Suggestion: run economy experiments either on the test server or main server with conservative limits to player interaction. For example players are limited in the amount of items they may trade or profit they may make per hour/ or per day due to the threat of exploitable anomolies in a dramatically different new economy.

Pros to test server: a more dramatic all or nothing change can be made without damage to the current economy, where more may be learned or discovered.
Cons to test server: must be mainly run by npc convoys, there will be minimal player interaction.

Pros to real server: there will be overwhelming feedback, suggestions, and discovering of bugs by the playerbase, allowing for rapid corrections. Also it would be more realistic to the game as it already is.
Cons to real server: the threat of players gaining way too many credits or items due to loopholes, bugs, and exploitation. Possible solution: determine limits of quantity of trades per account, or a system where if someone earns more than x credits or x of any one item, it gets flagged so the devs may rapidly find out what that player is up to. For players who are tempted to exploit new tricks, this may become a source of drama due to removal of items or temporary bans, all of which I am sure are not only stressful to devs but also time consuming.

Thanks for your consideration and hard work. Critical feedback is welcome.

You may not be aware of this: https://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/36709