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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 6154294" data-attributes="member: 8835">The difference is, a GM who INSISTS that it is IMPOSSIBLE to BUY or SELL a magic item is defying Economics, which really are common sense, once you take a year of college Economics classes (Macro and Micro).When Danny or I say "magic item economy" we are not talking about it like the Financial Times or Wall Street Journal uses the word Economy (usually involving big $$$).We are simply stating that:Man has infinite wants and finite meansMan is seeking to maximize his Happiness levelSupply is the amount of something in the worldThe less Supply there is, the higher price it commandsDemand is the desire others have for somethingThe more Demand there is, the higher price it commandsThe actual price of something is where Supply and Demand meet on a graph (both Supply and Demand form lines when charted for all quantities, that creates an X).From that perspective, economics is really an aspect of Psychology.  How do masses of people behave in a measurable way (money spent).  the author behind Freakonomics takes that idea to a new level, using the tools of Economics to study non-money behaviors.In that light, Economics affects everything.  Oxygen.  Right now, there is a lot of demand for Oxygen.  However, the Supply of it is plentiful (it's in the air around you).  If I drop your car into the river, you'd pay me quite handsomely for the filled Scuba tank I happen to have.  The Supply of Oxygen became scarce, even though the Demand remained the same.  therefore, the price rises.This is why we say it is impossible for there NOT to be a magic item economy.  People want it.  It doesn't matter if the sword +1 cost 2436GP.  Somebody will pay for it, just as somebody will overpay for a Launch Day PS4 empty box on E-Bay.  Because somebody will choose to spend their money unwisely on a single item, and somebody else will figure out how to take advantage of the extreme demand (by selling the empty box and taking advantage of vague description*).*This really did happen with the PS2 launch, somebody sold an empty PS2 box, and worded it carefully as such.  Somebody else rushed and bought it thinking it contained a PS2.What is more logical is to constrain the SIZE of the magical economy.  It can easily be justified that it is hard to find who is selling a magic item, connecting buyer to seller.  You have to know the right person, it's rare to happen.  In the same vein, it is totally possible for me to find a new Sword +2, and no longer need my Sword +1 and decide to sell it.I can sell it for whatever I think I can get for it and the market is willing to bear.  Since I didn't pay for the Sword +1 (found it in a dungeon), I don't have an emotional attachment to 2436GP that the DMG says it cost to make.  If I really need the money, and the local economy can only swing 500GP and beer, then I just might take that.A GM who denies that possibility is implausibly restricting his game.  So we're not arguing for One True Wayism.  We're trying to get folks to avoid a One Wrong Wayism.</blockquote>

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