Make me laugh

All I can do is laugh about certain particular things going on in this game. I started playing about a month ago and I've noticed about every week there is something new and unique that people are paying rediculous prices for. When i first started playing, it was firey dragon swords. Then fellblades (which are still popular), wingblades...etc. Today I witnessed someone sell a Icy Dragon Sword (same as firey, just a light blue flame instead of red) for over 100k. The same exact sword except firey instead of Icy sells maybe for 10k on a lucky day.
I dont really understand the economics in this game. Is no one noticing the trend? What is it gonna be next week? I think a couple days ago it was Enchantment grips on axes. Most of these items have been available to everyone for a long time now, so what is making them sell for so much all at random times. Who is this lucky trendsetter telling people that a perfect wingblade sword sells for "---" now.
I guess I might as well be talking to a wall, because I dont see any answers coming out of this. But if not, could someone politely explain to me why people are forking out mass quantities of their gold for seemingly useless upgrades and appearance items?

Shallow, bored, greedy, vain, peer pressure etc. Usual reasons, it's the human condition.

Well, the Icy Dragon sword only came out a couple of days ago, so its natural that everyone wants to buy one, and until a bit ago, not many people knew about the double axe grip thing. People just want to use the 'new' things as they've not seen them before and think they are cool. Most people would rather have a new thing than an old thing.

Well here it is...

The "normal" weapons you have mentioned are rare in their perfect form.

The enchanting axe grips jumped in price when someone noticed a bug on one axe that allowed you to have 2 grips at one time giving a +40%. That posed a huge advantage for the right toon.

The Icy Dragon Swords are new to the game. They are also the only perfect blue that you cannot get from a trader. The value will soon come down on them.

The economy here is like it is IRL. If it is rare or harder to get then it is expensive. If it is new it will cost more than the old version (Xbox vs. Xbox2). If you get an advantage over others then you pay for that advantage.

It really is that simple. If you don't believe me then go get a max fellblade tonight with perfect mods on it. You will find it difficult I assure you.

The Icy Dragon Sword also has +15% damage ^ 50 so it's understandable that people would want it.

I think this is partly because people have so much money and nothing to spend it on. Since you can get perfect weapons and armor for practically nothing, once you have all the skills, well, there's nothing to do but try to find the rarest items available. So when new or interesting things appear, people will often jump in with both feet.

Rico

In some cases Cold (or Fire) Damage is better then the usual Slashing Damage while farming, though, in this case, it would just be the people going beserk because it's new..

I've read a lot of postings - not in this thread - where someone tries to relate the game economy to a real world economy. There are similarities (in fact some business schools use online simulations as part of the course work) but there's a really important difference between the game economy and real world economy. And that difference helps answer your question.

In the game economy - unlike the real world - there is no severe penalty for spending all your money, and - even when you have no money at all - you can continue to play the game with no meaningful handicaps. A player who is broke can kill just as many monsters as a rich player, a guild full of poor players can defeat a guild full of rich players. So, in a real sense, money and gold is meaningless in the game. It's just a way of keeping score, grin.

That's why - when a player is bored or just takes a fancy to an expensive item - he or she may willingly overpay. In a week or a month, they can be rich again and - during the time they're broke - they can continue to play away happily. Since the rich in the game often are good at farming or trading or a combination of the two -- temporary poverty is easily cured. But (and there are some really notable exceptions, Trump being one) going broke in the real world is often a permanent condition.

If the same rules applied in the real world, it would be a lot easier and safer to spend wildly and on impulse.

I think this mimics the real world very well. Remember these?

Snap Bracelets
Pogs
Tickle Me Elmo
Every new video game console

It's a fad. New and exciting, so people will drop Megabucks on it at the start.

The rest of the economy? Eh, I'm an engineer, not an economist.

The difference here is the percentage of total wealth vs. the cost of the item.

For most folks, the purchase of a Tickle Me Elmo amounts to a very small percentage of total wealth. On the other hand, the purchase of - say - FOW armor in the game usually amounts to a big chunk of total wealth.

Thats why its good to sell the items instead of buying them. I really find fads funny too ^_^.