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Why, people? HONESTLY.

While I can't really pontificate on this particular phenomena, not being an economy or business major and all, I can say this: with the introduction of evolving items, the Gaian marketplace has effectively gone out of control.

Granted, one must always keep in mind the dynamics of supply and demand. Medium supply+high demand=high prices. But 80k for an item that was just released today? Especially when said item will probably skyrocket in price to 100k+ within the next month?

This bothers me because, obviously, I'm not wealthy enough to buy the majority of these items with Gaia gold, and I'm not stupid enough to purchase them with actual capital. There is, however, another reason for my ravings, and that is the fact that we are a COMMUNITY, boys and girls; WE control the prices, WE control inflation, WE control our own micro-economy here on Gaia. In effect, because we are not willing to bring prices to reasonable levels, there will never be anything remotely resembling an even playing field for all Gaians in terms of what one can and cannot buy in the marketplace. This fact has rendered the "2% deduction" on items a user sells utterly useless, and honestly almost laughable.

I'm well aware that not everyone is going to sit on their butts all day (like yours truly) and work the Marketplace system, play games, or post constantly to gain gold, but for those who do (especially those who feel that spending real money on virtual items is simply not in the picture) they will always be at a severe disadvantage compared to those who are "ahead" of them in terms of items and gold count.

Aside from that, many Gaians are simply ignorant when it comes to utilizing the Marketplace functions. I was trying to buy some insects today, and many were listed for multiple thousands of gold for just one insect! The way the price/quantity system was intended to work, you sell multiple items at once so that buyers can choose the best per item price (the second number in the set of two given when purchasing "game" items). This, more often than not, simply does not happen, and it throws the whole marketplace system out of whack. We're lucky that with tokens the systems works fairly well, though I honestly couldn't tell you why.

I shudder to think what will happen when the MMO is released and rings hit the marketplace, but if you want my advice, buy that flute now! It'll shoot up in price once the vast majority of Gaians figure out that the items it gives you can be used to boost your stats in the MMO.

So... any thoughts, folks? Feel free to cut me down to size if you feel so inclined. This is just me ranting, really. stare