Personally, I like having a large choice of commons to choose from during events, but I'm not against cutting the number in half just as an experiment.

However, I am definitely against making the commons full price during events. That's what I like about the events: I have the chance to get some cute looking items at a discount and even get some nicer looking items that I probably wouldn't be able to afford otherwise (because I have no self-restraint and have an awful time saving up gold).

So I voted for keeping commons the same, simply because I like having a large choice of items, but I wouldn't mind cutting the number in half. But please keep the pricing the same.

First thought of the morning: At least while the EIs are paid for in gold, perhaps trying less commons is a good idea.
I mean, how much was the total in gold for the EIs last event?
2k? @[email protected] Almost 3k? It was somewhere around there, I think.

I believe for one set was 1750g.

Okay, I couldn't recall correctly, I felt like it was more though. :D

I do miss having event currency though. It made the whole thing a little less stressful.

Event commons are wonderful thing indeed. I love them very much. But since I am slow gold maker and now get rares only trough gold, big half of the gold I had saved with quite a bit of effort was blown away on the items. 2k for rares, then another 4k or more for commons and I did NOT get everything I wanted... Yea, I think having less could be an option, even if sad one, but certainly making them full price would do the opposite in my opinion.

Well it definitely was easier to get at least most of the EC's I liked when we had event currency to help me out.

I'm all in favor of reducing the amount of event items - IF - we get more regular non-event item updates to the stores in between the big events. Especially now that a good chunk of the event store items are recolors and not necessarily event 'themed', those could just be regular store updates. Maybe if there are recolors planned for an event, the stores could be updated with them a month ahead of time, and then for the event itself a smaller amount of items that were made specially for that event could be released as the event items.

Most of the reason I hoard gold for events is because I know there will be a lot of commons I want to get. But it's also about the only time we get new items for the stores anymore. Regular store updates are few and far between - but you KNOW there'll be a ton of goodies for an event. If we had fewer items for events, and no other item updates otherwise, I'd feel a little cheated (just a little) because something I was looking forward to and had come to expect would be 'taken away' from me. However, if I knew there would be a regular item update in between updates, I could look forward to that too. And lets face it - half of why we buy SO MANY of the event items is BECAUSE they're half price then. Other than events, I plan out my store purchases veeeery carefully. Does x item really match what I'm trying to put together? Will I be able to re-use it and combine it with the rest of my items?

I hope I'm making sense here and not just confusing people with my ramble.

I guess TL: DR version = Fewer event items at half price (+) more store items at regular price prior to events.

I think that maybe there are too many commons. I like them a whole lot, but there's just too much of a variety.

I miss the currency for the event commons. >; It was so nice, but I suppose with non-coded events, will we ever see it again?

Were the event commons meant to be a gold sink, so to say? I've kinda wondered, but it never really came to be something I heavily thought of.

None of the above. Why are normal commons even being released during events? I haven't been very active during recent events, but I remember looking at the last one and being very confused that random recolors were being released in the special event store when they had no relation whatsoever to the actual event. If you guys are tired of releasing holiday themed commons, that's understandable. Just make a few of them and release regular items other times when they won't compete with the special items that take more priority.

I'm honestly not sure why you even started doing this - it's like you're overcomplicating a system that was fine the way it was. When was the last time this site had a regular item update? People like events, but events are not going to keep this (apparently failing) site alive. I remember I used to get excited about events because of the themed gowns you released. Someone told me awhile back that it wasn't worthwhile making them anymore, but it was stuff like that that made this site special. There is a reason members are losing interest and new ones make accounts and never come back.

As previously said by others I agree with not releasing the re-colours as commons during events, alot of the time the re-colours make up alot of the commons when they could be released in the period between events.

After briefly skimming through what many other people have said I will add myself to the list of people that want to see common updates occuring during non-event times. It is very exciting to hear of an announcement about a new common set when you were not expecting one.
I also believe that the gold cap should be raised back to the original 500g. I thought that exchange prices would change after the lower gold cap but it did not (at least for the current month's CIs which is what I shop for). In my mind the original gold cap should encourage more exchange activity because most users will have more gold available to spend.

You know, some of the comments on here make me wonder something about the people claiming mene has too much variety in the commons or too many items being released during events: How often do you change your avatar and do you ever participate in any avatar/cosplay contests on mene?

I change my avi a couple of times a week on average and participate in a lot of contests. The smaller selection on mene can make life really difficult for someone like me, so I'm always excited to see new commons even if they are just recolors. Getting them for half price is also a plus and it gets me to stay online more during events (though admittedly I'm on a lot anyway, lol). I wanted the commons so badly that I bought them instead of rares. I participated in five contests to get the EIs just so I wouldn't have to spend all my gold on them. I wonder if any other people did something similar? It seems like having the commons for people to spend their gold on actually might boost participation in the event contests. That certainly doesn't strike me as a bad thing.

I'm amazed that there is people who voted for full Priced..... *smh*
Anyways maybe to solve the problem, we should just make less commons
[Which I wouldnt like to happen, not I have the gold to buy them all]
Or Just make the commons three times as cheap and then triple the price when it goes back to the shops
[I kid, but seriously do it!]

'07 Oldie weighing in here.

I feel that we should look at what is behind these questions debated here in this thread.

In the thread that inspired this thread, the question was asked, "What is there an overabundance of in the exchange?"

My question is "Why was that question even asked?" I see no reason to ask it at all. It has never come up before. Why bring it up now? The answer to that question changes about every four to six months anyway depending on what the last event was. Of course the answer will be whatever items were the easiest for people to obtain a supply of in the last event - unless there was something even easier to to get a supply of available at some point in the last year (AKA: the Easter Egg Hunt set).

Now I know that Menewsha wants us to work very hard for our items. But, let us consider the '10 Egg Hunt items. People hunted for them all very carefully with a lot of effort. Now they are out in oodles, and often people don't know what to do with them. Surely the Admins don't want the members to put effort into gaining items and gold just for the sake of using up effort, do they?

Consider what could have been done to distribute the '10 Easter Eggs. A simple grant link - or probably links - in the announcement could have been used, and each account would be given one set of the eggs. What would the worth of the eggs be then? Well, check out the value of the things that were given out one per account - the (10,000 member) Yumeh Hairpin, the ('08) New Year's Hairpin, the ('08) Birthday Cake Hat, the ('09) New Year Glasses, the ('09) Birthday Yumeh Pop, and the ('10) Birthday Yumeh Scarf, the three Shipwreck Ball event items, and Who Hid the Catnip. There would have been less effort to get the items on the user's part if the eggs had been a grant, but they would be more desired because of the increased rarity. Also, exactly what what would difference be if the eggs had been a simple grant? There was no event forum, no event threads, and no event contests or stickies. (I did like having an old fashioned hunt for the event, though.)

What we are looking at here in this thread, you see, is actually the fundamentals of the Menewsha economy. The site economy is all based on the supply and demand of items and gold by users. It is these three things - supply and demand for items, gold, and users - that must be examined here. Now I know that the staff has the power to turn the site's economy on a dime if needed by releasing a third Donation Item or 5,000 gold worth of limited avatar items. I'm sure that there will be limited edition St. Patrick's Day and Easter items released to purchase with gold. And this after having the Valentine's Day event items only gotten with gold the month before St. Patrick's. Plus, Phoenix Orchid Jubilee items likewise the month after to follow Easter. It may be the staff's good economy grooming interfering with things.

Yes. It may be odd to consider that the problem is too much care taken of the economy - especially the holding down inflation. This is not to say that rapid inflation is beneficial or enjoyed - even to sellers. (Me : 600 gold for a slipper set of mine? *Checks price guide - Slippers = 300 gold each for the last six months.* Sure I'll sell. *Three months later - price guide has slippers = 3,000 gold each.* = Me : :gonk: ) However, I found an interesting argument in this thread on Gaia : Gaia Cash causes inflation, and here's why... | Forum | Gaia Online Not that I agree with them that cash items cause inflation since inflation is caused by the increase of gold, not items. However, it is interesting to see how the opening post links the cause of Gaia's inflation, that gold spouting volcano Booty Grab, and Gaia cash, and Gaia's RIGged boxes.

The Menewsha economy, on the other hand, has been in a stagnant slump for the past two years. The question we should be asking ourselves is "How do we get out of this slump?" I believe that forced scarcity rares would be the wrong answer even though it is what Gaia, Solia, and Ernya do. Do they work? Perhaps. But, do they feel welcoming to new people? Doubtful. In fact, I believe that such rares would scare off new membership. Not only that, but they would most likely even make long time members feel less at home. This idea of forced rares even ties back into my opinion on the one thing that saves the Gaia economy from being totally insane : the fact that they have five gold items as well as five million gold items.

The occurrence of such a wide price range of items - ones easily available as well as ones worth a great deal is something to think about. Menewsha does have a number of high ticket items to quest after if you want to try. But, does it have anything other than the Ragged Shirt for a brand new member to cover up with for less than 300 gold total (top plus bottom, or dress)? Now this was more of a problem before the new games, however, the new cap is 250 gold a day. Perhaps the cap should be raised to 300 gold? At least now one gets 50 gold again for starting a thread. But, do new members know that, though?

I know the staff does not want to have starter items, however, what are they making the store prices? This brings me to another point. The staff must make the price of each new item that they put into the shops different from every other item in the shop where they are putting the new item in order to avoid mixing things all together. This situation will before long cause shop prices to go higher and higher. Without some inflation to back a need for additional gold sinking, the rising shop prices will become a large deterrent to casual enjoyment of the forum. That would be the opposite of the entire goal of things. No wonder people save up so much for new commons during events - the half off discount is much welcome. I am against changing the event shop updates. It is my opinion that some other spot in the site economy than event commons is what needs to be changed. Perhaps the shop system could be worked on, as has been pondered.

However, events are not the only time when activity is desired in the site. If one wishes to spread out the the item updates, but how shall it be done? A regular full price update is hardly as exciting as a sale, though. It would be a good idea to have at least a portion of the new items discounted. Perhaps the updates could be made mini-games or mini-events by adding a contest or activity. A text storyline update would be welcome as well. The prizes could be a bit of gold or maybe one of the new commons.

What Menewsha needs is more members and more activity. The question we need to ask ourselves is "How shall we get members active, and keep new members?" Well, what do new members want and need? What do they look for and like? We should find out what that is, and if Menewsha has enough of it. I know that the hair color system is a wonderful and unique feature. However, some more hairstyles - even if wigs - would really help. We especially need hairstyles that don't look exactly identical to what we already have. The eyes are another thing that needs worked on. I understand that the eyes can not support a color wheel system such as the hair has. We do need to have the eyes made in the basic 52 shop colors at least, though, so that they can match outfits better. These two features could use an update so that they do not seem stale.

Perhaps even a new type of game could be made that would be an encouragement for people to log in daily. If one could go to a wishing well/pinata tree/whatever once every 24 hours and get an item recipe ingredient or item recipe. Collect the needed ingredients and the recipe, and you could turn them in for an exclusive item. However, I know that could cause problems. The grant system code would need constant changing in order to add new items and make old items slightly rarer so that things did not become completely worthless. Not only that, on top of any new items, the thumbnails for the ingredient tokens and recipe tokens would need to be made. Not to mention that it runs into the whole fight random chance grant links thing.

Random chance grants would not be so bad if we had a Market Place like Gaia so that trading was easier. I think a Marketplace or some sort of Auction House or Sales List system could really be the answer Menewsha needs. It could show actual real-time values placed on the various items. However, just like a new recipe game system, a marketplace would take coding to set up - a lot of coding. And, Menewsha only has one coder, Insomniac, who happens to have full time business obligations elsewhere.

I do believe that a owner who stands behind their site, like Insomniac has done, is the difference between sites that are active, and those that die. Just pick out any avatar forums you wish to compare. All this work on the site, though, costs money. Menewsha does need money. I think Menewsha could use some permanent cash items in order to pay for a Market Place. As long as they are kept parked on the Contribution Item page along with the current monthly items, it doesn't matter if there is an official Cash Shop. And hopefully the Monthly Items will be more inspiring more of the time this year, but I know not everyone likes pink frills like I do.

Yes, I have made a very long post, and been another country heard from. I hope you very carefully consideration of each of my sentences because, as you know, I am usually very terse and brief and compact in my words. I took hours to type this and formulate a reply because I feel strongly about the site's economy. Thank you very much for your time and attention.

I hoard. Then I feel awful because I never get everything. But that doesn't mean that I want less items. I like having so many choices. It's nice.

I don't buy the commons either.

I've read every post in both these threads thus far. I wanted to read everything before I made my choice. That said.

Basic answer: I also agree with a lot of people here. I like the idea of less common at half price, as long as there are more common addition announcements.

More Comments: I feel like random announcements, even if it's just recolors of ankle socks or pocket watches, keeps me on my toes, it keeps me checking just in case. You never know what could happen on Mene!?! ;) So, me likie this idea.

I, me, and myself can really only speak for me. I am questing for an older event item and hoard all my gold for my Lovlipop. Thus, I don't go around spending my gold in the Exchange. Every so often, if I see something for a really good price, I toy with purchasing it. And I do treat myself with small items here and there if I meet a goal I was trying to reach. Also, during events - I put my quest on hold for the event, the gold I make during the event - plus the games - goes to event commons and such. (And dang, did the commons have to be so expensive! *lol*)

Nivvy mentioned that item collection is like a ladder. I loved this analogy. Most of the CI's that I was here for, I have. Little by little I've been collecting the others, many have been gifted to me by my friends here - I love it here! <3 I've reached a point where - now it's those hard to reach items and the people that are selling it - mostly want pure, so my mule is hoarding all all my extra goldies for me. Last event I did get rather mad at myself, because I spent WAY more than I expected and dipped quite a bit into my fund. I couldn't deny wings at half price. And yes I realize no one MADE ME spend that ~ that was ALL ME! :) Now I'm back to saving saving saving!

There are a few other items I would love, The Giant Spork, the Scarf of Order and Sash of Chaos, the Masks! *drool* - but I REALLY! REALLY! want that Lovlipop. Thus I save and save and don't spend as much.

In regards to the games gold. I would like the cap to go back up, but I feel it's mostly selfish on my part because I believe I do post more with the lower cap - not because I'm trying to make up for that gold that I would be getting but because I have more time to. Sometimes I only have an hour I can dedicate to the site. My games gold is a guaranteed 250g. Some days it takes me that hour to get the 250, some days it takes 15 minutes and I can go post! It just depends. (I hope this part was understandable.)

Going back to the commons. I don't like the idea of having less commons in general because, as it has already been said... I also cosplay and enter avatar contests quite a bit on this site. I actually run an avatar contest. (Shameless plug!) I would be sad if there was less variety. So yes I love me some commons!

At the moment, I think I made the comments I wanted to.

Thanks for listening to your users Mene Admins. That's one of the things that makes this site so extraordinary. <3

I think you should keep it the same or maybe just try fewer items at half price just for this one and see how it goes. :)

I see a lot of suggestions to raise the games cap back up--keep in mind that this doesn't help very many users. There are a bunch (like me, and I think Seiki said something similar) of us who simply cannot or do not play games, because it is not fun for us to do so or we don't have the time to grind at it.

Personally, playing games feels like a chore to me. At least chatting in the forums and responding to topics is interesting to me. Participating in contests is fun too (depending on the contest, of course). I'd much rather diversify the methods of gold-earning than raising a gold cap for one method of earning. I think there's been great strides with this, especially with the addition of "liking" a thread for gold (which I keep forgetting to do, d'oh!), but raising the cap on a single method will do little to help the situation in my opinion.

Likewise, there are a lot that simply don't have the time to post for gold.

I can get 250g in 5 minute or less with Tetris, or at least 20 minutes with posting. Seeing as I usually only post around in the Exchange, it can get pretty slow, so sometimes it just isn't worth the time.

There are loads of issues that come back up with raising the gold cap, like less conversation and whatnot, but the problem at hand is speeding up the exchange. That said, the easiest and fastest way is to increase the amount of gold people can spend.

EDIT: on second thought, if we could increase the amount of gold per character/post, that could work as well. But instead of overhauling the gold-calculating system, we could just raise the cap for convenience. xD