Please change taxes...

[Zigkid3]

Sotek: The game is still very new. Yes, things are still in fluctuation right now. However take a look at trade items with many unique (different) suppliers. How many unique/different people are there currently supplying silver sharks? 3? 6? 30? 125? You're cherry picking a specific example to represent a generalization as a whole, fallacy of composition. Like I said before, the game is still fairly new, there are still a lot of items on the market that have 0 suppliers.

Nalien: Stop with both of the ad hominem fallacies, that's even worse than Sotek's logical fallacy. You're a science guy aren't you? And I'll have you know that yes I actually am. Regardless though, even if I wasn't it's obvious you're just attempting to use a poisoning of the well ad hominem on top of the abusive adhominem as well.

[Sotek]

Sotek: The game is still very new. Yes, things are still in fluctuation right now. However take a look at trade items with many unique (different) suppliers. How many unique/different people are there currently supplying silver sharks? 3? 6? 30? 125? You're cherry picking a specific example to represent a generalization as a whole, fallacy of composition. Like I said before, the game is still fairly new, there are still a lot of items on the market that have 0 suppliers.

The "the game is still new" argument really doesn't hold water on Legacy servers.

As for Silver Sharks, though it is fairly difficult to tell with Retainers, I'd estimate 30 unique suppliers, probably more though. The markets with fewer suppliers seem to be much better off in my experience. The problem really isn't that there aren't enough suppliers, it's that due to ease of undercutting, undercutting becomes a much greater problem. With undercutting only being an issue when you first put something up for sale (something achieved through taxes), that problem goes away. Currently, people wait for everyone else to finish selling and ridiculously undercut prices, then prices return to their established value. People see this, go out gathering with that value in mind. When they return, they undercut by a small amount. People currently selling see this, and undercut again. That spirals, very quickly, into oblivion and people only gather again when people cease supplying and the prices rises again.

I use Silver Sharks as a single example, I could pick plenty more, though yes Sharks are probably the worst and thus best to highlight the problem. The fact remains though, prices have reached "equilibrium", and that "equilibrium" is a state of constant flux. This shows no signs of changing, and why should it? Like I said, Sharks already had an established price. I was selling them for 4k for several weeks. Now? New suppliers saw that and jumped on board. That's fine, I'd expect some undercutting from that. Instead what I get is rampant undercutting as sellers see the inevitable weekly price crash and constantly adjust prices to ensure theirs sells as soon as possible before said crash. People, like me, see the price crash and decide the item is no longer worth their time (because honestly, at the price it falls to, it isn't). The price slowly rises back up ready for next week, and the cycle repeats. Items go up, initial undercutting occurs, secondary/tertiary/etc. undercutting occurs, item becomes worthless, people stop farming, price rises again, repeat. Is that your equilibrium? Your stability? Heck, your market efficiency?

Again. There is no reason not to undercut with it being so simple and cost-free. People will not suddenly stop undercutting with time. With more Retainer Bells coming in Sanctuaries, it will get worse if anything. Same for a Retainer Ap. Currently people have to be in an Inn or by the Market Boards to adjust price, with more places where they can adjust price, more people are going to adjust price more often.

Here's an alternative though, since taxes are teh bad. Limit the amount of times you can put items up for sale and adjust their price. If you put an item up, it stays up. If you adjust its price, you can't adjust its price again for another X hours. If you take it down, it returns to your/Retainers inventory, but you effectively get -1 space on your sales list for where the item previously was, for X hours. This halts rampant undercutting. You cannot adjust price frequently, prices do not crash instantly. If you take something down to adjust price and get around that, you lose sales space (though with 40 slots who the hell cares).