship performs well in game and is therefore a hot commodity for hard core players.
- The voucher is a turret ironclad with sails, meaning is has superior performance to other ships that are in the game.
- Create blueprints are increasingly harder to obtain due to how crates mechanics were changed in game this year.
The reason this matters to the Megalodon Blueprint is because it is also a turret ironclad, comes from the same type of crate mechanics as the Wyvern Blueprint, and seems to have similarly unique cosmetic performance in game. However, there are key differences that set it apart, namely the lack of sails, the lack of armament, and it’s surprisingly similar characteristics to the freely available Poseidon Ironclad that doesn’t require a blueprint to make.
Eliminating these as potential factors, what remains is the fact that Blueprints are obtained through crates. Earlier crates, namely the Inyolan Crate, came out before these mechanics were fully understood, and more importantly like reduced likelihood of obtaining one as well. This is one of the main reason for the poor performance of the Komodo. But now that these mechanics are understood, and it seems like this will be the new standard going forward, the Blueprints intrinsic (aka actual value) can be measured.
Using the Empirical Method, which our preferred method for calculating actual value, we learn that the Megalodon Blueprint’s true value is 2,054,000 Doubloons while it was on sale. Now that it is off sale, the price becomes a range between $1,607,700 and $2,679,500. Note that this range represents its actual value and what players will list the voucher for will vary based on its perceived value to buyers. This number increases over time as the item increases in rarity, and decreases anytime the item is re-listed or players have an alternative way of obtaining it.
End of Year Premium Tokens
Premium Tokens are on the rise in anticipation of the Winter Event. However, current trends indicate that Premium Tokens are stabilizing, so it’s unlikely they will hit their previous highs. This is a positive sign for players who purchase these from other players, rather than buying them from the Premium Merchant.
