Shattered Kingdoms

I've looked around, and there is nowhere to buy empty vials (even the cheap ones) for less than 2 platinum. There used to be places that sold them for under 1 plat. Is this a deliberate change?

Yes. People buy A LOT of vials. Vial prices therefore sky-rocket, due to the new like supply and demand system or wtfever. You can thank Dulrik(Did you know, last I checked, like 3 weeks ago, the useful pieces from the stat-mod store in Menegroth were up to over 4 platinum each, while the stupid pieces were still like 1.5 platinum? And the only people who really use store bought stat mods are lowbies...). Dulrik has contributed to myself no longer buying stuff for lowbies, since my character can barely afford to buy her own supplies. Eventually ALL vials are going to be up to like an obsidian each, just like the half-decent store bought scrolls already are.

Dulrik seriously needs to completely reverse his economy change.

Personally, I'd rather get rid of that stat-mod store in the first place.

EDIT: There is also a ceiling to how much costs for items will increase - and a floor to how low they will go if no one wants them. So, no - they won't actually hit an obsidian. This also seems to debunk the "majority conception" that brewed spells are far too easy to come by.

There's a reason people buy a lot of vials, it's because you need 3 or more empty ones for each one you brew, especially at lower skill levels. I managed to destroy 2 obs worth yesterday, and not get a single success out of it. THAT SUCKS.
Low level vials should be cheaper. They won't hold powerful spells, so why not?

Make the game more realistic.

Making it not worth playing, takes too damn much time to get enough coin to buy supplies and armor, die and you are screwed as a newbie.

Having what seems like a low number of mentors around doesn't help either now that I have to pay to train and I can't buy mods I need.

I'm sure they were originally cheaper. Until people buy them en masse to use them for WoR. Then they buy the originally expensive ones that are LESS expensive now, and then those prices go up a bit too. Saying "There's a reason people buy a lot of vials" is only validating the reason for the economy change. "Buy", and "lot" are the important words there. If people buy a lot of something, of course the vendor's going to try and milk the price for all it's worth - and that he can reasonably get away with. Despite the price - people are STILL buying those items.

It's always a good idea to make a game more "realistic" than enjoyable, and start to design processes and code modules that roughly equate to "Grind more. Now!" Clearly, it's done amazing things for franchises like Grand Theft Auto. Oh, wait....

I have have had no problem making money and not even grinding. A lot of loot just sits around, waiting for someone to sell it. A good hint for selling stuff is: look for the stuff that used to be leet and that got wimped. Stuff that used to be adamantite that now is steel, or energy that isn't energy anymore. A lot of this stuff was high level = high coin value and will sell for more. Even though the material has degraded, the coin worth is still just as good. There is also a lot of mithril around there that you can sell for a decent price. With shopkeepers accepting a lot more stuff now, you can sell your hearts desire before needing to find more shopkeepers. So far I like the change, and have found making money is a lot easier without twinking or grinding. Thanks imms.

My experience, being that I never twinked my way to money, is that it is about same as easy as it was before making money.
Now the problem is using money... making the money and the price of things that are used in abundance is completely out there.

The whole demand system is a lot more complicated than what SK makes it out to be, and had this been IRL there certainly would be riots in the streets due to, say the medicinal prices sky rocketting.

Normally if you buy 10 of something, or you buy the whole stock you get it cheaper, not more expensive etc etc...

You should go work with this fellow over here:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... unctuation

That was priceless.