TOPIC: Token Prices plummet?

So, much of the value to me of having built a collection is in who I met because of it.

If can factor out such things, I'd rather have the money than the tokens.

Yet, I certainly do get value out of my collection, so it's not an easy answer and is influenced by things that aren't TD related.

If I had to start from zero I would still probably go in to where I'm at today. It's been a fun ride, that's how I look at it and I like my collection. You can have fun without spending a significant amount on Tokens. If you don't feel having a Safehold I is worth 5K of enjoyment then stick with what you have. I don't have any Safeholds and I still have fun. And I still buy UR+ Tokens.

I've ended up further invested than I ever would have guessed, but still came to the same conclusion that the safehold was not for me. Its made for someone very different than me. A lot of the joy of my collection is the trading and interaction with the community. Aside from buying TEs and spending too much on Laz, I've got most my collection from trading with lovely people which does bring me joy. And that aspect also adds fun to the game for me, trading around to get my desired gear with only money from being involved with TD. Its a fun journey for me.

Would I be at the same place I am if I started today? Well I wish I started today cause I would have saved a good deal on TE sets. But aside from that initial investment regret only due to future market knowledge, I'd probably still be here.

If I had to start over I would probably probably still build up to be able to play at epic difficulty.

But I am very much on the fence when it comes to safe holds. I am at level 3 in the safe hold program and curious about mythic, butI would much prefer a lower barrier to entry for mythic. I don't want to play mythic with a pool of only 20 or so people and with that small of a player base the game feels very fragile. If I had to guess I will stop at safe hold level 3.

Keldgar wrote: I’m a newish player (first run was gencon 2022) and I really enjoy TD. I’ve spent what I consider a fair amount on VTD (enough to make level 9) and buying tokens from the major venders. I have full treasure enhancers, a skull, kilt, arcane shirt and a class legendary. I’d estimate I’m in around $4k (much less than many of you, but not insignificant)
:
A level enhancer, rares and exalted tokens have been enough to feel overpowered in hardcore and keep up in nightmare. I’m still getting to play all of the dungeons and getting the same treasure.

Add up the value of your high end collections/builds. If you had to start from 0 would you?

If I had to start over I’d still buff at the UR+ level because I have five goals:
1. Nightmare combat ability because the folks I run with on Virtual run Nightmare (as do many if not most of the above-new-folks Virtual runs) and I want to play my part.
2. Slowly but steadily replace the loaners I get from my Virtual group’s more advanced players.
3. Add tokens for role-playing purposes (e.g., higher DR/saves than Nightmare needs because if I were actually an Elven Wizard I’d want to *reliably* survive).
4. Have backup characters for in-person runs.
5. Have fun calculating the most cost-efficient way to reach those goals.

Also, I find that some UR's make the run much more enjoyable (e.g., Charm of Spell Swapping, which massively increases flexibility especially for Druids) and UR's mean Nightmare not Hardcore.

Keldgar wrote: Add up the value of your high end collections/builds. If you had to start from 0 would you?

Interestingly, most of my high-end stuff didn't cost too much. I've been playing since the beginning, and I bought/acquired a lot of pieces when they were cheap (My Rod of 7 Parts cost about $200 and 7 years of collecting; My Charm of Avarice cost $400 across several years of collecting)

If I had to start over from scratch? I wouldn't buy back to that level.

I'd pick up the URs which make my game *fun* ... Nightshade's Shortsword, Ektdar's Tinkering Tools, Rod of Persuasion, Shirt of Shielding (I hate retribution damage when it's aimed at *me*!) etc.... and I'd probably put together a low-end Nightmare build made out of a few URs and a lot of good rares / exalted tokens.

Right now, I'm enjoying DoubleDown Nightmare Runs the best.... It has that "Are we all gonna Die?!?" frisson of risk, while keeping all the players active & invested in doing their part in puzzles & combat. We've had the occasional TPK and 7th-room Run-out-of-Time deaths, and that's fine by me.

If I had to start over I'd probably end up with about the same build for my entire group (a very solid hardcore build, probably plenty for Nightmare but we enjoy the Hardcore level), but I'd have bought far less extra tokens for future trading / resale. I've never spent a ton of money on any individual token, I think my biggest token purchase has been a couple of hundred for a Relic here and there. Like Raven, I've played TD since the very start and obtained my tokens like the Charm of Avarice or Boots of the Four Winds by buying the UR tokens for their recipes as they came available.

I've always enjoyed buying/trading/selling tokens (and comics and magic cards before that), and up until recently I felt like I could at least break even so it was fun to buy extras to sell or trade later. Looking back now at recent years it seems like almost everything I bought or transmuted is currently worth less than I paid (in many cases far less), so the incentive to buy extra tokens to sell or trade later is gone. I do hope that the token economy eventually recovers.

I will still buy select UR tokens for my group, like I'm sure I'll buy a full set of the new TE Bead for my whole group, and there are a few other URs I might consider. Once I'm done with the current Ring and Greaves transmutes I'm in the process of gathering ingredients to transmute for the group, those might be the last tokens I buy/transmute above the UR level.