Originally Posted by
Aenarion
Regardless of whether it’s virtual or real life, the basic economic principles apply, but then you’d already know that if you are remotely educated on the subject. Eve Online, a MMO, has one of the largest and robust virtual economy in the world, where CCP actually hired real economists to study it, I’m pretty sure they know a lot more than you do.
Market manipulation IS part of both RL and virtual economies, whether it’s manipulating the perceived value/scarcity of a product or by manipulating the supply of said product. Market manipulation does not somehow avoid the supply/demand curve, it aims to modify it, and in your example it is attempting to do so through altering perceived value by taking advantage of poor market visibility.