Tuesday, December 23, 2008   Tobold, The WoW Economist, and
Greedy Goblin have noted that there appears to be some deflation
going on in Auction House prices at the moment. Each of them
attributes it to a different cause. The WoW Economist says it's
because of a temporary decrease in demand because most people
are levelling. Tobold feels it's a permanent decrease in demand
because of the lowered difficulty of WotLK PvE. I don't really
understand Greedy Goblin's explanation, but I think he's blaming
it on the rich people gouging the poor people (Marx-style class
warfare?).  I'll offer a different explanation: Right now, the
market in WoW is not obeying supply-and-demand in the classic
sense, but is being dominated by the mechanics and side-effects
of levelling professions.  Here are my assumptions:  1. Most
people are gatherer/crafter. They have one crafting profession
and the related gathering profession. There are some double
gatherers or double crafters, but they are outweighed by the
gatherer/crafters.  2.