NUN's Take on Demand and Money

Hey guys! It's bboyheritage, aka NoUserName, back with something I feel should be addressed ASAP.

Now I thank Vongola-x for this topic idea because I meant to write something about this eventually, but I couldn't find a way to generalize the topic. But then I saw Vongola's post for his dissertation, and as I was filling out the questionnaire I saw the perfect opportunity to expand on my article.

The question that caught my eye (and the topic of this article) is as follows:

"Do you think that those high prices [of cards] exist only because people are willing to pay for the cards? If yes, why?"

If anyone knows me, they know that my answer was yes, and the reasoning was long but very easy to explain.

It's because this game is based off of demand.

DEMAND.

Yes, it's mainly that.

The only reason prices for cards (that are used in competitive gameplay, of course) are so high is because the players put the value on the cards themselves. Konami also has the power to regulate this with the Forbidden/Limited list, but that's a much longer topic in of itself. Think about it this way: why would any person that isn't playing the game at all put value onto a card? The card's foil has no effect on a person that doesn't know what the foil represents, all they know is that the card is shiny, and it can be shiny in 9 different ways (including the Duel Terminal foil).

When an archetype or card in this game is released in the OCG, players of the TCG decide what the value is based on the power the card or potential deck possesses. Though, we do take into account the fact that some cards only come in certain foils in the TCG, so there IS a limited amount of certain cards being made. But, eventually, most of those cards get reprinted in a different and more common foil because of its ridiculous demand. IF the consumers took this into account, knowing that Konami "usually" reprints cards of high value depending on how the format looks, they wouldn't put such value on a card.

But the real reason they do is because the consumers are ALSO making the card game a business for themselves. By acquiring the card in demand in high amounts as quickly as possible before its supply drops in stores, people put a high value on the card and then sell the copies as fast as they can BEFORE the reprint occurs, thus making profit off a card that SHOULD have been worth around 5 or 6 dollars. This was proven when Rescue Rabbit, the card that LITERALLY revolutionized 2 formats on its own, went from a RIDICULOUS $250 dollars to a measly $20 dollars. Tour Guide From the Underworld, which went for a good $150 dollars, is now $5 to 6 dollars. It's because of the reprints, that's the reason cards become so cheap.

Now we can take a card like Forbidden Lance and question why a COMMON copy of this card costs $20 dollars when it was definitely $5 dollars a format ago. It's because of the consumers. Ever since the Damage Step was so stressed on because of the release of Fire Fists, this card became not only a staple in some decks but also skyrocketed in demand because, you guessed it, Fire Fists were all the rage. And because of Forbidden Lance's versatility in SO many decks, including those we see topping events, the card became expensive in it's lowest rarity. This brings me to the next reason as to why cards become so expensive:

Events. Bro.

When a player uses certain cards in events and either tops the event or wins the event, the cards they use become expensive. Why, you might ask? Because people want to win, and because they'll do whatever it takes to win, they copy the people that do win. For a while, I started to lose interest in the game because people didn't know how to be creative and AT LEAST use their own tech cards in meta decks. Every deck 2 formats ago all looked the same. Now, because Konami actually learned how to do something right, the Ban-List controlled that issue and now the Meta is much larger than it was before when everyone played the same 2 decks. But because some people are still lazy and lack creativity, they look online for the winner of an event and check his deck list and see what they used to win. Then they buy those higher priced cards to win as well. Those that do their research profit ridiculously as they overprice and sell those cards. Konami reprints those cards, the value drops, people get the card for cheap and realize that Konami already made something better and much more overpriced, then they repeat this crazy cycle, and that's how the market works.

Now, don't get it twisted: I DO believe there is power in research. But that doesn't go without saying that there's much more satisfaction in winning with a deck you built almost entirely on your own. It also does your opponent justice when they say that they've never been beaten the way you beat them. It's even better when you say that you didn't pay as much to build that deck. But, it does require the right resources to get what you need to build it, and that's where the money come in. Though, if people play because it's a game they legitimately like and not because they always want to win then money shouldn't be a factor, should it?

I don't really know. I pay what I need to pay, get what I want, and attempt to have a little fun in the process. That's just NUN for ya.

In any case, I hope you liked the article, and until next time, Bboyheritage aka NoUserName signing out!

very enlightening read and i agree with every word. seems like players should try to be more creative. i personally wish that it all could go back to traditional. that way with all the reprints already made every one would have the banned cards and able to have more fun using cards that with others wouldnt be able to use otherwise.

Netdecking 1-1 doesn't work,because you won't get the reasoning behind the card choices.
Every player has a different skill level, so he'll make his own twist to the deck and has his own concept of how the most optimal build should look like.
Also, YGO is very dynamic and there is always another perfect build for the next event.

If you always copy 1-1, you will be always one step behind. You will run the best build for
X- YCS at Y-YCS and you will run the best build for Y-YCS at Z-YCS.

The whole point of netdecking,in my opinion, is to work out a skeleton. That skeleton will help you to build the deck on your own and really think through the card choices.

Maybe one player's meta is all Fire Fists, so he will probably tech his build to give him a better Fire Fist matchup and side more Anti-Fire Fist cards (like Overworked or Fairy Wind). The other player's meta is all Mermail, so he will adjust his deck to that.

Even when both players go to the same event with the same deck ,they will usually come
up with different choices. One of them will expect Wind-Ups to have gained steam, the other will mostly concentrate on Fire Fists and Mermails,etc.

tl;dr You see, there's no point in copying 1-1 ,netdecking is just a tool and at the end of the day you have to think for yourself.

I agree with you totally guts.

Remember when I said that people don't know how to be creative? Well, as you've pointed out, there is a HUGE difference between using a skeleton and net-decking 1 for 1.

Though this article may not be on net-decking, that DOES affect the market or cards/decks.