viperx -

I have to agree with Joe - you had a good post going there and a few decent points, except for the last paragraph.

In fact, I have to take exception. From a market perspective, nothing in WoW lasts forever. BoP items leave the market before they even enter - they have no "cash" value beyond what they can be vendored for what you can sell the DE for.

BoE items are lost the moment they are equipped, essentially removing them from the economy the same as BoP items. Plus if it is a Boe for, say, a level 30, it will likely be replaced within 10 levels anyhow.

Tradeskill mats? Consumable by nature. 'nuff said.

I'm no financial consultant or market analyst, but it strikes me that the game, in and of itself, is fairly well designed to perpetuate a growing, healthy economy on it's own. Items will never stay around forever, gear (with the exception of the highest level stuff) will always eventually need to be replaced/upgraded. Tradeskill mats from all circles will always be in demand. Everything in game is this for that, one thing for another thing. Demanded, supplied, consumed. Basic economics. And these things are reflected in the game.

What cocks it up is when you insert unforseen (and unintended) variables, such as gold farmers/buyers. Suddenly you have gold literally appearing out of thin air with nothing in game to balance it out. No product or service in game being sold or traded to stimulate the economy. A character can go from desperately poor to insanely rich in 1 hour, with no tangible, in game byproduct of the aquisition. The rate at which gold is leaving the economy is just fine. Whip out a credit card and go from 30 gold in the bank to 1000? Talk about gold entering the market faster than leaving it!

Some people say that the farmers are doing the same thing that the players would do, so what's the difference? The difference it that average players - even hardcore players - don't/can't run 20 accounts 24/7, paying people below minimum wage to accumulate gold. These people are accumulating and distributing gold faster than the economy is designed to absorb it.

I understand what you're saying about BoE items. The more items there are to buy, the more gold will be exchanged. This makes some sense, I'll give you that. But the soulbound/consumable nature of just about all the items in game are what drive this thing.

But.. this thread was about reputation, right? LOL

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