Before analyzing the Market please read.

[whiskeybravo]

I think a lot of you are missing the point of the OP. Personal experiences are not an objective indication of the state of the market.

But the market is made entirely of personal experiences. Whether buying or selling.

I think OSU has the more compelling argument here. Early crafters experienced abnormally high profit margins because of lack of competition. And just like the real world if there is more competition (helped by free entry and exit from the marketplace) prices will go down due to the increase in supply (without corresponding increase in Demand). That's actually the picture of a healthy economy due to more people being able to afford more products (IE more people have running water, electricity, refrigeration, food, clothing, etc.).

Furthermore, prices will drop when demand drops (unless a huge decrease in supply offsets this). My observations indicate that many people are saving for housing. This is the elephant in the room due to the price tag, and the biggest change in the market since the patch. It's reasonable to assume this has a major impact on buying decisions. CT loot and increased tome collection being on the periphery, I think.

I honestly get a kick out of all this economic talk. You wonder why companies spend millions upon millions lobbying their governments for special privileges, contracts, changes to the law. IT'S BECAUSE THEY WANT THEIR PROFIT BACK. A free and competitive market is a bitch for greedy CEOs.

[OSUBuckeye4]

I think OSU has the more compelling argument here. Early crafters experienced abnormally high profit margins because of lack of competition. And just like the real world if there is more competition (helped by free entry and exit from the marketplace) prices will go down due to the increase in supply (without corresponding increase in Demand). That's actually the picture of a healthy economy due to more people being able to afford more products (IE more people have running water, electricity, refrigeration, food, clothing, etc.).

It's healthy in the real world, where people have to eat, drink, and pay for essentials (things like heating and clothing) on a day to day basis.

It's not very healthy (long term) in a virtual world where nothing breaks, everything can do everything, and every item is essentially an unnecessary purchase because better quality things can be picked up from dungeons for "free" (minus repair costs).


SE needs to fix one of those issues.

Either:

1) Things need to break/be replaced from time to time.
2) People need to pick specializations (get up to 50 in every class, but only one class can go to 60... for example)
3) Items that are BiS or BiS-equilivent need to be released (and preferably make the materials somewhat difficult to obtain either via low drop rates, or make them only obtainable through high level raiding)


The current path that FF14's economy is on is a doomed one.

Everything is fine right now, but, if unchecked it's going to be a disaster.

[whiskeybravo]

It's not very healthy (long term) in a virtual world where nothing breaks, everything can do everything, and every item is essentially an unnecessary purchase because better quality things can be picked up from dungeons for "free" (minus repair costs).

That's a good point. Maintenance is reflected by having to repair gear but not straight replacement, outside of converting gear for materia.

There is just a disconnect because of the other ways gear can be obtained, and the fact that regular old gear will get you through regular old content without having to have HQ and max melded. It is nice to have HQ gear loaded with materia, but at what cost compared to regular old gear? Everyone's answer will be different due to value being a subjective thing.

But along the lines of my other recent post, the market has changed, and people are looking for answers (or changes to be made) which is typically the case when change happens. The market may be worse *for some* now than before, but that doesn't mean the market was perfect before and is now in shambles. It could very well be that the market was actually in shambles before, but is now on the "road to recovery". (the reason I sort of lean this way is keeping in mind the abnormally high profits reaped by early crafters, whereas now prices are actually starting to stabilize due to influx of new crafters/gatherers)

[SafetyHippo]

But the market is made entirely of personal experiences. Whether buying or selling.

IF I buy 200k gil worth of shards at 500 per and fail to sell them ever for any price higher than 100, THEN my personal experience is a crippling loss of gil and will lead me to believe the market is failing, why else could I not sell them for a profit?

No the cold hard numbers that determine weather or not a market is thriving or failing have little to nothing to do with personal experience or observation. In order to make a true judgement of the WHOLE economy you need the amount of gil flow BETWEEN PLAYERS.