Are the developers of XIV out of touch?

[RiyahArp]

If some one told me that that an actual human being was had the actual responsibility of overseeing this game's economy, I would be shocked.

It makes sense when you realize they manage it to blunt the power of RMT. One thing the decisions do is manage to make an economy where gil is purely optional, and that prevents RMT from getting a foothold in actual gameplay. They remember FFXI, where RMT early on got so powerful that you had hyperinflation for goods, and player MPKing over notorious monsters. Side effect is that, well, gil is purely optional.