FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY!!
Finally a proper debate. Let me start with thanking you for taking the time to write a coherent argument instead of only splitting out some unfounded one-liners or a simple facepalm without reply.
Now let's weight your arguments.
The rich people who accumulate gold and stash it away are the sinks. They don't spend it, they keep it for doomsday which never comes because that's the way they are. If their pockets start leaking gold, lots of people's fortune increases and lots of people get deeper pockets.
Okay, I agree that this will be a factor. But will it be a big factor, a cause for inflation, or just a relative small drop in the pool of gold? To answer this we have to answer a lot of questions
- What is the total amount of gold?
- What is the average amount of gold a lvl 60 has available?
- How many 'wow-tycoons' are there?
- How much is their total wealth in comparison to the total under 1.)
- How many of these 'tycoons' are interested in entry lvl epics anyway?
- How much of the GDKP redistribution will be used to buy stuff like epic mounts? People will use the yields to buy that epic mount for their pvp-alt etc ...... Withdrawn from the system.
We can't easily answer most of these questions. So it is mostly personal experience and gut-feeling. As for 5.) I knew a lot of people on feenix servers who played for the 'Scrooge McDuck' factor.. They wanted to reach a certain high number and were absolutely not interested to spend it on mediocre loot. Another group of rich people were hardcore raiders themselves, who played in end-game raids and didn't need GDKP to buy anything. So to inflate the gold supply, that leaves only that portion of the 'tycoons' that accumulate their wealth for no other reason than eventually spend it on gear when the opportunity presents itself. I agree there will be people in this category. Don't think it will be a large group.
Now, as a person selling items, knowing that GDKP runs have started and that many more people are now wealthy... isn't the first instinct to increase prices of what one is selling? I'm not going to waste hours farming herbs if I can buy them with the gold I get from GDKP runs. And I will buy lots so I have enough consumables for the future. And many others will do the same. And then available market herbs amount will drop and prices will go up. And newcomers will do GDKP raids to get money as well so they can afford the things they need. One simple example.
What you describing here is not caused by the gold supply getting bigger, but because the supply of herbs dries up.... (yellow text). If the new raiders with increased wealth all think like you and stop their efforts in herbalism... Soon you can choke on your new riches, because there will nothing available in the AH to buy...
But, and that is correct, we have found a reason for concern here. Prices will go up if supply goes down and demand goes up. One of the most basic principles in economics.
Another principle is that people will jump into profitable markets.. Herbs go high? Many people who didn't bother before will start taking herbalism serious, either to sell them, or to use them for their own raids. People like me never gather stuff when prices are low, it's just easier to buy what you need and make your money with some trading at the side. But if the prices of raw materials get too high that is no longer feasible to do that and it will be time to pull out that herbalist...
Why do you keep saying "no" - what I stated is very logical way of reasoning about consequences. GDKP raids will eventually become a necessity if they are allowed a successful start, and lower-to-mid tier raiding scene will be a GDKP fest. "Raid in pugs to earn gold from others getting loot, wait a few weeks and then spend the money you earned to buy items so others can get your money, rinse and repeat. Keep doing GDKPs so that you can in future buy more gear that you desire so much. If you really want lots of gear fast, then keep farming outside of raiding as well so that you can spend more gold on more items." And of course I forgot to mention the 5% raid leader cut, which keeps pug leaders motivated to keep creating GDKP raids.
The 5% cut has no influence on anything in this discussion, it's just a motivation for the organizer. (and not all asked it, many just did it to farm that 2nd binding and split 100%)
The rest of this last paragraph is just an explanation of GDKP. Yes, this is what it is.
And now we come to "What's wrong with that? What's your problem with it?"... My problem is simply in the mentality shift where it all comes down to how much money you have acquired through any means, and promotion of such materialistic view of something as raiding. It damages many aspects of the game that I have mentioned in previous posts. It's not a game I want to play.
Fair enough. It's not for you. (hint, it's not for me either.) I always ended up in serious guilds on every server I have ever played on. Even while I am several steps below a player of your type on the 'hardcore-scale.' I love how things are well-organized and smooth in major guilds.
However I am not against GDKP . I think it's a natural process in the evolution of 'Pick UP Grouping' because it holds many advantages over the randomness in a pug. I acknowledge the disadvantages which I think can be controlled. If Kronos admins are able to suffocate most of the goldseller endeavours , the biggest concern (goldbuying to pay gdkp) will cease to apply.
The second proper concern was weakening of the guild community. I don't see this as a problem. Guilds will stay important for PVE and PVP. It's only the entry lvl raids that are affected. It will be a competition and quality guilds will survive.
I will repeat once more: ALL my arguments must be placed in a ripe AQ40-Naxx server environment.
I mean... why are we here playing on a vanilla realm? For most people the answer would be because things are damn hard to achieve (hard can be interpreted in many ways, whether genuinely difficult or just taking huge amount of time) and cutting corners isn't really a thing, so you gain a sense of accomplishment from the things you work for. But then certain people decide that they can get rich by simply "raid logging pugs" and taking their cut from all the gear that is being sold in their raids, and they attract people to join with the idea of getting gold for being there and letting others gain loot. Greed, greed and more greed.
People play to have fun. (I hope)
For many people, gearing up their alt for the umpteenth time in MC, are raid they have done 87 times before is not really fun. That's why on old servers gdkp is popular, because it is a efficient system.
You brought up a few good arguments before , but this last bit is severely flawed. For starters it smells like : 'I played my way and we had to work hard when the server was young, so I don't like the idea that others play in another way..' (read easier way)
It's not greed. The non buyers are trading their time for (game) money. They provide a service. Greed is when people post a 59 silver item for 59g , in the hope somebody doesn't pay attention...
A final point. Warsong was a server with a insane gold circulation, a lot of which was accumulated by cheating and never removed from the circulation. The feenix admin was a corrupt dictator (with narcissistic personality disorder) If I think back at Warsong GDKP I see huge amounts of gold exchanging hands. Items going for thousands of gold, extreme items going for tens of thousands. I have to remind myself that this is not a realistic scenario on a server with better anti cheating surveillance. I estimate a gdkp cut here on Kronos would be 50-75g .. a nice amount, but not a 'zomg, 3 raids and I can retire'....