Market Discussions

Except it was 1.29b ISK near Jita and it's now 1.18 b ISK in Jita by the time I logged in.

Except I now have 12b ISK.

Just a case of information equations.

The only thing that become impossible when you eliminate plex, and the reason it was introduced in the first place is the possibility of cashing in on the converse need of people to "buy ISK" and the people who farm ISK to pay their game time. It is a Win-Win-Double Win, CCP being the one double winning.

Aurum appeared a little after the new char engine and the forsaken idea of WiS came about, in order to avoid issues with the values having it being bought with plex. At the time they explained why Aurum.

Honestly, plex was the most elegant solution for the problem of people wanting to buy ISK and people wanting to play for free, and now other sub based games are copying it, such is its beauty.

Correct, but having a more divisible currency makes for a more dynamic market.

Well, I personally cannot imagine CCP not taking an "Central Bank" action of some form.

Plex is no longer a material good or a consumeable. This connection has been broken.
Leaving it in this situation, would be foolhardy from a business viewpoint.

CCP hardly need us to point out the reality of the situation, Any lack of action up to this point, is probably more a reluctance to frighten more players away, who are committed to high Plex holding Values.

The situation, has become so extreme, that little choice will remain for them. This is not an issue of High Plex prices as such ( though that has it's significant downsides") the issue Is that Plex is no longer practical as a means to purchase services. And the playerbase is acting accordingly. The price simply is fatally decoupled from the Value of Plex as a service

Plex is a poor resevoir of wealth, Commodities and equipment manufactured by players, are a far better "sink" for the economy.

If people wish to invest in Plex, Multiple pilot licence certificates or Aurum tokens, they really should not expect CCP to protect them, when it is against the best intrests of the Game, and the Overall Economy. There is no Goldman Sachs,There is no bank too Big to fail. There is no one that should expect protection from correcting a disfuctional but structurally essential item behaving as an economic outlier.

A hard cap supported by NPC sell orders, and a free market below that point is my recommendation.

It can be argued that 500m Isk would be a sane and sensible Cap to allow Plex to return to a point where it will be used to purchase services. Most players will still sub their main account, but the alts they use will be covered by plex redemption. Dual training will once again become a practical and sensible choice.


It is no coincidence that active players in space is dropping off a cliff in line with Plex increases and people keep their mains but let their alts hibernate. Shooting an alt is just as much fun as shooting a main, but they are nowhere to be found.

It would help if A short term massive plex sale marginally above subscription rate,occured at the same time, as this will prime the pump and slowly break up the Blockages in availability, allowing plex to flow through the market as a service again, and probably, In reality, Very few NPC sell orders will happen as players will sell just below, knowing the days of forcing plex into stratospheric ranges are impossible.

This will be good for the game, good for long term retention, and good for the functionality of plex in the mid term.
I strongly recommend that you consider this CCP before the underlying harm of the current situation spreads throughout the wider economy to the point where it becomes critically destructive and unresolveable.

The issue is not price, It is price of an exchangeable commodity, no longer having a relationship to the inherent value of the commodity.

Bonds etc in the real world wre controlled within ranges, even stocks and shares are balanced within invisible hard caps by market makers. Currencies work within ranges controlled by central banks.

The free market operates within these ranges, Even if you never see them.

The price is NOT pure supply and demand, that is a simplistic understanding and wildly inaccurate. Even in Game economies.

That HAS happened in the real world in the past, but every time It has there were catastrophic consequences, see south see bubble and Tulip economics for a wider understanding.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania

Whether SOME people can afford to, and are willing to pay these prices is of no importance whatsoever.

"I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of men" famous quote of Isaac Newton who lost a fortune in the Plex (correction south sea bubble) crash. Who lost over £250,000,000 in real current day values.

Even Geniuses thought the bubble would never burst.
Are we smarter than Sir Isaac Newton? Or just do not want to see the Truth.

Most players I know have effectively Hibernated their alts. Whilst that may not be present in the wider community, I would propose that this may partially explain reduced numbers of players signed in.

You are quite free to hold onto your beliefs.
You are quite free to not see the underlying instabilities.
You are quite free to not understand that plex as a service is no longer working.
You are quite free to not see how this if affecting concurrent sign ons and reduced players in space.
You are quite free to fail to understand how this is damaging to the game.

And you are quite free to have a shocked and surprised expression on your face when CCP take the required action.

As i previusly stated, 500m is a figure that is a mid point between long term values when we did not see an ongoing slowing in the velocity of isk. When plex actually fulfilled it's function rather than as a pure means of wealth storage and speculative activity.
CCP's own economists will determine an appropriate level, at the appropriate time.
Buying hundreds of billions of isk worth of Plex would be pointless for you, as the value would never rise beyond the cap.
You would be far better investing in player produced products, that have an intrinsic use, and are destroyed requiring replacement. This would benefit the wider economy as well as creating a temporary isk sink. Where plex investment just will Make CCP's bookkeeping somewhat of a problem, that needs to be dealt with in one way or another.

What we are witnessing has a name in economic theory.

I will leave this here for you.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory

Sorry, link states this page has been deleted. We will have to survive never knowing.

It is probably Best for me to leave discussing economics to those who are willing to challenge their assumptions, and are willing to understand what is actually happening.
Regarding the CAP, a few seconds thought, should help you understand that the effect of a hard Cap will be to act as a primary price driver with buy and sell prices occuring below this level, and In fact NPC sell orders wil almost never occur after the first few moments.

Do not forget that just like a central bank there are many tools CCP have at their disposal to deal with any attempt to overwhelm them and trying to destroy the Plex market repair. All sales can be sterilised at their leisure.

Speculators would be ill advised to try to crash the economy as an attack against CCP.

Also Central banks are not known for Permabanning those that attack them.

Of course you may already be fully aware and just hoping the bubble continues, no matter what the greater effect is.

If it was, for example, Caracals, then it would not matter, but it is the key and critical service offered by the game that is being speculated with and used as a wealth store.

I wish you luck, there is always SOMEONE out there who will be the greater fool and fund your speculation.

Until there isn't.