Critical Cross-Server Economic Analysis

[henchoo]

uae ( the player on remora) is a good person not RMT

[gfive]

I don't hate all Kuwaiti's, just the one's that play on Bismarck.

You hated everyone on Bismarck who didn't kiss your ass.

You didn't kiss my ass Lui and I wuv you <3 kekekeke

[elita]

dirka irka dirka DIRK LIRKA dirka LIRKA JIHAD DIRKA lirka lirka DIRKA!!

[Bunshinagain]

dirka irka dirka DIRK LIRKA dirka LIRKA JIHAD DIRKA lirka lirka DIRKA!!

lol, Way to make fun of your own mother

[Not Kuno]

Hey guys remember when people were saying RMT doesn't effect prices?

[Daahan]

ana let karam al 3arabiah

[FFXIFlux]

Hey guys remember when people were saying RMT doesn't effect prices?

FFXI is a closed system, RMT won't effect prices the way it has been. RMTers get gil by selling items to other players thus increasing supply and decreasing demand and at the same time taking money OUT of the economy (AH fees). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation specifically "the quantity theory of money" and "demand pull inflation" which argue for inflation being caused by there being a larger quantity of money in the economy as the reason for inflation. I think there is gil dupeing going on on a major scale or there is something like the rusty cap NPC gil generation going on.

Now, demand IS increasing as people get more jobs to high levels and thus want more items. This is fueled by several things including storage NPCs giving people room for items, XP rate increases letting people get more jobs to high levels faster, and also by people muleing more to store said items. I think you'll find if SE did another statistics run like their last one they'll find that NA players have almost as many mule characters now as JPN players where their last test showed NA players had almost none. On the other hand, demand decreases as people leave the game. If I quit there will be another set of HQ staves, another scorpion harness etc. suddenly enter the market. I think FFXI's player population has been relativly stable, but I haven't seen numbers in a while. The new expansion though will bring more players and return old players and increase demand, particularly as everyone who has a mage only now suddenly wants a SH for their Pirate.

Anyway, I think Genbu, Serket, Seriyu(?) and Desert Storm are dropping more venemous claws each day than there are people who wake up that morning thinking they suddenly need a harness. And yes, the price of EVERYTHING is going up, including NQ staves, ninja tools, sushi, EVERYTHING. It's not the RMTers. If the 10 top old-school crafters with their 10 mules each with 99M gil all unleashed that on the market at once, it would be a blip compared to what we're seeing. Theres something broken out there.

[Orfeo]

And yes, the price of EVERYTHING is going up, including NQ staves, ninja tools, sushi, EVERYTHING.

You sure about that? On bahamut spider webs, iolites, and tree cuttings (my main source of income, always has and always will be...) have either remained the same or dropped durastically (iolite went 300k -> 150k about the time mass inflation started).

What really sucks is every other seller resists my attempts to raise prices ;( I sold seven spider webs for 5k above ah last night, and the price didn't change.

[Lordwafik]

And yes, the price of EVERYTHING is going up, including NQ staves, ninja tools, sushi, EVERYTHING.

You sure about that? On bahamut spider webs, iolites, and tree cuttings (my main source of income, always has and always will be...) have either remained the same or dropped durastically (iolite went 300k -> 150k about the time mass inflation started).

What really sucks is every other seller resists my attempts to raise prices ;( I sold seven spider webs for 5k above ah last night, and the price didn't change.

That's because those are mass quantity items.

Anyway with the gigantic amount of clothcrafters that happened on our server (a ton of people levelled cloth after aurik posted his SS of his 100mil gil), you can probably shout when you have webs, since those are hawked on the AH, and many people would love to have you as a personal bazaar and synth on the spot.

[BRP]

RMT speeds up inflation. Inflation causes prices.

If you stop inflation, RMT woudn't be a problem.

If you stop RMT, inflation would still be a problem.

[atsalaz]

You sure about that? On bahamut spider webs, iolites, and tree cuttings (my main source of income, always has and always will be...) have either remained the same or dropped durastically (iolite went 300k -> 150k about the time mass inflation started).

Those 3 items are different from each other, so your grouping of them to prove your point doesn't make much sense. Iolite price dropped due to mass farming because its only use is for gobbie bag (the last one at that). Being a one shot thing any players will have no use for it after they completed that quest, and since you need proper fame to reach that high (not to mention the gil, since a lot of the previous bag materials have raised in prices), the demand is relatively low in comparison to most things.

Tree cuttings remains an exclusive item for gardners, and the nature of that craft demands attention and patience that the majority of players do not have. The rate of failure from gardening also turns many people away if they do not see an immediate profit or at least break even. Therefore, though it is a lucrative way to make gil, it will always be niche. Which would explain why the price is pretty stable (and will only fluctuate occasionally when either people get fed up with the ore prices or wanting an easier way of making money).

Spider webs, on the other hand, is continuously needed. Wafik is right in that there is a huge influx of upcoming clothcrafters, especially ones that will go through the rainbow stage at any cost necessary, apparently. I didn't log on on Tuesday, and much to my dismay, I found out the webs have gone up another 20K (30 -> 50) in as short as 2 days. That is just ridiculous. To take other materials into consideration, over the past week or so, twincoons went from 200 -> 500K, damascene 2.5 mil -> 5 mil and raxa from 100 -> 200K. Crafting used to be fun, and I would make stuff for friends since losses on NQ is minimal, now that's not possible w/o a huge dent in my pocket. FFXI is going down the drain, makes me that glad I picked up WoW.

[Ragnard]

RMT speeds up inflation. (no) Inflation causes prices. (yes)
If you stop inflation, RMT woudn't be a problem. (no)
If you stop RMT, inflation would still be a problem.(yes, if you considered it a problem for the first year and a half of release :x)

•You're confusing causes and effects.

•FFXIFlux pretty much hit the naid right on the head a couple posts up.

•Only high demand luxury items are going up in price. Commodity items (such as some servers' spider webs, iolites or cuttings) stay much more stable. This is indicative of price inflation due to skyrocketing demand, not currency inflation. If it were actual inflation, we'd see price increases on commodities that would mirror the price increases on luxury items. RMT puts gil in the hands of the have-nots, who feel the need to immediately use all of their spending power. Demand goes up, prices go up.

[Bunshinagain]

I dropped Economics in high school
Couldnt stand Supply and Demand.

[epigram]

I think one issue that is overlooked especially by SE is the lack of middle-ground items. Take a quick look at WoW or any other game and you can see for the most part there is a reasonable progression in items. You don't need to have all blue items when there are a few green ones with similar stats. Now look at FFXI, RK -> Haubergeon, what a joke, the only middle ground item is assault jerkin which you can't use til 67 and more than likely the blm will lot and win it >.>;

There really is a lack of good quality items that can be easily crafted for middle-wear. Hell it's been two years and nothing really relplaces ridill for war or even contends >.> But thank God for my pebble belt and healling harness...

[FFXIFlux]

•Only high demand luxury items are going up in price. Commodity items (such as some servers' spider webs, iolites or cuttings) stay much more stable. This is indicative of price inflation due to skyrocketing demand, not currency inflation. If it were actual inflation, we'd see price increases on commodities that would mirror the price increases on luxury items. RMT puts gil in the hands of the have-nots, who feel the need to immediately use all of their spending power. Demand goes up, prices go up.

No, it is actual inflation and no, commodity items are also going up. I was paying 5k for shihei not that long ago, it's now 15k. 30k for sushi is now 60k. NQ staves were down to 15k or less and now they're over 200k. Spider webs were 5k, they're 15k at least now even with greater supply.

The only things that are staying stable or are going down are things that have a much higher supply than demand. Usually things that can be purchased or an alternative purchased from an NPC (many food items, some medicines), have a very limited demand due to being 1-use like high level quest items or are for a single job (JSE ENM drops), or are not as good as a reasonably priced alternative (again, many food items, the game has way too much food in it, 2nd-rate weapons etc).

[Ragnard]

commodity items are also going up. I was paying 5k for shihei not that long ago, it's now 15k. 30k for sushi is now 60k.

;_; I guess I haven't played enough in the past weeks to see all of this. If commodity prices are going up as you say, then maybe there is some high flux of gil into the servers... weak.

I wish I had access to the servers... running a query that sums the gil held by players for the entire server wouldn't be terribly complicated. By running it once or twice a day, I think it would be easy to tell if gil were being duped.

[DrObvious]

No, it is actual inflation and no, commodity items are also going up. I was paying 5k for shihei not that long ago, it's now 15k. 30k for sushi is now 60k. NQ staves were down to 15k or less and now they're over 200k. Spider webs were 5k, they're 15k at least now even with greater supply.

It might be different on your server, but on my server sushi has been 40k for months, long before the increase we've seen on high ticket items. Shihei has been 10k for a long time. Spider webs have been 20k. Meanwhile, vclaw had been steadily increasing and took a 33% jump in December- with no increments. Haubergeon has doubled in price in a few weeks.

Nq staff price increase can be attributed to many things, such as crafters finally getting smart and not selling them at 1/10 cost. Indeed, on my server some staves have gone up in price while others have not.

Gil sellers have been increasing the price on their items across the board. I'm pretty sure they have fish botters, and have done the same here. Bomb cores went up by over 300% in the past month, amemet skins over 200% etc.

[Xavier]

By running it once or twice a day, I think it would be easy to tell if gil were being duped.

It is.

[angelkitty]

I agree with xavier theres no way any of this could be possible unless someone found a way to dupe gil

[Kiro]

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...th/Catgirl.gif