Map Art and the Economy

Please quote me correctly, I said “Single minded belligerent babbling will not help you” I didn’t call you single minded, I just said it would not help.

Again this is not some personal attack, I just disagree with your opinion on this topic and that’s fine. As you disagree with mine and that’s ok too.

 

I agree completely about pricing, I just think it should be lowered overall for the sake of newer players. It's not something I can control, I just offered my thoughts and why I think prices should be lowered.

Besides that I care about reselling map art and probably care more about that than pricing

 

look this thread will raise map art prices alot lol
if I know that who ever buys tthe map and can dupe it and sell it for pennies then i ma going to get my money's worth for my effort my makeing prices 10x then they can reselll it all they want

 

I feel like this thread just states the obvious. In my opinion map art is just another quick and easy way to make grass. Anything that is observed to be a quick and easy way to make grass can and most definitely will be fully taken advantage of and that's the way things have always been and will continue to be on skyblock. Map art is just one of those things, although in my opinion the real profit made from map art ended a while ago. I was able to sell multiple copies of my 5x6 iron man in mid 2019 for an average dc in value, and map art prices had already begun sinking.

To get back to my point there's nothing to really argue or debate about when it comes down to map art, its just an easy way to make grass, including reselling. I'd go on with this but like I said everyone's really just starting the obvious or repeating whats already been said.

 

You said.....
People put a lot of effort building a house, but houses get resold. You don't really tell someone after building a house "You can't ever resell this house." In fact that's a whole industry. People flip houses and there shouldn't be a player group that prevents people from flipping map art.


You cant copy a house at a fraction of the cost and time, keep your house and sell the copy.....as far as im aware.

 

Coming from me, a player that does not make map art.

So you agree that owners should be able to charge what they want for their art (often high prices), but then say you want overall prices to come down?
These two statements cannot occur simultaneously, given the current market. Overall prices cannot drop if most players choose to keep their prices high. You could go around asking each art creator to lower their price, to drop market prices - but this is infeasible. Skyblock could also offer subsidies to owners, but this is ridiculous.

I believe you have already answered your question about 'lowering overall art prices' in your original post under the economic system bit. Skyblock has a player-run capitalist economic system, so prices are set by the community based on supply and demand of certain goods.
Map art become popular before Halloween last year, as a few players decided to make large art. This drove up demand considerably, as players wanted it, and creators knew they could drive up prices because there weren't many dedicated creators back then.
However as time went on more art creators jumped on the bandwagon to make some 'quick cash' which spiked supply, and with steady demand this pushed prices down as there was more choice.

When I left around New Years the map art market was nothing like October. And based on the economics, I'd say its even less profitable now.

Like with all trends that come and go, this particular trend will go when people find other more profitable ventures - only the players concerned with aesthetics will stick to art.
I hear skin comps were a big thing before I joined but died out because it was over-saturated, boring and became less profitable.
Casinos too, before only redstone gods could build a good one, but now the market is more saturated as people begin to outsource casino building services.
And soon map art will follow, its just taking more time because the barriers to enter the market are higher (e.g. island upgrading cost & time invested for building).

But as more players 'rent out' canvases, and lower the barriers supply will inevitably increase, lowering prices and finally make the market less profitable and we will move on.

Also new players don't need map art, and prices should not change just because of them. New players are more concerned with functional goods like iron/stone, not aesthetic-only map art.

We shouldn't really be attempting to change the map art market, just let time run its course, and it will change the market eventually and accordingly.

 

After reading all of these comments, I won't be responding to all of them because some of them say the same thing as others and I don't want to sound repetitive, but I will do an overall response here.

I agree with some people saying that the price will go down over time and think it will run its course, which is a very fair point. I hope this is true and believe perhaps this thread may help in speeding up the process.

I still hold my same opinion about reselling map art and don't think it will change, but in regards to the economy, I think it'll work itself out. Hopefully this thread and all of its in depth replies has helped others think about the servers economy as well. So any of you specifically disagreeing with me about the problem within the economy, you all made great points.

 

On the topic of reselling of map art, We need to consider that a lot of the maps out there are made from images found on the internet and that many of those images are actually copyrighted.
In these cases, the first person to illegally copy the artwork, is actually the map art creator.
So it’s a bit hypocritical for people to complain about people reselling their map art when they themselves are reselling someone else’s art.

 

What about original maparts? Still feel the same. Also i'd like to mention, Drogo basically one of your biggest incomes is mapart makers buying your wool xD I've spent 100's at your establishment for maparts I've made, so have others.

 

Drogo was talking specifically about copyrighted images. He knows there are originals out there. Drogo doesn’t think people should be reselling map art as there is effort and cost involved but it is inevitable and that is why Drogo hasn’t sold any map art himself.
However, if your art was created from a copyrighted image then those who resell it are only doing what you yourself has done. The original creator of the art went to a lot of effort to create it and they own copyright to that image, you go to significantly less effort to turn it into map art, and those who resell it go to even less effort.
LeoSteel, Drogo would like to point out the image on your thread of the Rick Sanchez map art with the signs stating, not for resale! Drogo is pretty sure, you're not the original creator of that image which itself is copyrighted and not for resale!
Drogo isn't going to weigh into the argument but only came here to add a bit of perspective.
On the topic of cost though, if map arts are done purely with carpet, the cost is about 15 grass, which if you’re careful you will get back every time.
Drogo is also well aware that many map art creators purchase their wool from his shop.

 

This statement in and of itself is absurd.

Imagine a world no copyright/patents for intellectual property like art and music. The whole point of these protections is encourage innovation without the fear of someone ripping off your work.

This is exactly what’s going on in Skyblock now.
Players are fed up of this theft and are leaving the art market or straight up leaving the server.

This inaction is killing art innovation.

Again, in the real world why would anyone create music, for example, if people out there can just duplicate and make a profit of your work. The innovators will stop producing, and start copying, ultimately innovation will halt.

 

remember, this server is about economy!

 

This is literally a player-driven economy, players will try to make anything profitable - this applies to pretty much every Skyblock trend. Without a profit motive why would anyone do anything on this server, in the long-term.

I agree there will be two types of artists; aesthetic-driven and profit-driven. But no matter your motive both are artists, and should be protected.

EDIT: For some people map art is 'that deep'. I know many people who spend hours perfecting art, wasting hours of IRL time is deep.

 

The best point made here regarding map art is Sam's comparison to originals and prints within the real world art community. If someone takes time to make an original mapart the profit comes from the "original" (first one they sell) and if they are lucky a couple of copies at the same price. After that, the art should be considered "prints."

In my opinion it comes down to greed. The creators of the art want to make top dollar for every single copy of the art. That is not the way the world works. That is not the way the server works, or should work.

With the current mapart prices, the creators make plenty of grass off the first 1 sold at top dollar (let alone any others that may sell before copying becomes an issue). At that point, it is their job to stay aware of any reselling and adjust their prices to compete.

At the end of the day we need to remember that this is a game and should be played that way. For example, I enjoy automation and am constantly trying to invent redstone contraptions to automate the collection of natural resources. I have spent many hours and grass coming up with ways to automate more and more things. The fruits of my labor will probably never provide me with a net profit based off of the amount of work and grass that I have put in, but I built them anyway, because that's what I enjoy doing in this GAME.

If you enjoy making map art and on top of that you end up making any kind of profit on your work, then I would say you don't have much to complain about.

Before you respond. Remember this is a thread about your opinions about map art. All I am doing is giving mine, and I am not a map art creator creator.

 

If we are to continue discussing this topic and as you say, "This is a game" You need to stop using real world examples as evidence to your point. I agree this is a game, a game with its own rule set, outside of the real world and it's examples. Yes multiple copies of art work is called prints, no one denies this fact, does that mean we should cheapen our work for people, mapart is the cheapest it's ever been on the server, but people want to make money off of my work, and unfortunately unless you have made mapart and been in this situation you just won't understand.

I appreciate your opinion as I respect your right to have it. But again, let's stick to the point, in your example, prints are cheaper than the original, agreed, but the profit still goes to the artist, or a nominal licensing fee. We are not discussing here mapart prices as it is beside the point. We spent IRL money making the art, we spend grass too, we just want people to respect what we brought to the server and allow us to maintain the rights to its resale.

 

k.th

you disagree that skyblock economy is about economy? grow tf up