Going Rogue and the Markets!?

What I've always wondered about this issue, and have never really seen any information one way or the other, is whether a merger of the markets between sides is even possible. Also, what reasons have the devs given for not doing this then if it is possible? I'm not familiar with all the particulars of the issue, and most of what I read from other players is rhetoric rather than facts. If anyone would care to break down the FACTS of this issue, I'd really appreciate it. Regardless, I'll attempt to look up old threads on it and find what info I can, but I haven't had much luck yet.

Posi is no economist. Of course, neither am I... Probably stubborness prevailing. "his vision" and all.

As far as I can tell, the devs' insistence on keeping the markets separate is based on the following train of thought:

1) More influence than infamy is in circulation. Similarly, a wealthy hero is generally wealthier than a wealthy villain (say, an average of 1 billion influence versus 500 million infamy [numbers are entirely invented]). These are based on datamining.

2) Wealthier characters will be able to buy up whatever items they want, all other things being equal.

3) Therefore, if we let heroes and villains compete directly in the market, all the desirable good will be bought up by a small group of wealthy heroes, then sold and resold over and over within that group.

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I don't agree with this reasoning, primarily because it ignores the fact that some of the characters selling the highly desirable items will be villains, which results in a transfer of inf from heroes to villains. That is, it has the same effect as most sales in the markets, just on a potentially larger scale. As someone else pointed out, the devs' reasoning doesn't account for the way economies, even economies with the peculiar characteristics of an online game, work. However, the devs certainly aren't the first people to disbelieve economic theory, and they won't be the last, either.

Indeed, the devs, throughout their work with the market, seem to have approached it as a way for lower-level characters to obtain the items for sale as they level. Players, in contrast, have generally approached it as a way to build a stock of inf, which they then use at high levels to outfit themselves.

While it is true that a market merger might cause some minor penury for villains who have leveled part of the way under the old system and part of the way under the merged system, I think things would probably even themselves out fairly quickly. The rebound from the recipe drought of early i16 suggests such a result.

Regardless of all this, I don't expect ever to see a merged market or to see anything other than severe supply shortages in the villain market and significant ones below level 50 in the hero market.

Because the very concept of Influence and Infamy, and how it is used to barter for goods and services is intrinsically tied to the heroic/villainous behaviors associated with gaining said "currency", one can never be used to gain what the other can from the same source. My rep as a Villain doesn't mean diddly to a Freedom Corps Superpowered Field Trainer and the Arachnos Quartermaster doesn't care if I AM the Hero of the City.

Actually, IMHO the markets are both outside of the spirit of either type of Inf. It seems that we (players AND devs) have forgotten what that was. Neither one is a "hard currency". They are both merely a measure of what we can get people to GIVE to us, based on our reputation as a Hero or Villain. In a "secret bid" blind auction who's going to "give" me a shiny new Positronic Matrix EITHER because I'm "such a swell guy" OR "a really scary dude"? Whoever has that particular salvage up for bid doesn't even know who's bartering for it, let alone whether I will be really grateful if they give it to me or really angry if they don't.

Would the market benefit from being merged? Yes.
Would I LIKE the markets to be merged? Heck yes.
Does it make SENSE in-game without completely retconning the concept of Inf? Nope.
CAN they change the spirit of Inf so that it no longer conflicts with the nature of hard currency? Sure. They already removed the spirit from Reputation when they changed the way difficulty settings are implemented.

In fact, though I've heard nothing about it so far, Heroes or Villains tavelling to Nouveau Praetoria should be BROKE when they get there and their adventures there should not add to their Inf when they return to Paragon City/Rogue Isles.

I was hoping a market merge would be part of GR. bummer.

I say force it. Figure out an exchange rate and press the damn button already. It should all balance out eventually. The result can't be any worse than the pre-nerf AE stuff that was going on.

It can still be called Infamy for Villains and Influence for Heroes, but the two currencies would only be different in their names. Surely, if most of Europe can go under a single currency, so can CoX.

I vote combine the markets and let the players clean it up.