I do not think the system is the problem. Seems to me as fair as it can be (course, Lineman is 50% of the system by default).
The real problem here is related to the prices of rares. And this is very touchy and sensible. And I have absolutely no clue how this issue could be dealt with. I'm not even 100% sure it is an issue, maybe it's just the tough reality and that's that. (when i say 'prices of rares' i mean the traded value of the majority of rares ingame, on boards, on sales, at auctions).
Would I like to buy a Daemon Candle for 100mil? hell yeah. Me and the rest of you fine people. But if I were to own one and decide to sell it, would I try to get to the 1bil mark? Would you?
Usually I was in the team that hunted for low reserves at Fests and tried to get nice items for reasonable prices. Couldn't afford to bid for top-notch pieces through the roof. Last Fest I had to sell some of my items though and I will admit I was one of the sellers that set reserve prices a bit higher than the market value of the item. I had 8 items submitted for auction, for a total reserve price of 1,6bil. The result was that 5 items were sold for a total of 1,635bil (no joke). So I was not so outrageously wrong in my finance math. I am not at all accustomed with economic laws, but for me this outcome was dictated by the Rares Market as a whole entity. If I were to be wrong, the market would have penalized me by no sale on all counts. We may not like the Market at one point, but I also think we cannot control it. It's a monster that would just eat, sleep and breed on its own.
I have two key points I would like to discuss:
1. I believe there is a misplaced mass-hysteria about reserve prices. On both sides. I think the reserve price is a smart concept as long as none of the parties involved in the negociations abuses it. The concept is that the seller RESERVES the right not to sell if the bid is too low. The reserve price is not a definitive price tag like in a shop, and it is certainly not a starting price. It is more or less a hint of the seller's expectations for the product. Abuse towards the reserve price from the bidder is when the bidder makes a bid about 20%-30% of the reserve price. Abuse towards the reserve price is when the seller won't even discuss a price lower than the reserve he set. In my book, a bid of 90-95% of the reserve price should be a sure buy/sale. For example, one of my items from last Fest auction had a reserve price of 200mil. I ended up accepting the ONLY bid of 150mil it got, after negociating with the bidder after the auction. I do not find this situation faulty in any way. Both parties left satisfied, a win-win situation. And all the while I was secured I would not have to sell the item to a random 10mil bid while the big buyers were busy watching other items. I believe that when common sense is as common as its name recommends it, trading rares is a very pleasant experience. (I also had no start bids and no buyouts on my items, the 300mil start 350mil reserve 400mil buyout scheme annoys me aswell....see abusing terms above).
2. I do think we are confronting with an economic paradox these days. While uo money is pretty hard to come by lately (maybe due to decaying numbers of players) its actual value it's decreasing. So there is a product that is becoming more rare and yet it is also becoming cheaper. I will say again that I do not understand Economy, but i'm sure this fact is leading to a drastical cut down in trades, affecting the entire market. I have no solution and no predictions about this situation. Smarter people may know more.