Ozmondius Report post Posted December 8, 2008 As I've been levelling my mule, I've noticed the extreme cost associated with its use. This makes some sense as you are levelling, but after the mule is fully levelled, it might make some sense to cut the food consumption considerably or there will be very few circumstances during which it will make any economic sense to use the mule for hauling. Thoughts? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DHT Report post Posted December 8, 2008 Depends on your point of view - you invest an enormous amount of gcs to extend your EMU beyond the limit. then, when you use it to actually haul something to sto, it takes much less time. So investing some gcs to keep yourself in mule shape isn't that bad. Other idea tho, when you're muling for someone else, ask them to provide food. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
korrode Report post Posted December 8, 2008 Depends on your point of view Not really. Mostly it depends on how much time you're spending to make the gc/items to buy the food, and if you were to use that time simply harvesting with your char, would u end up with more of your desired harvestable in storage. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cruella Report post Posted December 8, 2008 I tend to agree with Korrode - after making some calculations it seems that for an individual turning into a mule might be fun, novelty, apparent time saving etc. but not really profitable even in a long haul. It might become profitable if you are involved in a huge guild projects though. Also, with a shortcut routes to important harvestables being blocked, mules might gain some popularity, but as Korrode said, it is cheaper to haul traditionally or just spend mule levelling/food/glyphs money to buy raw materials. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LabRat Report post Posted December 8, 2008 Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it was there. I was the first to hit the cap, and I did it as a slight diversion from my normal gameplay, not so I can haul 2304 lilacs in one go. since I levelled the mule I have hardly spent any time as a mule, but it is nice to know should the need ever arise it is but a glyph away. the money I spent can be reacquired easily enough - it is only the equivalent of about 12 COLs. For me being told "woah you look cool" when people in dragon armors standing next to me are totally ignored is worth the gc alone. I just wish people wouldn't walk into my stomach without asking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Entropy Report post Posted December 8, 2008 BTW, the concept of mule was not designed so you AFK while leveling it. It was designed so you haul while leveling it, so you won't waste all that food for nothing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
humanalien Report post Posted December 8, 2008 (edited) BTW, the concept of mule was not designed so you AFK while leveling it.It was designed so you haul while leveling it, so you won't waste all that food for nothing. so you can actualy harvest as a mule?, but only flowers of stuf that doesn't require tools then i guess Edited December 8, 2008 by humanalien Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ermabwed Report post Posted December 8, 2008 You can't harvest, but you can haul Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
humanalien Report post Posted December 8, 2008 You can't harvest, but you can haul ok thx Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LabRat Report post Posted December 8, 2008 To quote Agneum (via /agneum mulefaq): LabRat's Mule FAQ is available at: http://www.eternal-lands.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=46098 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ozmondius Report post Posted December 8, 2008 (edited) BTW, the concept of mule was not designed so you AFK while leveling it.It was designed so you haul while leveling it, so you won't waste all that food for nothing. Yes, I have been, and while hauling, I started adding up the increase in price of the commodity I'm hauling based upon the cost of maintaining mule form. I quickly understood that it will never pay off, even after it's completely levelled. My thoughts were once you've reached the pinnacle, the food consumption might drop a bit to make all the gc and effort actually pay off. Example: Hauling iron to storage from Melinis cave: Assume EMU 2k=495 iron/trip, leaving room for food 10 food per roundtrip=800gc Cost of glyph divided over number of trips, so count as 0 for the example Cost per iron ore is 1.62 gc just to haul it. Iron regularly sells for around 3gc and over 1/2 of the gross goes to hauling costs. Edited December 8, 2008 by Ozmondius Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Entropy Report post Posted December 8, 2008 Or you can haul titanium and make some profit, no? And you don't need a glyph to haul multiple trips, one glyph is enough for for like billions of trips. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ozmondius Report post Posted December 8, 2008 Yes, that's what i meant, which is why i counted glyph cost as zero, just didn't say it very well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Segor Report post Posted December 8, 2008 We have had the chance to read time and time again that not all skills are to be profitable in EL, so I must say I don't see the reason for such a dilema. Crafting was a money sink a couple years ago, tailoring still is, mules are just another way to get some gc out of EL. The PK Server has a couple people already waiting for a summoner that can make glyphs and we can use multiple accounts and trade freely amongst them. Why would anyone want to level as a mule on the PK Server? Becase it will be possible, the game will allow it and someone will do it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Entropy Report post Posted December 9, 2008 BTW, I think the mules will be quite useful for the instances. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
extrapolation Report post Posted December 9, 2008 (edited) To demonstrate the high cost more clearly, to be a mule for an hour costs 120 creature foods @80gc ea =9600gc. If you say for the sake of simplicity that being a mule roughly doubles your carry capacity, you can only use the mule profitably for muling tasks which could earn you ~9k/hour with 960 emu... if you know of one please pm me Edited December 9, 2008 by extrapolation Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Entropy Report post Posted December 9, 2008 What is the street price for the tokens? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
extrapolation Report post Posted December 9, 2008 (edited) What is the street price for the tokens? Do you mean the creature foods? At first they were 60-70gc but some potioners were complaining that that was too low, and that they cost around 75 to make. More recently I've seen some market channel posts of people selling for 80gc, so maybe you can get them for 75-80, 80 if you want to buy a large number of them. Edited December 9, 2008 by extrapolation Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Raistlin Report post Posted December 9, 2008 What is the street price for the tokens? Price for tokens is 250gc atm. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Entropy Report post Posted December 9, 2008 Well, then I guess with about 500 GC (250 for a token plus 240 for food) you can haul one load. With titanium, you might even make some money. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alia Report post Posted December 9, 2008 Well, then I guess with about 500 GC (250 for a token plus 240 for food) you can haul one load.With titanium, you might even make some money. Well. I think what people are trying to say, is not that you can't make profit by being mule, the point is that if you are not mule you get much more gc while harvesting (especially with titanium, as it takes more time to harvest it, than to carry to npc). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sywren Report post Posted December 9, 2008 (edited) I agree. The price is really high, but even higher on the PK server. Edited December 9, 2008 by sygon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
humanalien Report post Posted December 9, 2008 (edited) Well, then I guess with about 500 GC (250 for a token plus 240 for food) you can haul one load.With titanium, you might even make some money. you will make money of it 2,5gc for tit ore => 2k ores 5k each trip and a trip cost 500 so so make profit 4.5kgc each trip if you sell them at the blacksmith Edited December 9, 2008 by humanalien Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ozmondius Report post Posted December 9, 2008 (edited) Ok, so we have a fancy titanium hauler . . . O.o But how does the titanium get into your storage? You have to harv it, then haul it to sto or have someone sit on the bag for you whiile you haul it to NPC, then split part of the profits with the bag sitter. Was just an observation that the high costs will leave little utility for a fully levelled mule. If we want some modicum of return for the incredible costs to gain 12 levels (even when helped by hauling while levelling) the food consumption should be reduced by some factor after the mule is fully levelled. Just my opinion. I was hoping to do more than just "look cool" on IP Edited December 9, 2008 by Ozmondius Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Entropy Report post Posted December 10, 2008 Well, some people obviously found some advantage in that, others didn't. The last thing I wanted was everyone being a mule. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites