Fresh Start will ruin 2.0

[Ryuko]

I think it will be fine and the economy will even itself out no matter what.

I remember taking a long break from FFXI while inflation was really high. At some point during my break, a lot of gil was removed from the system as a large group of gilfarmers were banned. I came back to the game with 2mil (which was not much when I left) and found out that I could basically buy ANYTHING I wanted... but that didn't last long. Like a person who wins the lottery, my surplus eventually ran out... and I was back at the level of supply/demand that everyone else was.

The economy won't be broken by even a fresh start because...

People are not entirely reliant on 'buying' gear. If you are resourceful/dedicated, you can farm items yourself and have yourself or a friend synth the item. I could say, "all of the mats for this item are worth X amount of gil, so the item itself should be worth at least this much...," but that's only really applicable if I plan on putting it in the retainer system. If I farm all of the items myself (assuming the drop rate is NOT adjusted), it will still take just as much time/effort as it once did. I believe that people who buy items do so out of convenience only.

I might buy a stack of karakul rather than farming it because I'm simply too lazy to farm, for instance. New players will not have the convenience right away, and will be forced to do everything the hard way... still, a steady income from leves and their own ability to be self sufficient will mean that fluctuation of gil won't really matter that much because EVERYTHING will scale eventually... especially if it is regulated by leve/quest rewards. Remember: all gil comes from some source, and all of the gil currently in the game originally came from quest rewards or mob drops. That's it.

If one hoarder who has 100m gil saves it and then uses it when the prices on everything drop, it won't matter THAT MUCH... because while 100m seems like a lot, and it will definitely mess with the price of the item(s) that they have bought temporarily, it will STILL balance out and in the grand scheme of things, 100m is nothing compared to all of the gil on the server.

We also don't really live in a capitalist game. There are some people with capped jobs and great gear, but very rarely is a monopoly found because most of us are on the same level with the same opportunities. It's not like 'real life' where 'who you know' means everything. Sure, a successful ls will lead to killing bosses that drop good/expensive items, but it won't make you SO MUCH richer than the rest of the server. Those who are rich work to be, and if you REALLY wanted to be rich, all it takes is a little bit of research, intelligence, and patience. Anyone can get the 'best' synthed gear if they wanted to... they just need to work for it.

[Eremor]

/threadderail

We also don't really live in a capitalist game... Those who are rich work to be, and if you REALLY wanted to be rich, all it takes is a little bit of research, intelligence, and patience...

That's actually pretty much the definition of capitalism, just not American capitalism. I just thought this was really funny and indicative of the fact that American capitalism is as far from true capitalism as true socialism is.

/endthreadderail

[Ryuko]

/threadderail



That's actually pretty much the definition of capitalism, just not American capitalism. I just thought this was really funny and indicative of the fact that American capitalism is as far from true capitalism as true socialism is.

/endthreadderail

Yes, I am talking about capitalism in the American sense as I am assuming that a large amount of people reading this subset of the forums are NA (not EVERYONE... but a good amount for enough people to understand where I'm coming from).

My point about monopolies being next to impossible in this game still stands. The only time I see a monopoly being truly possible is if/when they implement HNM's with 'the best gear in the game' that only pop a certain amount of times... THEN, you will see LS's camping them like you wouldn't believe, getting the gear, and once they have equipped everyone they wanted to, selling it for whatever price they deem necessary. That isn't happening right now. Getting any piece of crafted gear REALLY isn't that hard if your mind is set on it.

How hard is it, really, to get a crafting job to 50, gear it appropriately, and get the items to make an expensive piece of gear? It's not even comparable to how hard it is in real life, in any country, no matter what type of capitalism your country utilizes.

Do you really think this game is the definition of capitalism? It just isn't. It can't be because it's a game. A game can't ever be the true definition of capitalism because we aren't LIVING it. We're not 'fighting to survive' as it were. We don't have to 'eat' in the game, or spend other expenses for 'upkeep'. There is no debt or loans we have to deal with. Hell, we don't even have to pay for our FREE inn. Retainers are taxed, but only to a very slight (almost laughable) amount. All we have to do to keep ourselves in check is get our gear repaired (next to free if you have a friend do it, but still affordable if you MUST do it at an NPC considering levequest rewards). If you want to be a GOOD player, you need to buy/make food, or get HQ items with multiple melds, but you can still live and thrive without it.