What concerns me the most aren't the items themselves. They had been toying with the idea of giving avatars boosts through worn items, in clothing, armor sets, amps... The problem is threefold with the rings, though:
- The way they were introduced. No support to the economy at all, just pay MA directly and hope to get lucky.
- No other alternative way to obtain them. For avatar bonuses, we already had several alternatives MA could have refined further that all involved avatar professions and existing systems. They could have made the rings craftable and bring in a whole new range of stat-boosting clothing, which is something they've also been toying with for a while, or simply improved MF/pet bonuses so they were all on par with rings. But nay, they just decided to make all those systems obsolete, gg
- Past the initial wearing, which I see merely as a plain consequence of the fact they are considered clothing THE RINGS DO NOT DECAY. They said they might have constant deterioration in a future VU. Maybe. We all know how MA's maybe's and soon's are.
I'm sure that if rings did decay outright and they had a decay rate comparable with similar existing costs, taking pet energy consumption rates/pill and nanobot TT value/decay and ME consumption for MF chips in consideration and perhaps even review for rebalancing as they did rebalance MF costs, a fair bit of the concerns surrounding them would be dispelled and unless MA is paying the difference out of their pockets (which I doubt), it is the only instance I see them having a huge negative impact in the economy, even more so than the way they're initially acquired.
I know why they did it. They wanted rings to be far more attractive for those buying their shiny new strongboxes. They've been hurting for quick money for a while- see: CLD Estate System, Mission Galactica and all the special sales and promos they've had these last years. See a particular pattern in all of them? They all involve taking money out of the economy and paying MA directly for the
promise of value on items while they keep most of the would-be TT value. The same MU they have no qualms in utterly shattering whenever they introduce The Best New Thing™ to make previous items and systems obsolete.
I cannot predict the future, but I think this is how they're going to proceed: Once they've had their fill with the strongboxes, and only then, they'll introduce decay into the rings and all stat-enhancing clothing. Cue in initial outrage and half-assed explanation of economy balance. Unlimited rings will have their max TT value dramatically increased so they're slightly more convenient and becomes more tempting to tie up larger amounts of PED into them. (L) rings will become the taste of what their bigger brothers can offer, they'll retain their existing TT value but decay at a reduced rate. Any considerable investments into unL rings will therefore be reduced in value considerably, as now they'll have a perceptible cost to use. MA will pat themselves on the back for another job well done, maximizing short-term profit with minimal development time and continue with the next thing down the list. And so on...
Now, I really want MA and EU in general to succeed. But only under its own merits. Yes, I admit I went down and bought a few strongboxes to see what was the big fuss about them, got a handful of pills and two (L) rings out of it. I see them selling universal ammo as a good idea for people to have an alternative to deposits. Starter packs elicit a more mixed reaction for me, as they negatively affect value on starting gear slightly, the very same gear a newbie should be expecting to loot or purchase to cycle more PED in the economy. Otherwise? Yes, they offer pretty good value. The strongboxes... now they're a rather awful idea for the long-term health of EU and they set a bad precedent for things to come.