Tackling RMT: What creates buyers in the first place?

[drtasteyummy]

I think it's a mix of different aspects

a) Gil is way too cheap because SE lacks in engagement to really get rid of bots (most of them anyway)

b) People that buy Gil don't get punished

Now, realistically speaking if you did "a" and "b" properly there would almost be zero buyers BUT you face a different issue
and that is the decline of players. Some people will say that is justified because they're lazy, toxic or had it comming but
IMO there is a specific issue to Gil farming that is prevailing in almost if not all MMOs and that is: it's frigging boring and annoying

You have to learn a job you don't care about, to do something that is boring to most people and then join some youtube academy to analyze the market on 12 live tracking websites
or you have to grind hundreds of mobs again and again and again and again, like a bot. Most people come home from work and the last thing they wanna think about is "Finally home, time to do some boring 3 hours of farm which I frigging hate".

MMOs have an big issue where they always hide currency behind some boring grind, where the only people to pop out and defend it are the people that have every
farm job on max with 300 servants.

I argue if "a" and "b" would be enforced and there would be a farm method that is easy to access for everybody, enjoyable and profitable (static wise) almost nobody would ever buy Gil.

[Stormpeaks]

I think it's a mix of different aspects

a) Gil is way too cheap because SE lacks in engagement to really get rid of bots (most of them anyway)

b) People that buy Gil don't get punished

Now, realistically speaking if you did "a" and "b" properly there would almost be zero buyers BUT you face a different issue
and that is the decline of players. Some people will say that is justified because they're lazy, toxic or had it comming but
IMO there is a specific issue to Gil farming that is prevailing in almost if not all MMOs and that is: it's frigging boring and annoying

You have to learn a job you don't care about, to do something that is boring to most people and then join some youtube academy to analyze the market on 12 live tracking websites
or you have to grind hundreds of mobs again and again and again and again, like a bot. Most people come home from work and the last thing they wanna think about is "Finally home, time to do some boring 3 hours of farm which I frigging hate".

MMOs have an big issue where they always hide currency behind some boring grind, where the only people to pop out and defend it are the people that have every
farm job on max with 300 servants.

I argue if "a" and "b" would be enforced and there would be a farm method that is easy to access for everybody, enjoyable and profitable (static wise) almost nobody would ever buy Gil.

This right here is the solution to it all, couldnt have said it better myself

[Liam_Harper]

Why tell one side to learn to control themselves and not the other?

Quite simply because one side is earning something legitimately in-game and the other is breaking ToS.

There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting a pile of game money. I like my own pile of gil, but irl I care nothing about wealth or increased QoL or materialistic values. If I have enough for basic comfort I'm happy. Similarly in-game it's just there for personal satisfaction, that "I earned this" feeling. I don't show off with it, I'll give it away to people I like or use it for FC events. I disagree that I'm morally in the wrong because someone who doesn't want to make any effort is jealous of something I earned fairly that simply gives me satisfaction.
Similarly if someone else wants gil for whatever reason, personal items, to simply make a big pile and sit on it, or to treat others, I'd never judge them for it. Just don't break ToS or make someone else unhappy over it.

Yes, someone who plays 80 hours has an advantage, but it's a meaningless advantage that's just fun. Everyone has access to the means to make enough gil to buy everything even on limited time.

Economically gil hoarders also reduce inflation by removing large sums of gil from the economy over time but not injecting it back. They make items more available because they provide the supply and compete with one another, lowering prices.

The only people to blame are the ones who break rules and SE for not enforcing them. If SE wanted to cut the gil cap, delete everyone's money and give everyone a 1m a week allowance or whatever else to even the playing field it's their game and then anyone not following that would be at fault. But right now, the players who are following ToS and playing the game by simply selling items they made by legitimate means are not at fault.

[WP1990]

The base desire for people to RMT is Laziness.

Has nothing to do with the economy of the game, its a person being too lazy to earn it that they would rather just pay.

I agree completely. The first rule to making money on the market board is people do not buy the item. They buy the convenience and time they save. The gil involved is simply a measure on how much the person is willing to pay for the time to aquire said item.

I will note however, regulated markets never work. Just look at history for all the proof you need.

[VerdeLuck]

I agree completely. The first rule to making money on the market board is people do not buy the item. They buy the convenience and time they save. The gil involved is simply a measure on how much the person is willing to pay for the time to aquire said item.

I will note however, regulated markets never work. Just look at history for all the proof you need.

It's actually the inverse, unregulated markets end in a massive accumulation of wealth at the top and a huge disparity between the haves and have nots. It's not a real economy but the ffxiv economy is basically at this spot where people have multiple stacks of max gil on characters and are asking for a gil sink to spend money on to have some use for it, while others struggle to scrape together enough to get crafted gear to do the new savage raids.
It doesn't help either that there are no skips for crafter or gatherer jobs like there are combat jobs. So, making your own gear requires you to get your crafting jobs to level 90, pentameld the current BiS crafting and gathering gear, then you can make a set of gear for yourself to start to prog savage. Levelling your non combat jobs is a long and costly process for players to catch up with and has quite a bit of investment before you can get to it paying off.

Honestly that's where most of the RMT is happenning, people want to raid, you can't raid week 1 unless you get pentamelded crafted gear, and that costs about 10-15 million gil per set. you either have your crafters levelled and geared to BiS to make your own or you pay up enough for it off the market board.

[WP1990]

It's actually the inverse, unregulated markets end in a massive accumulation of wealth at the top and a huge disparity between the haves and have nots. It's not a real economy but the ffxiv economy is basically at this spot where people have multiple stacks of max gil on characters and are asking for a gil sink to spend money on to have some use for it, while others struggle to scrape together enough to get crafted gear to do the new savage raids.
It doesn't help either that there are no skips for crafter or gatherer jobs like there are combat jobs. So, making your own gear requires you to get your crafting jobs to level 90, pentameld the current BiS crafting and gathering gear, then you can make a set of gear for yourself to start to prog savage. Levelling your non combat jobs is a long and costly process for players to catch up with and has quite a bit of investment before you can get to it paying off.

Honestly that's where most of the RMT is happenning, people want to raid, you can't raid week 1 unless you get pentamelded crafted gear, and that costs about 10-15 million gil per set. you either have your crafters levelled and geared to BiS to make your own or you pay up enough for it off the market board.

You should research economic policy with failed empires before you talk about regulated markets. I will say no more on that specific matter.

I will state my opinion as an omnicrafter myself. You are talking about 1 specific part of the market. (High end content markets) Back in the day that market had so few omnicrafters but now they game is saturated with omnicrafters because it's fairly easy to max your crafters now. I assure you due to the cutthroat nature of that specific market, the risk involved and the low throughput opportunities in that specific section. The smart gil makers/ RMT botters in the game do not actively use High End Content Markets to generate gil. It's simply not worth their time due to the saturation of competition. Spend some time in Eureka and Bozjan if you think I'm blowing smoke.

In respect to RMT my basic principle remains true. "People buy convenience." Hence they are lazy. The solution is in the qoute itself. SE needs to do one of the following but we all know they will choose the one that makes them the most profit.
1: IP ban the gold buyers
Or
2:Ban the gold buyers

But we all know it's not good business to let a new game key go to waste.