"Natural rebalance" does not occur in a standard economy. Most economies will have inflation. Andrew changes the prices of things to lower inflation and help stabilize the economy.

 

1) I actually like the way the economy fluctuates. It keeps you on the edge of your seat not knowing what to expect. It keeps things interesting.
2)

Well, this is because things are actually useful IRL. Imagine if there was no /sell hand (just like IRL). Melons, pumpkins, etc would be worth nothing. Take diamonds for example, because tools can just be ereped, they are worthless. Other than their /sell hand value, they aren't worth much at all. So basically what I'm saying is that its because irl everything is different. Economy, supply and demand, etc. This is why comparing irl to mc never works.

 

Andrew wishes there to be a certain amount "generated" per person per hour. So for example, if the max way to farm potatoes would yield $20,000/hr and andrew felt that it should only be yielding $10,000/hr, he might cut the price of the potatoes in half. If for some reason, someone found a way to farm potatoes at $50,000/hr, he would nerf them again.

So there are some changes done, because someone has found a way to farm/mine things faster. Having too much money enter the economy (even by one person) would unbalance the whole thing. He is always trying to find the balance of the money entering and keeping the players happy with prices.

IRL, if someone found a way to grow potatoes at 1 full growth cycle in a day with no cost. Watch how fast potato prices drop when the market gets flooded with them. No one would be able to sell them.

Think of the server price, as the community price. If there was no /sell hand, then yes we players would decide. But because there is a sell hand, andrew has to decide what the server will buy/sell the items for.

 

That is an excellent explanation!! Very well put.

 

There's no such thing as natural balance when the flow and prices are controlled by a single entity.
And on ecc, the prices are like that because money is inserted into the economy, you can't have too much money enter the economy. And because you can sell infinitely. Lowering the prices is the way to go.

The only markets that managed to stay alive really is exp and nstars, because the demand is greater than the supply.

 

I miss the good ol' days back in 2011 when everything had a market and diamonds were $100 each ._.