This made me chuckle, I love how people think the empire shop prices are too high, then they go pay 20k for a firework xD Yes, Empire shop is expensive. No, the Empire shop should not have lower prices ( if it did we would change the look to all white and call it Walmart! )
Well, that's a different, those are the special fireworks And don't reply with "they were given out free", some people would still want them both but have no alts. erm, look a few posts above lol
Then again it does kind of encourages other players to make shops, which will then make the economy for that smp higher
If / when market prices and empire shop prices come close - either through increase in market prices or through (as suggested) lowering of the empire shop prices - the trade would die, the market would break and the economy would be damaged. People would spend free rupees in the empire shop and would otherwise exchange goods directly - like paying with diamonds. The EMC economy works as long as there are enough players who (intentionally or not) actually give away stuff and effort "for free" - or, perhaps better said, just for the pleasure of playing. The biggest inflation reducers are the players who earn millions of rupees and then stop playing, never spending them. If the people would spend their rupees, the system would crash - fast and hard. Therefore, the idea that the empire shop can "cap" the economy and "keep it in check" is a fallacy. It would just make more visible (through price comparison) that the system is failing. Few months ago, we already had the situation where the rise in prices was accelerating and most of the shops were empty. Recent influx of new players who are willing to work (in game) and who (think they) need (a lot of) rupees has revived and stabilized the EMC economy. No fees or taxes (= artificial rupee sinks) can really solve the problem of free rupees and make the system stable. (If players would be forced to pay significant fees in rupees in order to play, it wouldn't work either - on several levels.) As long as we have enough of both a) players hoarding rupees and/or leaving EMC without spending or giving away their rupees and b) players who want rupees and are willing to sell stuff and/or provide services for payment in rupees the system can continue as-is: more or less (in)stable. (Links to some old threads with related information: http://empireminecraft.com/threads/economy.21946/#post-406330)
