A -real- economic discussion about 2.0?

[Yves]

I do agree with this. But then what happens when there is a reason to start spending gil? If you apply a malthusian model wouldn't that result in hyperinflation and collapse? And wouldn't the fact that there is a reverse scenario now mean that the collapse is exponentially larger (at least going by macroeconomic theory. As when you look at economic fluctuations one extreme tends to result in the other extreme before balance. Ex. economic over-expansion leads to bad depressions, or stock market wise, price bubbles lead to hardcore stock busts)

The other possibility is that if SE creates good economic policies (which I'm skeptical of because they don't have an overall great track record in the economy) rather than rapid expansion and collapse, the economy just has a long period of moderate expansion where everyone benefits.

Absolutely. But, while this may be contradictory, the shift may never occur and balance may never be achieved. The key reason for this is that we may never find a situation in which gil may need to be spent. Keep in mind that, from my understanding, existing players will not be able to join servers designed for new players. This means that the same variables seemingly remain constant. If everyone is capable then nobody spends.

Now, I believe that they tried to correct this with the animal fat, hardened sap, and coke but the impact was too negligible to offset the earning potential. And if they were to inflate it as such the outcry would be too extreme. Furthermore, this would prevent newer players from having a realistic chance at achieving results.

I'm really not seeing a scenario outside of a gil-wipe that would remedy the situation.

I know that I contradicted my original post to some extent but that's the beauty of a discussion - you make a statement, test it against others, and then retool and rework. Rinse, repeat! Which, the more I think about it, the Malthusian concept may not apply in an intangible world since no tangible consequence exists. What a debacle!

[Azurymber]

Absolutely. But, while this may be contradictory, the shift may never occur and balance may never be achieved. The key reason for this is that we may never find a situation in which gil may need to be spent. Keep in mind that, from my understanding, existing players will not be able to join servers designed for new players. This means that the same variables seemingly remain constant. If everyone is capable then nobody spends.

Now, I believe that they tried to correct this with the animal fat, hardened sap, and coke but the impact was too negligible to offset the earning potential. And if they were to inflate it as such the outcry would be too extreme. Furthermore, this would prevent newer players from having a realistic chance at achieving results.

I'm really not seeing a scenario outside of a gil-wipe that would remedy the situation.

I know that I contradicted my original post to some extent but that's the beauty of a discussion - you make a statement, test it against others, and then retool and rework. Rinse, repeat! Which, the more I think about it, the Malthusian concept may not apply in an intangible world since no tangible consequence exists. What a debacle!

I wish everyone on this forum was like you
I completely agree.