It wasn't a flippin' conspiracy - it was an extremely well conceived plan to motivate people to buy gems.
(1) Use social media to provide a leak to get things stirred up. Leap Year Dragon, 29 minutes, sell for $3.5M, game-changer, etc. (Anticipation, Buzz, Excitement)
(2) Make sure everyone is aware that this very special dragon will only be available for a very short time. (Scarcity, Anxiety)
(3) Introduce the dragon and make it very easy to get the first one. (Satisfaction, Craving).
(4) Lock the gates and make the new dragon very hard or perhaps impossible to get for a period of time. (Desperation, Panic)
(5) Open the gates in the 12th hour and make the dragon easy to get again. (Relief, Gratitude, Satisfaction - the loop is complete).
It's called marketing. I've been in it most of my life. Which is why I tried so hard to warn people not to buy a second one during step #4. The process is a good thing to aware of, especially here in the U.S. as we're in a presidential election year.
Poppy
P.S. Fortunately there are other ways to market that I find more palatable.