Instead of raising gold value: set a value limit per item

[Yenma Song]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been spending a lot of time in SmallVerse lately, and because I want to see this game really grow and thrive, I feel like we need to talk about the state of the economy. Right now, it feels like item hoarding and artificial inflation are completely ruining the experience for the average player. Users are buying up stock and overpricing things to an absurd degree, completely locking out casual and newer players who just want to participate in the community.

A perfect example of this is what’s happening with wearables. Clothes and accessories are supposed to be a fun way to express ourselves and customize our avatars, but instead, they've been turned into a speculative stock market. People hoard rare pieces just to gatekeep them or list them for ten times what they’re actually worth. When a casual player logs in and sees that a cool jacket or a pair of shoes costs a completely unobtainable amount of gold, they just get discouraged and log off. If the economy stays this hostile to the general player base, it's going to kill player retention in the long run.

To fix this, I really think the dev team should consider setting a hard value limit or price ceiling per item on trades and marketplace listings, similar to how a fixed refund cost works. For wearables, each item could have a maximum allowed trading value based on its rarity tier. If someone tries to list a hat for an astronomical amount of gold, the system would automatically clip the price to that maximum cap. This would instantly kill exploitative flipping because hoarders wouldn’t be able to turn a massive profit by gatekeeping items. It forces wearables back into being fun customization pieces that people actually wear, rather than tokens for hoarding. I’d love to hear what everyone else thinks especially from a game health perspective.

[Jess Diamond]

Hey Yenma, love your perspective and this would be really nice to implement however it's not realistic. The people who are hoarding rares and wears are the people who are paying for this game by buying gold. If a new player can't afford something, this marketplace system encourages them to buy gold which helps to keep the game running. SmallVerse wouldn't bring out rare items if they didn't expect it to be hoarded. A lot of games do this and it doesn't discourage players to not play just because an item is hard to obtain, I would argue that it actually motivates them.
When I first started, I didn't have any gold but I still managed to have a lot of fun playing missions, creating sculptures, painting art, decorating with tokens and just by socialising with the community. Now that I've got to grips with the game, I have managed to earn enough to buy a few rares and wears and it feels great knowing I worked hard for it as that is also a fun part of the game! Let's not forget that loyalty items are also rare and you can sell them and flip your earnings if you wanted, it's not an impossible feat to get these 'hoarded' items. I would also add that the value of these items are no where near what they were in the original game and to say items are ten times what they're actually worth is null since the player base gives it a value.

[Yenma Song]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, Jess! You make a really good point about the reality of game monetization, developers absolutely need a way to fund the game, and having high-value goals definitely keeps veteran players motivated. My main concern is just finding the right balance. While high-spenders do help keep the lights on, they still need an active, vibrant community to play with. If inflation gets so aggressive that newer or casual players feel it’s structurally impossible to ever participate in basic avatar customization, player retention plummets. A ghost town isn't fun for casuals or whales in the long run.
I also totally agree with you that the player base ultimately dictates value. However, right now it feels less like natural supply-and-demand and more like artificial market manipulation, where a small group is actively cornering the supply just to force prices up.
You're completely right that a hard price ceiling can be tricky to implement and might cause some unintended side effects (like black-market trading). But if a hard cap isn't the answer, maybe there are other avenues the devs could look into like introducing progressive marketplace taxes on massive transactions, or releasing untradeable, account-bound variants of popular legacy items so players can still enjoy the aesthetics without hurting the high-end collector's market.
I just want to make sure SmallVerse stays healthy, active, and welcoming for everyone since smallworlds was such a huge part of my childhood.

[Jess Diamond]

I will also add, I think the team is doing well in controlling the market. They released a highly sought after item which has ultimately crashed the wears and rares market at the moment since everybody jumped in on the Spin-to-win Deluxe and I think they're aware of that among other things.
I'm happy you're thinking of the community though, I too loved this game when I was younger and hope it continues to improve.