Making a Depressed Market Work For You

[sterlingice]

For instance, I just bought a 21yo Magnificent Defender for $2.035M. http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif

But this thread is about more than gloating. Or at least I'll try to shoehorn some sort of interesting morsel in here. One look at the graphs on the HAM website will tell you that prices are way down for everything over the past season and a half. However, the one thing I haven't been able to gauge well is what has sunk farther and faster than others (ie which market is most depressed)?

I think middies have been hit the hardest- it took me 2 weeks to sell one a titanic middie at 5.5M- a far cry from what they were fetching even 2 seasons ago. However, I sold a striker I had bought last season for about the same as I had paid for him. The striker market is due for a crash sometime soon, but as of right now, it seems to be the most insulated from the fluctuations. That said, I'm only looking at a small sample so maybe I'm completely off base. I hope I have better luck selling my other middies. Then again, they have better secondaries so that should help.

SI

[Vikas]

The striker market is pretty bad already, only guys with decent passing sell for somewhat ok prices. Strikers without any passing won't sell for shit.

The winger market took a hard hit too, probably even bigger than midfielders. You can pick up a high winger for almost nothing these days.

[bjceac]

In the winger market, secondaries are a must. Winger trainees did that to themselves. The train players too high, because the cost to train (time) is so small). The recession for wingers started before the recesion for everyone else.

[daedalus]

In the winger market, secondaries are a must. Winger trainees did that to themselves. The train players too high, because the cost to train (time) is so small). The recession for wingers started before the recesion for everyone else.One, I'm assuming you mean trainers and not trainees. Two, I completely, utterly and abso-friggin'-lutely disagree and I think your reason for wingers market being absolutely shite (more so for wingers sans secondaries) is incredibly ridiculous. Training players to too high a level? Ludicrous, in my opinion. (Hell, it's . . . PLAID!) No, wingers market is borked because of the nature of the game's engine. A winger is a luxury that most people don't bother with. At most, they'll carry a fairly decent level winger (shrug, "decent" level is different for wingers than other positions) with some playmaking on one side and an inner midfielder playing toward-middle on the other. That's with playmaking trainers. Scoring trainers can't even be bothered with anything remotely approaching a pure winger. One, they cannot afford the loss of midfield and, well, two, they don't need one. With three quality strikers, you can generate a good wing offense even with something as low as a solid winger. Until HT decide to make strikers be less powerful on the sides and make winger skill be more worthwhile, the wingers market will continue to be borked unless you get sneak some fairly strong secondary - specifically playmaking - in there.

[akickku]

Too many players are being trained compared to what teams can use in my opinion. Prices will continue to drop for the foreseeable future I think.

[bjceac]

One, I'm assuming you mean trainers and not trainees. Two, I completely, utterly and abso-friggin'-lutely disagree and I think your reason for wingers market being absolutely shite (more so for wingers sans secondaries) is incredibly ridiculous. Training players to too high a level? Ludicrous, in my opinion. (Hell, it's . . . PLAID!) No, wingers market is borked because of the nature of the game's engine. A winger is a luxury that most people don't bother with. At most, they'll carry a fairly decent level winger (shrug, "decent" level is different for wingers than other positions) with some playmaking on one side and an inner midfielder playing toward-middle on the other. That's with playmaking trainers. Scoring trainers can't even be bothered with anything remotely approaching a pure winger. One, they cannot afford the loss of midfield and, well, two, they don't need one. With three quality strikers, you can generate a good wing offense even with something as low as a solid winger. Until HT decide to make strikers be less powerful on the sides and make winger skill be more worthwhile, the wingers market will continue to be borked unless you get sneak some fairly strong secondary - specifically playmaking - in there.

That being said, I did not make mention to the size of the market. I simply said that Trainers were training too many players to the World Class - Supernatural level, and there weren't enough buyers to pay for those players, hence the bottom fell out of the market. There is a slight rebound to the market for players with secondaries, not to the level of a Supernatural PM with no secondaries, but a nice profit can be made rather quickly. You stated some good reasons why the demand for winger was never huge from the start.

I will stand by wingers and say they are the most versatile players in hattrick, and if you get a really good/well rounded one, you can tailor your playing style to just about anything. As for most teams they aren't necessary to win like the 4 main skills, but for my value, the can do so many things.

[sterlingice]

I think there is something to be said for the high level player market collapsing. I just saw a divine keeper go for $7M. Wages are just prohibative now, it seems even more than ever. Hopefully the new attendance will aleviate that. But until that hits the market, if you can afford players from about extra-t and up, you'll get some pretty good value.

SI

[YoSoySean]

The striker market is pretty bad already, only guys with decent passing sell for somewhat ok prices. Strikers without any passing won't sell for shit.
Good thing I don't train anyone with worse than passable passing ;)