I was trying to understand the way nodes and resource systems work in Ashes to clarify my own (and hopefully others) understanding of the interplay of systems. I'm by no means the most veteran player here and I may have missed something but above is my (crappy paint) diagram of how I believe node resource and systems are integrated.
Nodes are occupied by players with roles and infrastructure.
There are two main types of node infrastructure that define the relationship of the means of production: the market and workstations. All players have a direct relationship to the market and a direct or indirect relationship with the workstations. All players have a bidirectional relationship between the market and gold, and all players require gear (and consumables, not shown as it effectively serves the same function as gear) from the market):
The marketplace - where all players have a bidirectional relationship with gold as a currency to sell what they produce and buy what they need
The workstations - this is the means of production of processors and crafters, built by raw and processed resources, and construction is directed by the mayor. The primary purpose is is to buy and sell gear and consumables. Workstations service processors and crafters and are ordered by the mayor.
I've split the players in the nodes into six roles. Three artisan roles and three combat roles and there are four external node resources: Friendly nodes, enemy nodes, resources, mobs. The artisan roles are:
Gatherers - they bring in raw materials, resources used to construct workstations per mayor buy orders or to refine into processed materials by processors.
Processors - these players require raw materials from gatherers which they may also purchase from the market. Their primary role is to refine raw materials into processed goods to supply crafters, construct future workstations (via buy orders) and sell to the market.
Crafters - crafters turn processed goods into gear. Gear is required for all players in all roles for all activities. Consumables occupy a roughly synonymous place with gear in this economy in terms of its relationship to other parts of the network: alchemy is processing but potions require processed materials that are sold to the market fulfilling the same purpose as gear. Crafters require recipes obtained from PvE. Crafters positions in the market are underpinned by gatherers and processors and are required to supply gear for combat oriented players.
The combat roles are:
PvE - The mob grinders and dungeon delvers. These players are in some ways the gatherers of combat players. Mobs primarily drop to items: glint and recipes. Gear can also drop but the role of the PvE players is not to supply the market with gear, those are lucky drops. Glint is often considered synonymous with money in ashes but with a 1000%+ return rate from caravans PvE players will never be gold farmers.
Caravans - These guys in my view are the processors of combat roles. They process raw glint from mobs into gold by caravanning supplies bought with raw glint to other friendly nodes. This is the primary way to bring gold into the game. If there are no caravans there will be no gold and the market stalls or descends into a barter economy. Hopefully, gold farmers can never compete
PvP - These players go out to (hopefully) enemy nodes and pick fights. Their primary resource are enemy node gatherers and PvE players. They may compete directly for resource nodes for their own node's gatherers and mob farmers or attack enemy gatherers and mob farmers directly to steal their resources and glint. They will sell their wares for gold and as with all node citizens purchase gear for that gold to become more efficient at their role.
The Mayor
There's only one Mayor so this isn't a role most players will occupy
The Mayor essentially directs node specialisation, by directing taxes generated from the market and resources from gatherers/processors into buildings via purchase orders.
For a brief summary:
Glint, recipes and raw materials are the primary resources imported to nodes
Raw materials are processed into refined materials, and both are used to upgrade node workstations
Recipes and workstations are required by crafting to output gear
Gear is required to engage in all content efficiently and especially combat
Caravans are the ultimate PvX activity requiring support of a strong artisan economy (to build the caravans) and a strong combatant economy (to harvest glint and ensure safe travels)
Caravan runs are a processing activity that processes glint into raw gold that is influxed into the economy which will pay the crafters who will pay the processors who will pay the gatherers who will buy gear and upgrade the node.
My secret evil agenda - to highlight the problems in 2.5 and the economy as a whole:
I hope this can function as a nice standalone piece to help others when talking about the Ashes economy but there was a point to this exercise that I believe is best expressed through diagrams. Phase 2.5 has been overshadowed by the great gear shortage. As you can see from my diagram (and is intuitive to every player), gear and gold underpin all economic activity in Ashes and the two primary resources are raw materials and glint.
Without gear everything grinds to a halt as gear is required to generate gold from caravanning and mob grinding and even improve artisanship. The PvE mob farmers are struggling and slowed (but not stopped) which lowers the influx of recipes and glint into nodes, lowering gold production and causing resource accumulation on the market but no trade between parties forcing barter. Gatherers can indiscriminately harvest all T1 resources meaning everyone has a bit of everything, and everyone is holding onto that valuable copper and zinc awaiting a buyer. Most players will struggle to accumulate enough resources of the type they need to level their desired crafting skills, and find it difficult to trade with other players as nobody has gold.
Guilds are the only winners in such an economy as they are capable of organising in such a way that takes advantage of barter economies by communally pooling resources and funnelling to crafters to beat the market and gear themselves. More gear and organisation facilitates levelling, allowing them to dominate the ultimate PvX activity – caravanning – and control all gold generation and influx. Solo crafters will soon be fully replaced by guild crafters once guild funds are used to buy up all materials from the market and funnel to their own crafting supply chains – outcompeting everybody else right from the off.
Processors and gatherers will finally experience some trickle down once the guilds establish buying power but crafting will be monopolised by guilds who will gear themselves first to control the trade routes and nodes. Crafting will essentially be impossible without something like a guild structure as guilds as we know them control both gold and gear. Guilds being the primary generators of both will control all market activity and nodes are destined to become proxies of guilds. Every mode of production is destined to be dominated by guilds in the current state as guilds will be able to outcompete open market processors and eventually use their gear advantage to dominate gathering as well. Being a node citizen in this economy is essentially meaningless and any member of the node not in a dominant guild is essentially a serf to the dominant guild.
