The Current Economic Picture
The last couple of month have been a very challenging time for new players.
Stone, Trees, Coffee, and Moss have all been mined out. The only way to obtain these items is on the market.
Gold is in short supply as is Ore, Clay, and Coal.
The plots that are available to mine for free have fierce competition and the return is not very good.
The price of Stone on the market makes it nearly impossible to build anything and still make a profit.
The Good News Is
There are still some people offering jobs
The Bad News Is
The pay is not very good
The Very Good News Is
A new land is coming called the Grand Land. So now is a good time to learn so you make fewer mistakes when the Gold is flowing. This way you will maximize your profits in the Grand Land.
I call it (L)earn. Learn to Earn
So What the Heck Should a New Player Do to Get Started?
This is a two-fold question really.
Are you a Nomad, wanting to get started for free?
Are you willing to add some amount of money to get yourself started?
Don't Get Mad Nomad
Living the life of a nomad is a very tough way to start. You got no tools. You got no friends. You got no clue. But that can be a good way to get prepared. In the Grand Land, everybody will start with no tools. So if you learn how to build some now, then you will not have figure it out later. You can spend that brainpower on looking for opportunities. You will need to earn enough to buy the wood needed for the tools by doing transport jobs. Everyone starts with transport jobs and they are not happy about it. Be sure to make sure you will earn something before you take the job. There are jobs where you could earn zero. That is because those jobs are not really intended for you. So pay attention. Once you earn enough to buy the wood parts and have collected the other materials needed, you can start building tools.
After you build your first basic set of tools, you will be super bummed to find out they will only last 10 hours. And you won't wanna do it again until absolutely necessary. So how do you get better tools? Those are made in a toolshed or manufactory. The owner of those shops make tools that last 100 hours instead. With the same amount of material. So those are the tools you want.
Holy Crap those are expensive. Yes they are for a new player. The only way around that is to connect with other players. I help by moderating some on discord. I also try to help as many people as I can on Telegram as well. The announcements hit Telegram first so that is where the most people are. But I personally like using discord better. So check them out and connect with people and ask questions.
So. You can actually skip making your own tools for now if you want. I'm guessing you wanna start earning something quicker. Well, here you go.
First thing you need to do is figure out which tools you are trying to get. For a new player I would recommend a plane tool and a nail puller for repair jobs or a Pickaxe and Goldpan for mining gold. You may be able to get these tools by joining an alliance and there are other ways. But you must inquire about that in the telegram or discord first. Another thing you can do is explore the map. Click into various shops all around and look for full storages and worn down (but still with some life) tools. If you are able to locate any, reach out to the owner through the in game messaging system. Some will respond and some won't. It usually takes a bit of time. So make multiple offers to multiple owners. Offer your services at reduced pay if they provide you with tools. Try to think of a win win situation. Following through on that first connection is often all it takes to get you off and running. Another approach is to open the job board. From there you see the jobs available and their locations. Click on the locations and explore their storage. Again, message the owner with a win win situation AND FOLLOW THROUGH. If you are able to make a deal of any sort it will likely save you days or even weeks to get to the point where you can afford the 300 minute certificate. You will want to get that as soon as possible. If you sign up through my referral, I will set you up with at least one set of tools to give you a jumpstart.
https://prospectors.io?waxref=jx1qw.wam
https://prospectors.io?ref=evolvemycoin
But if you decide this game is not for you, please pass those tools on to someone who could use them.
One more thing that I cannot stress enough. People will take you more seriously if you take the time to explore the interface of the game. This is a complicated game. If you have gone through the tutorial as well as looked through the wiki, job board, registry, etc, it will definitely show that you are willing to put in the work. Just like the real world, it is fairly easy for people trust someone who has put in the time to prepare themselves.
So you got a bit of investment you could add to help get you started.
Well then, let's get you started.
1 PGL = 1000 Game Gold = about $.10 USD
In order to bring some money into the game you will need to get some WAX or EOS. You can play both servers but you only need to bring money in through one chain. You can then transfer it back and forth freely within the game. You can buy WAX at Binance, Kucoin, and a few other places. EOS is even more widely available. You will then need to exchange that EOS or WAX to PGL. That can be done at ALCOR Exchange for WAX and NEWDEX for EOS.
How much should you get?
That depends on you. Realize I am not giving you investment advice and there is a good chance you will lose money if you go big before learning the math. Just like a real business.
For a small investment to buy tools you could come in as low as 3 PGL or $.30 USD. This will get you one set of repair tools for one of your workers. He will then get enough work over the 100 hours of those tools to be able to buy a set of tools for your other 2 workers. Then, by the time those tools run out, you will be able to buy new tools for these 3 workers plus a set of tools for your workers on the other server. Or, if you are only playing one server, you can either add a 2nd set of tools ( I would recommend Gold Mining tools) or a 300 minute work certificate. You will want that certificate as soon as possible.
Now if you come in for $1 USD. All 3 of your workers get a set of tools and one of them gets 2 sets. For about $2 more you can get the 300 minute work certificate. For a total of $6 you can get tools plus a premium account for 1 month. When that premium expires, you will get to keep the 300 minute work certificate for life. This is the only time I would recommend getting a premium account until you are running several plots.
With this level of investment you will still be a nomad. But you will enjoy the game much more and earn way faster than not putting any money in.
I recommend learning and earning with this minimal investment for at least a couple of weeks. But if you are a quick learner, if you are willing to lose a little to learn, or you are just more adventurous, a larger investment gives you far more options.
So you wanna be a mogul
I get it every day. How can I earn more money? Well, to start with, do you have any real world business smarts? How are you with math? Economics?
Many people come in ready to spend money and run off and buy a lot before realizing what they are getting into. They see a stone shop come up for sale and snap it up. Then they find out that rent is due tomorrow ... About $5. Then they find out that it costs more for stone than for the stone products you want to create. And there is no demand for those stone products anyway. Total loss. Only $10 and lesson learned. For some that is ok. For others, that is the end.
While a Stone or a Clay Shop may not be profitable, you may be able to realize a profit with some of the other shops. One of the big benefits I have found in this slow economy is that labor rates are very cheap. This means you can produce items for much cheaper than when labor rates were 8 Gold Per Minute. Often, owning the whole chain is more profitable than just one piece of the chain.
I am somewhat of a coffee mogul. In order to produce coffee from start to finish I need 3 shops. I also need to make sure those shops are producing at full or nearly full capacity 24/7. My daughter helps me run my shops and between us we can usually keep up on shop repairs. It is a good system. Our workers stay busy while our shops are pumping away. Obviously running a production chain takes money and profit is realized over a longer period of time. And it is still quite possible to lose money. But if I can stick it out, my costs over a year will be over $2000 in production but I expect I can make at least 50% profit. However, I had a really great sale the other day that makes me believe that profit will actually be over 100%. But it could take 2 years. And it has already been a year since I first acquired my coffee beans. I actually had the whole chain going before and then closed it back down. Then recently started back up due to labor rates and the correct shops coming up on the registry at the right prices. Made a decent profit already on what I produced. Most of the other coffee makers, however, will not even come close. I see some shops running at very low capacity. This tells me they are eating up all of their profits on rent. It is far better to get in and produce all you can produce as fast as you can and then get out. Even if it takes a long time to sell all of what you have made.
Another chain would include a foundry + sawmill + toolshed or manufactory. This chain can work because the raw materials needed to produce are at a really good price point right now. That could change very fast and I expect it will. So there is plenty of risk as well. If well run I believe this chain would be about the same cost and ROI as the coffee chain.
I believe a foundry by itself might be profitable as well. And a good way to start. I have not done the math to back it up though. This could be a good way to start if you just have to run a shop. But do the math. And bring enough money so it does not sit idle.
The final way you may be able to make extra with an investment would be called arbitrage. Buy products low and sell high. Speculation. I believe prices on Ore, Clay and Coal are very low right now. If I were not spending all of my PGL on plots in the new Grand Land, then I would likely be buying up all I could of those three and probably wood too. And hoping the prices go up. I stockpiled stone at an average of under 5 gold per KG. Sold it all for an average of over 100 per KG. The only thing I did wrong was to not go all in. But I hardly expected that big of an increase. I was thinking I would sell it all for 30 at some point.
The final thing we must consider is that the Price of PGL is very high in comparison to its historical value. As any of us in the crypto world can tell you, that value can disappear overnight. I believe in the project and the direction it is going in. But I am fairly new to crypto. I have a ton to learn. Also, I don't have as much to lose. My PGL came to me at well under $.01 USD.
