[Sabaron]

If anyone has been watching the server currency volumes you will have noticed that since the mass bans started, Asura has gone from the highest currency volume to the lowest. Accompanying this I have also noticed an huge increase in trade shouts in Whitegate.

This is bad. It is indicative of a loss of faith in currency and a return to barter. Diablo II currency was so worthless that no one bothered to trade it. Therefore, the "gil" has become so worthless here, that no one is willing to exchange anything for it.

Am I wrong? Is this as bad as I see it?

[Murphie]

You're probably not entirely wrong, but I think you're worrying needlessly. The economy will be fine, even on Asura.

[Raydeus]

In any case I'm already prepared because I knew this would happen.

That is why I have many mules full with stacks of insect wings, as I'm convinced that will become the new currency in the near future (so I'll be able to buy pretty much everything I want with them).

And people thought I was crazy...

[Murphie]

Don't worry, Raydeus, I'll always think you're crazy. :3

[Raydeus]

[Blood Red Poet]

Am I wrong?

Cutting to the point, yes.

[Sabaron]

Well, the other thing is that since there is so much less gil, it is indicative of an unwillingness to allow higher-quality gear to drop in value. Listing it on the AH at the desired price produces possibly multiple relists and for multi-million gil items, this equates to a lot of money. Thus shouting preserves the value of the item and advertises it better than bazaar. It still reflects a lack of confidence in the market itself.

And it appears that someone has gotten his old moniker back.

[Nazo]

It will take people a while to adjust to the new economy as they are still stuck with old ideas of what constitutes 'value' but they'll adjust eventually. Trading items for other items is no different really from buying / selling at the new prices, it just hurts less psychologically as you aren't dealing directly with the currency.

Selling something that used to be worth 10M for 1M seems like a big loss but if you can buy something else for 1M that used to cost 10M with the gil then you aren't really any worse off.

[Hyrist]

While this can create difficulty getting more advanced items at first, I really don't believe the trend of a Barter system is really all that bad.

With the direct transfer of goods, one could bypass the gilsellers and RMT, or focused more on exchanges with crafting.

While cheaper goods and crafting supplies will find their ways to an easialy accessable auction house. Many will most likley quest for goods they need with friends now. (Current instanced battle formations cover a lot of what is considered high end gear now, those that are not, can be farmed or fought for supplies, and a crafter located.)

In all realism the Auction house will still be a center of trade. Prices on certain areas will stabilize while others fall when they begin to be considered too common or outdone by other gear.

This reicent encouragement for more direct trades, however, serves as more of a frustration to gilbuyers and RMT providers than it really will for normal players.

Please don't panic.

[IfritnoItazura]

*scratch head*

To OP:

My understanding is that people tend to "lose faith in currency" under hyper-inflation scenarios. Now, you're describing falling prices, so it's a deflation instead.

So, money is worth more--gil is more precious now. I suspect the reason why people want to barter is either because A) they are unwilling to part with now very precious gils, or B) they rather not sell items for "low ball" prices, especially now gil is valued so much more.

I think you have it backwards.

[Pawkeshup]

This was the genesis of my post earlier, about how banning gilsellers will effect our economy.

Ramuh is having the same crisis of gil. Right now, there is a vast split between the have's and have not's. I haven't seen the one for one trade of items yet, but I expect to see it soon as people simply cannot give away higher end gear.

Right now Scorp harness +1's are going for less than I've EVER seen. It's dropping below 2 million with no end in sight.

It will be interesting to see what happens next...

[Vyuru]

I have to admit, I think some areas of the AH are getting really messed up. I logged in the other day, and saw that the Cloth merchant in Al Zhabi wasn't selling anything since his friend was taken prisoner. Now that normally means that there are few weaving goods up on the AH, so I checked.

39 stacks of Wool Thread, all selling for under 16,000, and it takes about 20,000+ and that's including crystals to make.


Yeah.....

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Originally Posted by Pawkeshup

Ramuh is having the same crisis of gil. Right now, there is a vast split between the have's and have not's....

Right now Scorp harness +1's are going for less than I've EVER seen. It's dropping below 2 million with no end in sight.

Hasn't there always been a "vast split between the have's and the have not's", even during the time of rampant inflation?

Also, if the price of stuff like SH+1 continues to drop, doesn't that actually mean the gap is shrinking? The price of low level farmed / crafted materials can't drop much lower. And in some cases, I've seen stuff rise in price. Silver Ingots can easily be produced by the "have nots", and I've seen it rise as of late.

[Ameroth]

I'm not sure if this is because of the economy being screwy or not but:

I was checking the AH for some better gear for my PLD (still only 55 :/ ) and decided that the Irn. Msk. Cuirass was probably a good item for how much I wanted to spend. I checked the +1 just for fun and ended up buying the +1 version for 30k and selling the NQ version for 48k. Profits ftw.

[Visper]

well where People would get killed is selling off those "High end" items now after purchasing them for crazy gil, everyone knows the economy will have to balance out sooner or later and I think its best to hold onto the items instead of the gil at the moment.

Like for me it would be stupid to sell my philomanth stole at the moment because its only worth 6k now, I paid 850k for it last year. I cannot re-coup that money, but if the market finally stops crashing and re-adjusts to the current gil levels, the price should go up a little bit (not to previous highs). Its like the Stockmarket Crash of 1929 - everyones watching their gear (aka stocks) become worthless and are all shouting "Sell, Sell"