my idea

Regarding items that directly affect combat and are essential stuff for generally playing the game, if i get my way QELServ will have an enforced, somewhat socialist economy regarding those items. Some profit will be always guaranteed for manufactures but they also can't scheme to hugely rip people off. It's the only way to ensure long-term balance for a combat system with drops as death penalty and a breaks system, AND to keep manufactures from being unhappy about an inability to make a profit.

Until someone presents me with a detailed plan for a better system, NPC buy and sell prices are the best way to enforce this, so NPC's will sell many end products... but remember, you will be able to get those items cheaper from other players, so they should do a lot of business, and it will still be profitable for them - everybody wins.

EL is a great example of an extreme capitalist MMO economy model failing miserably. (though the failing certainly isn't only due to NPC sell prices). Fighters are unhappy with costs. Manufacturers are unhappy with lack of profitability. Inflation runs wild. In some places NPC prices have become lower than manufacturer's cost. The ingredients of high-end equipment makes it unattainable for too many players... it's nuts really.

I would ofc leave enough room to move between the NPC buy & sell prices for there to be potential for market 'drama', and so that a combat-oriented player who has no manufacturing ability will be paying enough more to annoy them if manufacturers choose to boycott selling to them. I believe that stuff is good for the RPG aspect.

PvE may provide some exceptions though. Items that only affect PvE (and even then, making it just a bit easier) could be candidates for manufacture-only availability.

Once the time comes for the mixing system and ingredients for items, i'm hoping i can get some smart economics/market ppls on-board to help design it.