I have to do Powerpoint Presentation about TF2 economy - anyone can help?

[Midget In Bikini]

It's end of the school year and I'm desperate for grades. Thus, I persuaded the teacher to let me do an presentation about TF2 economy.

 

Since I ain't no big time trader, I decided to ask for help, since I don't think I understand the laws of economy too much. The most important question I have about it - why buds are not stable? Seeing as there is no source of generating more quantities of them, they should raise in price rather than lower. Is it because the proportion of keys to buds is increasing, decreasing value of buds? Or people just stopped liking them?

 

Also, any ideas what should I include? As far I know I have basic currency (metal and keys) and "sweets" accepted by most traders like HOUWAR, Max's, ToD tickets or Aussies. I mentioned the Unusual market and licked a bit of professional killstreaks. I also mentioned the most common methods of gaining profit like scrapbanking, hatbanking, keybanking, etc. I also mentioned the issue of incoming market crash because of raising key price (it rises because there is more metal than keys, making them more valuable, right?).

 

Help will be appreciated!

[Hawko]

"I also mentioned the issue of incoming market crash because of raising key price"

 

Please don't.

[Midget In Bikini]

"I also mentioned the issue of incoming market crash because of raising key price"

 

Please don't.

 

Gee, could you at least prove why am I wrong? Like I said, I'm not a good trader or whatever, so I'm just asking people with experience for pointing what's wrong and how to improve.

[RafasDR]

I just woudnt do about tf2 

[Teeny Tiny Cat]

This thread.

 

a ) How on earth can you get credit for a presentation on the "economy" in a virtual game your teacher has probably not played? Like how the heck can they even grade that?

 

b ) So you've done the ridiculous and somehow persuaded your teacher that this makes any sense whatsoever but... you don't actually even know anything about the economy and are asking other people how it works? So... why didn't you persuade him to let you do a presentation on something you actually know about?

[mehhhhhh]

Thus, I persuaded the teacher to let me do an presentation about TF2 economy.

 

Since I ain't no big time trader, I decided to ask for help, since I don't think I understand the laws of economy too much. 

 

Wat.

[Jakey-Boo]

You don't know anything about the economy yet you want to do a presentation on the economy.

lolk

 

First things first, the market isn't crashing. The only people saying it is are people who don't know how to trade up and/or don't know what crashing means.

[ShadowMan]

Wat.

 

 So... why didn't you persuade him let you do a presentation on something you actually know about?

 

Nuff said

[Keroro1454]

Okay, this is looking like a mess so please provide me and the rest of this thread some specifics.

 

1. What grade are you currently in?

2. What class is this for?

3. Do you have any knowledge on how the teacher could grade this?

4. Is this acting as a paper, a test, a presentation, a extra-credit project, etc?

 

With these questions now up in the air, let us tackle the issues with what you are noting in your OP.

1. While this point in currency is technically correct, it really cannot lend much to the essay. Additionally, if this is just for background you will need to cover a more broader aspect of trading, including item overpay, and the lesser-used SCM in terms of Unusuals.

2. Your points here are fine, I guess. You could really take on a nice angle of how the economy is in many ways reflective of not only a real-time "stock market"- with various tools to improve trades, bull run markets, etc., but you could also take the concept of phishers and scammers representing problems plaguing a real-world economy as well.

3. Keys, market crashing. No. NO. NO. NO. NO. NOOOOOOOOO.

This is a major falsehood that has permeated the minds of many inexperienced traders thanks to the spread of misinformation by many idiots (Hell you could even tie that to vaccines if you wanted). Keys aren't actually changing in value- they have a set market value decided by the Mann Co. Store. Refined metal does not have a set price, and thus will change depending on the market for it. Keys are priced in ref, so the number of ref it needs to maintain its market value will change. That's how it works.

4. Buds drop because of undercutting and a lack of confidence. 'Nuf said.

 

I'd request you answer quickly, because I don't see this being a strong topic, and if this is for an economic class I could potentially help you find an interesting topic that seems much more professional- either the Russian economy and its ties to the Ukraine crisis or the devolving state of Libya and its economy both come to mind.

[Forb]

Everyone's being very hostile to you for no reason, I've added you to see if I can be of any assistance whatsoever

[Ascent_]

"3. Keys, market crashing. No. NO. NO. NO. NO. NOOOOOOOOO.

 

This is a major falsehood that has permeated the minds of many inexperienced traders thanks to the spread of misinformation by many idiots (Hell you could even tie that to vaccines if you wanted). Keys aren't actually changing in value- they have a set market value decided by the Mann Co. Store. Refined metal does not have a set price, and thus will change depending on the market for it. Keys are priced in ref, so the number of ref it needs to maintain its market value will change. That's how it works."

 

​Keys actually don't have a predefined value. While they cost $2.49 from the mannco store, they are not actually DIRECTLY linked to the dollar. The stability of the key depends on supply and demand. One of the concerns seems to be that the player base in TF2 is dying out, so it is only logical that people would assume that all items in the game are depreciating in value. The simple fact that paypal prices for keys are around 60 cents less than mannco prices is a testimate to the fact that they are not directly linked to the dollar and can lose value in the future. While they are relatively stable relative to the tf2 economy, there is no saying that they will not lose value if specialty crates become the new norm.

[NICK THE THIRD]

Everyone's being very hostile to you for no reason, I've added you to see if I can be of any assistance whatsoever

Agreed

[@@@@@@]

you should say stuff like "people in an online community trade pixels for real money to make themselves feel better"

[Teeny Tiny Cat]

Who's being hostile? I just don't get it. If I'd wanted to do a presentation on a virtual game economy in high school my teachers would have a ) laughed at me and b ) probably given me a detention. And it makes even less sense when it's not even a topic you know particularly well.

 

Also this website needs to get rid of the emoticon for those of us who like to list things because wat.

[t0night]

​Keys actually don't have a predefined value. While they cost $2.49 from the mannco store, they are not actually DIRECTLY linked to the dollar. The stability of the key depends on supply and demand. One of the concerns seems to be that the player base in TF2 is dying out, so it is only logical that people would assume that all items in the game are depreciating in value. The simple fact that paypal prices for keys are around 60 cents less than mannco prices is a testimate to the fact that they are not directly linked to the dollar and can lose value in the future. While they are relatively stable relative to the tf2 economy, there is no saying that they will not lose value if specialty crates become the new norm.

interestingly the run on buds made keys spike in real USD value up by about 20-25 cents apiece. but your point is correct. stuff only holds value as long as there are people willing to pay that value. as tf2 declines in popularity (and it is declining), items lose real USD value. we've seen this happen at first mediated by the lack of demand for buds causing price drops across the unusual and high tier items board, which at first i thought was a false drop in value because of backpack's imperfect system, but i now realise that it actually worked pretty well to mediate the general decline of interest in trading into overall USD price deflation.

 

it does make me wish that i had been at this level of trading maybe a year or two ago though. hopefully a significant update drops soon and we see a return to form for tf2. it's already been about 5 months since an actual content update.

[Keroro1454]

Everyone's being very hostile to you for no reason, I've added you to see if I can be of any assistance whatsoever

 

I'd argue that people are simply just trying to distribute the forums' specialty "Tough Love". Many feel that the topic is poor because it is not only unprofessional, but also a dangerous choice for someone who has little involvement in the economy.

 

Also, interesting points in the matter coolrocks and _Ascent. I'll do some more research into the matter, but you make some solid points.

[Teeny Tiny Cat]

I don't believe this dude's teacher is really gonna give him high school credits for a powerpoint presentation on team fortress 2 trading. Unless the class is like learning how to give a presentation and the topic is less relevant on something?

 

Like I'm not trying to be harsh or do tough love or anything like that, I genuinely don't understand how this is possible. Maybe I'm too old?

[Xolono II]

The economy in one picture: 

[Пол игрока trade karambite]

dont even do it just fail

[Keroro1454]

I don't believe this dude's teacher is really gonna give him high school credits for a powerpoint presentation on team fortress 2 trading. Unless the class is like learning how to give a presentation and the topic is less relevant on something?

 

Like I'm not trying to be harsh or do tough love or anything like that, I genuinely don't understand how this is possible. Maybe I'm too old?

 

I assume the teacher is just one of the nicer teachers who tries to stay "with it", or is a younger one. Also, do we know he's in high school? I need to know that and what course this is for before I can make any real judgements...

[@@@@@@]

don't do it on just the tf2 economy, do it on the entire steam economy

[Teeny Tiny Cat]

I assume the teacher is just one of the nicer teachers who tries to stay "with it", or is a younger one. Also, do we know he's in high school? I need to know that and what course this is for before I can make any real judgements...

 

I mean if he's not in high school he'd presumably be in college which would make this even more bizarre. Unless he's in middle school?

[TurboNEET]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/khj3xr0ysb06md9/PWS%20Virtuele%20Economie.docx?dl=0

 

Here, have my old presentation that I used. It's in dutch and like 1 year old. Just google translate it and hopefully you'll be able to salvage some info. 

GL!

[HarryG]

I mean, assuming this teacher knows nothing about the game, you could fabricate a bunch of facts in order to get a good grade by looking on wikipedia for common points made about an economy even though I don't endorse cheating on your school work.

[Scott Bakula]

Really, you shouldn't be doing a presentation on something you know nothing about. A good presentation hinges on the presenter being both knowledgeable and passionate about the subject they're presenting.

 

Though if you're dead set on doing this, I'd say go generic rather than specific. Don't focus on tf2 specifically, but go with a single, broader topic like "How people make money playing video games". From there, you can also talk about games like EVE Online, Second Life, CS:GO, and many others, showing all the myriad ways people can turn games into profit.