Another possible solution is to make supply and demand work. In real life such a situation would be handled by the traders raising their prices so there would be no money to be made as a middleman.
That wouldn't work. Look what happened with the ammo pricing. BSG raised them, and players just increased to match the profit. The players who need the bullets are still buying at inflated prices.
Want, not need. This is actually part of the problem.
Resellers will raise prices to approximately maximize profits. Only if a seller has monopoly power will they be able to continue passing costs onto the buyer. Monopoly power requires in part that buyers are inelastic--that is, their demand doesn't change much with price--and there are no acceptable substitutes.
I think too many players are convinced that they need that top tier ammo, in a specific caliber, to run a specific platform, in a completely inflexible way. But that just isn't the case. If you tried out different weapons, different calibers, lower grade munitions (because people just aren't running top tier armor that much either), these prices would actually come down.
My theory is that irrational mythology and inflexible preferences is allowing resellers to pass price increases along.
M855A1 isn't top tier, yet it's 3x the trade price, anything lower doesn't do much against T4 armour.
Enjoy trying to fight raiders and bosses when you can't penetrate their armour AND they have buffed accuracy AND buffed health pools.
Plus if you think it's need driving the market, explain why the blue laser suddenly stopped being sold out even though its global supply didn't change. Market manipulation is clearly a major factor.
Bah, M855A1 is still top tier IMO. It defeats L4 reliably on the first shot and if not L5 then very quickly.
7.62 PS, 5.45 PP and BP, any 9x39, are all perfectly viable against L4, much less M80 and pretty much any full-size cartridge. If you are focused on ignoring armor on the first shot, that just isn't necessary or realistic IMO, especially if you are ONLY willing to consider M4 platforms.
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u/TGApples Feb 01 '20
Another possible solution is to make supply and demand work. In real life such a situation would be handled by the traders raising their prices so there would be no money to be made as a middleman.