First, I assume that many will view this with a reply already forming in their mind before they even read. I do not support what Yantis does. I commend Allakhazam for his stance on the issue. This post is not about right and wrong, because that has been hashed over a hundred times.
This is a political topic, and as such, many things are assumed and passed as dogma that are simply not true. It is valuable to make a distinction between the valid points of argument and those that are fabricated or exagerrated to support the valid points.
The amount of platinum in EQ will continue to increase, whether someone sells it or not. The net effect of the legitimate players farming plat far outweighs any effect that Yantis and co. can have.
We must remember that for each platinum piece that is farmed, there must be a buyer, or it is worthless. Think about your circle of influence. Think about your guildmates, your friends, and yourself. What percentage of your wealth was purchased from EBay or PA? This number is likely very small. For myself, the number is negligable. If the number is 10%, then you can't blame PP sellers for more than 10% of the economic trouble.
The economic effect I exert in other ways is far greater than buying platinum, although noone will scorn me for it. I farm plat and items to buy things for friends and guildies. I'd say I've went through about 200kpp in this manner. I've done everything from buying haversacks for Christmas gifts to buying drogmors for clerics I group with regularly. I am generating wealth for the purpose of disbursement to those who have not legitimately earned it.
While the plat dupe bug did upset the economy for a short time, that is the only significant time that regular players could see a noticable effect from Yantis and crew. Plus, if Y did not exist, it would upset the economy anyways.
It is simply impossible for a couple hundred people farming plat "illegally" to drastically offset the tens of thousands of people that farm plat as a course of their daily play.
A pair of BOFS now cost 100k, just like it did six months ago.
Again, the economy has not been messed up by Yantis and crew. This is evident by the fluctuation of prices from server to server. If Yantis was the dominant factor, then prices would be much more static across the board. Also, prices are expected to climb as more people generate more income from normal game play.
Normal people doing normal things in normal gameplay VASTLY overpowers Yantis' influence. A pair of BOFS now cost 100k, just like it did six months ago. Pop released and level 61 spells cost 1k. Now they cost 50p. Valorium rings were 15k, then they were 5k, and now they're 10k. This is affected by the popularity of PoV... not Yantis or Satan.
2 Years ago, I got about 30-200p worth of loot from a 4 hour session. Now I average about 5k from a 4 hour session. How many people are in the same boat as me? Could a hundred thousand people tripling their in game income have an economic effect. Of course.
I have no doubt that some people will disagree with individual points in this post, but the overlying theme remains. What Yantis is doing is wrong, even a little more wrong than powerleveling your friend, giving your alts loot they could not have got on their own, using a friends cleric to rez or buff yourself, giving your wife 20k to go on a bazaar shopping spree, giving newbies a damage shield which trivializes the formative levels, etc, etc, etc... but Yantis has NOT ruined the economy in EQ.
The EQ economy is healthy, as far as economies go. The amount of plat in circulation from Yantis can not affect the economy in a significant way without the use of exploits.
Sinaerre
65 Chanter
The Rathe
P.S. Someone posted that Yantis' crew farmed items just to destroy them and increase demand. Just think about that for a while. Its silly baseless nonsense. Just because someone is on your side on an issue, you can't let propaganda slide by uncommented.
P.S.S I hope Yantis gets stranded on a desert island somewhere with no internet connection and is forced to eat coconuts and converse with monkeys for all eternity... but he's not ruining the economy.