World Balance is doomed until ..

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Linking each world's market board on the same data-center would be nice for many reasons, but of course the only ones who will complain are the greedy self-centered control freaks.

And its not hard to make all the Gil you ever need with huge amounts of competition, the more selection, the more competition, the more items that sell and continue to sell. Yes, you wont be making profits of 1m per item, you'll have to settle for much less.

Much less would be items dropping to below 100,000. Currently, on Balmung, the new 320 crafted Striking chestpiece sells for below 500,000. Combining all of Aether would drive those prices down into nothing. Why am I going to bother putting in the effort to get all the materials for something that sells for vendor prices? If you don't like the prices, you can very easily level your crafters and make it yourself.

[Driavna]

Much less would be items dropping to below 100,000. Currently, on Balmung, the new 320 crafted Striking chestpiece sells for below 500,000. Combining all of Aether would drive those prices down into nothing. Why am I going to bother putting in the effort to get all the materials for something that sells for vendor prices? If you don't like the prices, you can very easily level your crafters and make it yourself.

The value of the gil is determined by the ability to buy things with it, 100m gil doesn't have the same value in Balmung vs my server. Anyway, in a perfect world, prices should gravitate around the money a player can generate out of thin air, but, NA/EU markets are inflated by gil sellers. Also, 320 crafted gear is extremely easy to make with a minimum investment, even 500k per piece is too much.

Linking small servers MB it's a good idea long term, but places like Balmung don't need it.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

The value of the gil is determined by the ability to buy things with it, 100m gil doesn't have the same value in Balmung vs my server. Anyway, in a perfect world, prices should gravitate around the money a player can generate out of thin air, but, NA/EU markets are inflated by gil sellers. Also, 320 crafted gear is extremely easy to make with a minimum investment, even 500k per piece is too much.

Linking small servers MB it's a good idea long term, but places like Balmung don't need it.

Except if the value becomes too low, people stop putting in the investment. If prices were substantially lower, you'll see many less willing to deal with the RNG and timegates associated with gathering. Furthermore, a sudden change like this now assures the rich will forever be untouchable... unless they reset player gil entirely, which is a bridge I sincerely doubt the devs want to cross. The reason prices are so high is the amount of people willing to craft does not match the demand. 500,000k is nothing. I can make that in less than hour selling stuff anyone with a level 60+ crafter could make. Hell, run ten leveling roulettes and sell the materia.

[Syfurion]

Currently, on Balmung, the new 320 crafted Striking chestpiece sells for below 500,000.

That same chestpiece on Siren is currently up for 4.2 million, and people are actually buying it. They're still trying to charge 500k+ for HW crafted armor. I would LOVE to see these people forced to drop their prices.

[Theodric]

That same chestpiece on Siren is currently up for 4.2 million, and people are actually buying it. They're still trying to charge 500k+ for HW crafted armor. I would LOVE to see these people forced to drop their prices.

Invest in the ability to make them yourself, then?

[Syfurion]

Invest in the ability to make them yourself, then?

I am, slowly. Crafting is incredibly dull, so it takes me a while. But I won't perpetuate the cycle once I'm there, this stuff does not have any reason to cost that much for what it is.

[Zojha]

Crafting is incredibly dull [...]

And that is precisely the reason why so few people engage in that content and consequently why items coming from that content are so ridiculously expensive. It helps that it's not only a chore, it's also a big one, as every slightly harder recipe requires cross class abilities - Culinarian, Carpenter, Alchemist and Weaver being the most important ones. Moreover, recipes frequently require items from other crafts and gatherers, which need to be leveled as well to produce these items. And of course those are large grinds in and of themselves.

On low pop, the problem is a general one, as every market is less competitive than in needs to be to produce socially desirable results - not just crafted gear. The crafting market is just the worst because it has the highest barrier of entry - and that's due to design. Truth be told, even the dev team doesn't seem to like crafting/gathering, because their understanding of it seems to be very low and the attention it gets token at best.

[Theodric]

I am, slowly. Crafting is incredibly dull, so it takes me a while. But I won't perpetuate the cycle once I'm there, this stuff does not have any reason to cost that much for what it is.

You're paying for either a luxury and/or a convenience, though. Are some items very expensive? Definitely - especially if they're good for glamour purposes. Ultimately, though, you can get by with other items - dungeon drops, vendor purchases and so on - so there isn't necessarily a need to acquire specific pieces of gear from the market board. You could argue there's a necessity to buy high end crafted gear for progression purposes, of course, but high end raiders tend to make peace with the idea that to get ahead they need to shell out a hefty amount of gil.

[Giubba]

That same chestpiece on Siren is currently up for 4.2 million, and people are actually buying it. They're still trying to charge 500k+ for HW crafted armor. I would LOVE to see these people forced to drop their prices.

Simply because in Ff14 there isn't an open market but a closed one.

Crafter make things that only other crafters have the ability to buy.
It's not something like DOH do things->DOW and DOM buy these things->DOW,DOM and DOL gather ingredients for DOH to use->go to step 1.
This process is expected to be made by 1 person so there isn't a proper economy.