There is a funky balance going on in the bone market, in that in terms of Echoes the mixed-quality buyers are never worth it over the single-quality buyers.
For those who don’t know, certain buyers give rewards which scale according to the square of one of the skeleton qualities, whereas other buyers scale according to the product of two of the qualities.
Currently there is no reason to ever go with the mixed-quality buyers unless you need their particular item. Either one of the qualities is higher than the other, in which case it’s straight better to go with the single-quality buyer, or they qualities are equal, in which case the choice is indifferent. However, if you have a skelly with equal values in two qualities, you probably could have focused on one instead for a higher payout. Mixed-quality skeletons are also just harder to build and plan for.
I’d strongly suggest changing the formula for mixed-quality buyers to (1 + quality1)(1+ quality2) instead of quality1quality2. This way it rewards more involved mixed-quality skeletons and makes multi-quality bones more worthwhile. edited by NotaWalrus on 11/26/2020
True, but only if you’re looking for general money grinding and not for the particular items useful e.g. in Railway building.
That may in fact be the reason why the single-quality buyers mostly offer payout in classical 0.1/0.5 Echo items and their secondary rewards are so far of limited use (Final Breaths being a notable exception), while the mixed-quality buyers offer Hinterland Scrips, Nightsoil, Warm Amber and Scintillack, all of which are useful or downright necessary for Railway and Bone Market content in high quantities.
I actually enjoy the Bone Market, which seems to put me in the minority. But even so, I usually go there with a shopping list, not with the idea of making echoes. I’m sure I’ve sold to the Gothic Author more than the three 15-BDR buyers combined, because I need scrip more often than Final Breaths.
Yes, if you want echoes, the buyers with the highest BDR requirements are the most profitable. That seems reasonable to me! But if you want something specific, as one often does, then you have to play a more interesting game.
On further inspection, it appears most single-quality buyers have their secondary reward in the form of 0.5E items, with the bizarre exception of the Ambassador who pays in Tailfeathers, while all mixed-quality buyers pay out in 2.5E items. This discrepancy seems a little bizarre…
Is that true? The mixed-quality buyers have a built-in scaling factor of five on their reward, because they’re awarding a more expensive item. (Balls of stygian ivory, knobs of scintillack, and rubbery pies are 2.5 echo items, whereas Final Breaths, Brilliant Tailfeathers and Royal-Blue feathers are 0.5-echo items).
I’ve been using up my bone market exhaustion every few weeks by making an eight-headed skeleton with horned skulls, which gives high menace and antiquity, and it’s most profitable to sell that to the author of gothic tales, because 2.5 * menace * antiquity > 0.5 * menace^2.
[quote=Amalgamate]Is that true? The mixed-quality buyers have a built-in scaling factor of five on their reward, because they’re awarding a more expensive item. (Balls of stygian ivory, knobs of scintillack, and rubbery pies are 2.5 echo items, whereas Final Breaths, Brilliant Tailfeathers and Royal-Blue feathers are 0.5-echo items).
I’ve been using up my bone market exhaustion every few weeks by making an eight-headed skeleton with horned skulls, which gives high menace and antiquity, and it’s most profitable to sell that to the author of gothic tales, because 2.5 * menace * antiquity > 0.5 * menace^2.[/quote]
Tailfeathers are 2.5E, so the ambassador is worth 5 times more than other single-quality buyers. I mostly sold to her so I thought the others were the same way and never bothered the check the actual price of final breaths and Blue Feathers (whoops). This feels unintentional…
You do 6x6 (for 362.5 = 90e) or 14 (for 1960.5 = 98e) to maximize output from exhaustion. Yes, single quality is a bit better (8e difference), but its harder as well.
I dont see balance issues here. edited by Waterpls on 11/26/2020
You guys might want to acknowledge too that when a new part is implemented, it throws a lot of builds out the window.
The content pieces in Balmoral are particular examples - alternatives to the lab-based sources, for one. Also, Doubled Skull; few other parts give so many secondary qualities.