Manipulating item prices and the TOS

[Andromeda Phoenix]

It's annoying and such, but Gaia encourages this s**t. If Gaia really hated it as much as their TOS claims that statement about not mass re-releasing MCs, rare items in RIGs, Gaia Alchemy and LQIs would have never been made. And they would have had a crapton of re-release RIGs at the ready pumping them out like Gold Generators. I don't think I've seen a site with an MP that doesn't encourage this s**t, despite any rules they have about it.

On one hand yes, but only like if they buy up an item, try to sell it to you overpriced and calling it a "deal" like the s**t's on sale. [offtopic comment] Oh hay! I know a certain site that does something VERY similar. [/offtopic comment]

On the other hand no, because unlike hoarding, AIers don't hold onto these shits for years. They grab 'em all and put 'em right back, so it's not like the things are "disappearing", as they can with hoarders...I think. I hope. Anyway, a lot of accounts with more than 50 items get banned. The only way these items re-enter circulation is through Flynn's Plunder, which only sells like 50 items a pop, AND because of how it's run, only rich users get those items. So...*points to first sentence in this paragraph.* ...would banning really help? No one would hoard anything if Gaia stopped with the "rare items are awesome not because they're well made, but because they're rare" nonsense.

Lotsa times. You can see it done sometimes with Alchemy game items. Watched someone buy up all the cheaper listings of OCNs once. Price jumped to from 100K to 700K a piece in a single night. With Gold Gens on top of that it never went back down. I believe the person buying prolly needed 'em for cases, but can we say "Whoops." Not in the same manner you're talking about, but it's still a "price manipulation" in a way. I think. Is it? *wonders*

[King Blackwater]

Its always been murky territory. Yeah it is a clear TOS violation, but at what point it is allowed and at what point it is not, this is not clear.

Or if I am wrong then its clearly not enforced.

[Riin Senpai]

The reason I don't care about AI or take it seriously is because it doesn't work unless someone is desperate enough to disregard the ABP and decides to buy it. If someone chose to buy the March @ 90M when the appropriate price is 40-50 then that's a foolish mistake they made on their own. Trust me, item prices hike up all the time and I rush to try and sell them at their hiked up price in hopes someone would just be desperate for said item to buy it at such a ridiculous price and 8/10 it would just be undercut to it's ABP or something close to it. AI rarely works. UNLESS ofc there's already such a small supply of said item that it's be impossible for a significant undercut to happen. Then, well, that person made a clever (dickheaded) investment.

As for hoarding, it's hardly comparable to AI'ing because no hoarder in the right mind would put their ENTIRE hoard out at once where as you see AI'er s sell all of their items because they have most of the control over the price.

Also, hoarding items doesn't really promise anything. The prices may not jump much if not at all and even if they do it's probably not because popularity but because of Gaias poo poo economy made it so.

I bought 30x Girzzly Bear Slippers like 3 months ago at 3-4M and have sold them from everywhere between 300M to 1.7B. 300M isn't much anymore on Gaia apparently, so there's no telling how much of a profit I actually made since I bought them at 3M . They're at 800M right now but there's no telling how much they'd be tomorrow or if someone will buy them for their own hoard (which has been happening lately)

TL;DR the economy is royally ******** lmao