Unlimited Company Upgrades - Sham...wow

Day 1,225, 21:44 • Published in Canada Canada • by Plugson

Hello eCanada,

Did you notice that the price of Gold jumped from a regular 100-110 CAD/Gold to 144 CAD/Gold yesterday…
…before the big announcement…
….before we all knew that Gold would get us a great deal on company upgrades….
…..before most of us had the chance to ‘buy in’ before the big jump?

I sure did and I’m sure you did, too. Congratulations to the select few with Platinum-level knowledge of what to expect before a big announcement. And thanks for driving up those prices before the big launch. Let’s try not to make ‘the leak’ so obvious next time, kay?


Don’t cry for me, William Thomas Riker. The truth is I never lost out.

For those of you with math skillz, you'll notice that there now IS NO DEAL for ugrading companies, because Gold costs have increased almost the same amount as you would have saved. (okay, still a deal, just half what they told currency users it would be ~~ if you buy goldpacks = FULL DEAL!)

I have good news for those that weren’t able to cash-in before the whopping 50% hike in Gold value (now at 150 CAD/Gold). If you have upgraded or can upgrade one of your companies but cannot afford to upgrade the rest, well let’s say there is a game mechanic that allows unlimited upgrades for the next 50 hours.

Okay you miserly goldflints and cash-strapped working-managers, let’s look at the basics of the “Great Upgrade Package.”


Hurry, hurry, while it lasts. I can't do this all day.

For a limited time (until the end of Day 1,127), you can upgrade your companies for 50% less than normal. “Duh – yes Plugson, we can all see that big countdown banner” is what you are probably thinking (Yes, Rylde – Captain Obvious to the rescue once again).

What some of you might not realize is that downgraded you company will normally make you lose 50% of the upgrade cost. I upgrade from Q1 to Q2 for 20 Gold, and then I can downgrade for only a 10 Gold return. Normally, that is an irretrievable loss.

However, now it only costs 10 Gold to upgrade, but when you downgrade, you get equal value back: 10 Gold. So, let’s say I dump 35 Gold into a company to make it go from Q1 to Q3, but find out Q3 food just doesn’t sell. Well, you can change it back at no cost. Consider this “Great Upgrade Package” a free trial for company upgrading.

“Wow, Plugson, so you wrote an article just to tell us that. I could have figured that out myself anyhow” – is what you are probably thinking again. (Captain Obvious is doing overtime, Rylde, yes I know)


Those old Q1s just make a mess and fill up inventory space - Chuck it!

WAIT! There’s more. It's a hidden bonus deal to the “Great Upgrade Package” that you might want to hear about before you move on to the much more entertaining and enlightening Penguin Comics. Just gimme a sec to explain.

You can upgrade and downgrade as many times as you want in one day. So what does that matter to you goldflints and cash-strapped working-managers? You can upgrade every company you own before you work it, downgrade it, take the gold to the next company, and upgrade that one, and then repeat.
(This only works if you either have Gold stored or have upgraded companies already.)
Step 1 - Work in all your raw material companies and buy extra RM if needed
Step 1 - Downgrade all your manufacturing companies.
Step 2 - Upgrade 1 company to MAX and work in it
Step 3 - Downgrade the company and upgrade the next you will work in
repeat


Brontini?

So, I have about 35 Gold available to me in downgrades now. That will give me unlimited Q3 companies for the next 2 days. So, if I own 2 food companies and 2 weapon companies but can only normally afford to upgrade 1 of them, well actually you can upgrade all 4 of them before you work.
In other words, with a smaller amount of Gold, I can upgrade all my companies before I work in them.

So why would I go through the hassle of doing that? Well, upgraded companies allow you to produce the same number of products but at a higher quality level. Essentially, if I have enough raw materials, I can double or triple my output/profit over the next 2 days at no cost (except getting enough raw materials if I am short).

I could produce 100 units of Q1 food to sell at 0.9 CAD or I could produce 100 units of Q3 food to sell at 2.7 CAD. More output = more short-term profit.

The only downside is that you could lose products that are not fully complete. Depending on what you are producing, it could be a small loss that will be covered by the extra production.


Notice Vince did not say “Romanians”

So why am I pointing this out? Why don’t I keep this “Great Upgrade Package” all to myself and benefit more from a special look at the market? Well, I’m a bit pissed off at the whole Gold inflation racket and would simply like to point out some of the craziness of what is being experimented upon in this game. I know it’s the end of the month – bills are coming due - but this time there isn’t even a CP strike to warrant a good fleecing of New World citizens.

Anyhow, give it a shot. But beware:
1) Be sure you have enough iron or grain to use in the upgraded companies. Shortfalls won’t make the extra work pay off.
2) Buy raw materials now. If more people get in on this, prices will go up for the next 2 days.
3) Don’t sell everything all at once. Markets might get flooded now. You may want to hold some off until a bit later when prices level out. (just a guess)
4) DON’T get caught by the 1,127 deadline. On day 1,128 you can still downgrade a company at no loss if you invest now, but the deal will be over. So lock in to the companies you want to keep upgraded before the end of 1,127.
5) Cross your fingers that old Pluggy doesn’t get tempbanned or worse.

Have fun. Work responsible. Know your limits and play beyond them (until that clock stops ticking, at least).


Q: Awww nuts, why didn’t I think of that, Captain Obvious?
A: Maybe you were too busy trolling Addy, Timmy.