(It's not that bad, really.)
No, it is that bad
I meant my job of making the page isn't that bad, just annoying. I imagine the reality is terrible, for the reason Eiryl spells out.
Its really not that terrible though. If someone was so desperate, they COULD use Medals to buy up the pages needed. The problem is the currency exchange value is harsh when used for that purpose (3:1), and with the cost of Medal's being so high, its generally a loss.
3 Beastmen Medals costs 2.1 mil on Asura
Only a handful of shard's eclipse 2 mil:
Head: RUN COR SCH
Torso: SCH
Hand: THF RDM
Leg: RUN GEO
Foot: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But the cost of the shards are also related to the general popularity of the job, as well of the utility of the piece itself. All of the expensive shards belong to popular jobs for armor that is actually useful. 80% Basic supply and demand economics, 20% auction house limitations. Most people arent going to tie up an AH slot for a 5-20k item that sells slowly / might not even sell. But if someone was truly so desperate to get their hands on 5 Footshard: PUP, the access is always there. They might not want to spend 10 mil for something that costs 25k from the AH when supply is there, but thems the breaks.
The cost of Medals is also unlikely to wane to do being the only reliable access to the synth materials required to make the JSE weapons and Necks, which once again, some are amazingly popular and useful (Rostam, Gandring) and some are not (Aram). But the exchange all comes from the same base currency (Medals).