Debunking the idea that Orbs are in any way superior to Gold

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tzaro wrote:

Since all orb currency is PoE are consumables, they function as the biggest sink of all. Consider using fusings to form a 5 link item. That is currency that is permanently removed from the game. PoE's inflation is curbed from the harshness of the random crafting system.

Which is exactly the point made in the dev diary you linked:

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Sinks: By having every currency item inherently useful to improve a character, each currency item is its own sink. In our experience with Path of Exile, a majority of currency item trades end with the item being immediately consumed by the recipient. This also means that unnecessary gold sinks like repairing items can potentially be removed from the game.

Because each orb is it's own sink, we don't need other sinks to get rid of them.

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tzaro wrote:

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Wealth Determinism: Earning a steady quantity of gold from monsters killed helps to re-enforce the treadmill feeling that many online RPGs suffer. People’s net worth in gold is directly proportional to the amount of time they have invested playing. This highly linear wealth gain can cause a sense of disillusionment when trying to save up a large amount of gold for a purchase – it’s apparent to the player how long it’s going to take to grind for it.

Again, literally no difference between gold and orbs. Once the player understands the values of the orbs, it's a long path of grinding to obtain enough currency for high level purchases. Although gold accumulates in a very steady manner, and orbs are more random, and this the player's net worth might spike in the short term scale, over a greater time period the wealth growth is linear, exactly the same as with gold.

I think you've missed part of the point here. In a gold-based game, it would cost a set amount of gold to upgrade an item to, say, 5-linked at a crafting NPC of some sort. You'd always know how much gold you needed and would have that number hanging over you as you ground. There is a huge difference between that and fusing orbs, where every single time one drops, it might give you the upgrade you want. The gain your getting from orbs as you pick them up isn't just for their trade value - the value added to you by each orb you use can vary a lot.
Not saying your point is invalid - of course a player who plays more will probably end up with more orbs, but there is a difference, both from how randomly you find orbs and from the amount each orb gives your character.

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tzaro wrote:

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Trade Parity: With a common gold currency, it’s easy for players to know and demand the current market value for an item. If the trade occurs at a value that differs from the current perceived market value, then one of the players feels that they got ripped off.

This is perhaps the most ridiculous claim of all. What it's basically claiming is that it's a bad thing to have a uniform currency so that players are more informed about pricing. It's implying that it's better to have players left in the dark when it comes to trade ratios, so they don't even know if they have been ripped off.

You haven't actually provided any reasoning as to why it's a ridiculous claim - you've just stated it is, and then rephrased what it said to paint it in a more negative light.
If both players are happy with a trade, on what basis do you say one was ripped off? Our system allows for people to value things differently, based on their wants and needs, rather than enforcing a set price on everything. If you really need/want an item and are happy to pay a set amount of orbs for it, and the person selling it wants those orbs more than the item, then I don't think either player got "ripped off" - the item was worth more you because of your character's needs, so you paid what you felt it was worth.
In the case where there's an overall market setting fairly strict prices for everything in terms of just a number (of gold) rather than differing quantities of orbs, one player could _feel_ they got ripped off where otherwise they would be perfectly happy - what does that feeling add to the game which is positive?

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tzaro wrote:

This is flawed logic. You cannot suggest that trading for an item with gold at different than established values equates to someone feeling "ripped off", but then trading orbs with orb currency at different than established values is fine because one player is "perfectly happy".

No, but I can suggest that the second doesn't happen due to the orb system not lending itself to such strictly set "established values". That's the difference. There isn't a set established value (or at least, not as set-in-stone as is common in gold systems), for someone to compare a trade to and feel bad about.