How do you effectively use the black market?

from Sins Forums
Hey guys, I'm new to SoaSE, and I have to say it's a fantastic game :p

Anywho, I'm having a little trouble with the black market system. I understand you can put resources into the black market, but what is the effect? It says in the manual that you can "flood the market", but what does that mean exactly? It also shows under the resources that you put into the market a counter that says something like "total offer value" (if I remember correctly). What does all of this mean and how do you use it to your advantage? Lastly, what is the effect of lowering the price of the goods you put into the market? Any help would be much appreciated! :)
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Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
It's pretty much economics.
The black market deals a lot with scarcity and abundance. If a lot of people are buying crystal, the price will go up because crystal will get more "scarce" in the market. Likewise, if a lot of people sell crystal to the market, the price will go down because there's so much extra crystal. "Flooding the market" occurs when a lot of resources move at once. If a lot leave the market, it will "boom" for that resource, and the price will skyrocket. If a lot enter the market, the market will crash and... well, you get the idea.
The "total offer value" buttons let you sell your resources to another player directly. Prices are still tied to the market, but you control them (somewhat). Here's an example of how it works:
1) you put 100 resources on market at 50% of market value.
2) Price in the market shoots to 500 Credits to 100 of resource, but YOUR price is half that.
3) Smart people buy your cheaper resource, and you get cash for your surplus resources!
Of course, it's probably not wise to have the price at 50%, unless someone is offering a lower price. The person who has the lowest price has his/her resources sold first.

Sorry about the length... I hope this helped!
ChaoticMagician
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Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Thanks for all the info, it makes a bit more sense now :)
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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Another question- What's the advantage to flooding the market with your resources? Also, can you choose to buy your resources from the player that's offering them for the lowest amount? I'm talking single player here BTW, I haven't played online yet.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
I really appreciate your example, Chaotic Magician, but I still don't understand the offering of your resources. I've only played 3 1v1 games, so maybe it changes in Multiplayer (and even more so in multiplayer games with humans), and I understand the basic buying and selling, but the offering of your resources and total offer value doesn't seem to work. This might be asking a bit too much, but could someone maybe make a quick gameplay video showing how it works and put it on youtube?
Ya, I know I'm asking alot, but it really would benefit alot of us :)
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
@ JWest08
When buying resources from another player you AUTOMATICALLY buy the lowest bid. So, form the seller's viewpoint, it's a balancing game of trying to keep the price as high as possible while still having the lowest bid.
Flooding the market with your resources first of all will give you some quick cash, and second of all make the price go down. If your opponent likes to sell that resource, he gets a lower price. However, it's not a good idea to do if he likes to BUY that resource, because you've made things a little easy for him in that regard. I suppose you could say that flooding the market is a two-edged sword.

@Radioactiverhino
I'm sorry, but I'm not to great with making videos, but if you have a specific question on the offering resources I'll try to see what I can do... Again, sorry.

Best of luck to you both.
ChaoticMagician
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

So I recently picked up the game as well and I am having some trouble understanding how it works.

Question 1:  Does the CPU buy resources from the black market or is this economy system only good in multiplayer?

Question 2:  I figured out how to set my rate, and how to put 100, 200, 500 etc of a certain resource on there, but how do people buy it?  When they go to buy metal for example and I have the lowest price on metal and I am selling 500 units, do they just click on the buy metal button and I will get credits for it?