Does the community ever have a constructive conversation about RMT?

[Mistyregions]

So I was pondering why RMT is so successful and I managed to observe some things that I wonder if anyone just had a conversation about, without attacking eachother. This is a long shot so here I go.

I believe RMT is wildly popular because of older players. I noticed a few people sitting on 500 mil plus. Now if you are playing from the start of the game till today, that's a no brainer and you can say with confidence that gil has no use. Still you have so much gil and this leads to overvaluation of your time and what you deem an acceptable price for something.

I see things priced on the market board that's in the realm of absurdity. To someone who has 500 mil it's not absurd, but to someone who has 500k it is absurd. I asked around and it seems to me people price things relative to their own wealth and and VASTLY overestimate and overvalue there skills and tome. Rich players feeding other rich players this overvalued mentality while newer players are straight up gate kept from participating. Then older players tell newer players to pick them selves up by their boot straps because if I have 75 mil to drop on a new mount so do you!

Look at the new bed mount, in reality with a few PF you could get the mats and be done with it. Overall I see that being worth maybe 3-5 mil maximum but since prices are relative only to the wealthy they sell for 70 mil and of course people buy them amongst themselves, alienating newer players who dont have the time for multiple map runs, thus it's a time= money but in a reasonable scale. Just because 70 mil is reasonable to a rich person doesn't mean its reasonable to a average player, also reason doesn't scale upwards.

Then comes RMT, newer players have little time invested so they can risk buying RMT for 20 bucks to give them selves a leg up, its basically getting a small 1 million dollar loan from you father. It seems insignificant but it adds up. So RMT seems like a no brainer if you want to enjoy certain aspects of the game within a reasonable time frame ( not 10 years later and being a sweaty try hard). This leads to a new problem, these RMT gold buyers, then buy these items at these absurd prices and reinforce the sellers mentality thus perpetuating the entire problem.

Maybe we should increase the taxes on the richer players so eliminate some of this excess gil in the system. Seriously so it would then put them in line with your average player and bring prices down across the board and make more of the game accessible to the player base in a reasonable time.

[Delis]

I don't think the community has ever had a constructive conversation about anything.. Well maybe about how adorable otter are.

[Edax]

I don't think the community has ever had a constructive conversation about anything..

Very constructive.

[Kaedan]

Rich players don't determine market prices, the consumers do. On a few select servers that might have been the case at one point or another (where the rich people would buy up all the stock and then resell it at drastically higher prices). But over time, and especially now with world visit, that isn't an issue at all.

In the specific case of new items, that is also very, very normal from an economic point of view. When a new iphone is released, it's priced ridiculously high. However, after a some time passes, the price drops and eventually it drops to almost nothing. Same thing with new items in-game. Right away, the supply is very low, so those providing the supply can pretty much charge whatever they want.

However, if you give it a few weeks, those prices come down dramatically.

RMT will exist regardless, no matter the health of the economy. Taxing "rich players" more would do absolutely nothing. In fact, if anything it would increase the amount that people buy gil because the sellers would simply pass off that tax cost onto their products (thus the products would be even HIGHER priced).

[Vahlnir]

RMT is popular because the game is popular, and some are too lazy to earn gil themselves. It is not the fault of older or rich players. I personally can make at LEAST a few hundred thousand a day passively (I don't craft either) so it always baffles me just how lazy some people are that they need to buy gil. Also, things like the bed mount are always expensive for a couple weeks with prices decreasing almost daily. RMT is an issue, but "taxing the rich" will do nothing to solve it. What the game needs is more gil sinks and a more equipped task force to handle RMT and bots. Blanket banning weekly doesn't do much. They need to be more proactive if they are ever going to get a handle on it.

[Rokochan]

no point in trying to tax richer consumers / omnicrafters either as most people normally dont spend gil on anything. like myself, teleports are practically free with aetheryte tickets from hunts ( allied seals). and repairs you can repair your own gear. and like kaedan said, higher taxes you'll pay the difference in the finished product, as far as first listing with no buyout history, the prices will always been absurdly high, its mainly to judge what the general public would pay for it. as time passes players will either leave the item up until there is some competition to lower the price.

[Lissyl]

I personally can make at LEAST a few hundred thousand a day passively (I don't craft either) so it always baffles me just how lazy some people are that they need to buy gil.

Do tell more. At my level 50, it sounds like it takes you 3 days to make what i have in 5 months and I craft a ton. I'm all ears....Viera jokes aside. Or is it 'I can make this much once I'm level 70 (80 now) and have a good FC and friends to run statics and and and...'? Seriously, give us worthless lazy peons some pointers.

[Vahlnir]

Do tell more. At my level 50, it sounds like it takes you 3 days to make what i have in 5 months and I craft a ton. I'm all ears....Viera jokes aside. Or is it 'I can make this much once I'm level 70 (80 now) and have a good FC and friends to run statics and and and...'? Seriously, give us worthless lazy peons some pointers.

I don't give up my "trade" secrets. It is legitimate work, however.

[TwistedTea]

I believe RMT is wildly popular because of older players. I noticed a few people sitting on 500 mil plus. Now if you are playing from the start of the game till today, that's a no brainer and you can say with confidence that gil has no use.

Even as a casual crafter using yellow scrip gear, it's possible to make 100 - 200 million gil in the first few weeks after a major patch or an expansion drops. Provided you have prepared properly.

FFXIV does not have sufficient gil sinks.

I see things priced on the market board that's in the realm of absurdity. To someone who has 500 mil it's not absurd, but to someone who has 500k it is absurd. I asked around and it seems to me people price things relative to their own wealth and and VASTLY overestimate and overvalue there skills and tome...

As a captialist catte and crafter main, I price things according to what the market is willing to pay. If something is greatly overpriced, you can bet it'll be undercut and people will not start buying regularly until it comes down to an acceptable price.

Secondly, I price according to the cost of the crafting mats.

For example,it takes 3 Hannish Wools to make 1 Hannish Wool Shirt. On Crystal,currently these are selling for an average of 400k each. 400k x 3 plus the cost of the other mats to make the shirt...yeah, I'll be pricing it around 1.4 - 1.5 mil minimum and I can guarantee you, even at that price, the undercutters will come along and drop the price to below a million. #freemarket

Then comes RMT, newer players have little time invested so they can risk buying RMT for 20 bucks to give them selves a leg up, its basically getting a small 1 million dollar loan from you father. It seems insignificant but it adds up. So RMT seems like a no brainer if you want to enjoy certain aspects of the game within a reasonable time frame ( not 10 years later and being a sweaty try hard). This leads to a new problem, these RMT gold buyers, then buy these items at these absurd prices and reinforce the sellers mentality thus perpetuating the entire problem.

I will never support this attitude when there are so many ways to make gil. To me it sounds like the stance of someone wants instant gratification and not put in any effort

Just 2 hours of play daily without any crafters/gatherers will see you have anywhere from 20 - 50 million gil (source: Personal experience before leveling crafters/gatherers. I resold NPC items, sold quest rewards etc,flipped dyes etc)

Maybe we should increase the taxes on the richer players so eliminate some of this excess gil in the system.

I'm in favour of more gil sinks for everyone. Make teleports,repairs cost more etc. But that's not popular *shrugs*

[Lissyl]

I don't give up my "trade" secrets. It is legitimate work, however.

Of course not. But it does make it kind of difficult to reasonably call others lazy just because they didn't find your 'angle'. Good luck with your moneymaking.