So, for 2000gp I can cast Cure Light Wounds (heal 1d8 + 1) every round?
My rules don't change the fact that the primary pricing rule for items is "The DM decides." The
rod of infinite healing doesn't become more possible just because the pricing guidelines change, when any DM worth his salt would nix that idea in the bud. The existing guidelines already allow for this item in theory, and at the same price (since it's a 1st level spell).
What it would do would be to change the price of items that are already allowed. For example, a pair of
winged boots casts
fly 3/day. With the old guidelines, the cost would be (3/5) * 3*5*1,800 (command word item) = 16,200. The DMG price is 16,000, so they just rounded it I guess. With the newer rules, they would cost (3/5) * 3^2 * 1,800 = 9,720 (round to 9,500 I guess).
Another example would be
eyes of charming that let the user cast a
charm person heightened to 4th level once per round. Old cost: 4*7*2,000 = 56,000 (matches the DMG's price). New cost: 4*4*2,000 = 32,000.
On one level, I'm considering doing this because "active" items are more fun in the game. By that, I mean that getting +4 to Strength is a neat and all, but once I have made the changes to my attack bonus, damage, weight allowance, and skills, I can pretty much forget about it. If I instead have an item that lets me cast a 7d6
orb of lightning three times per day (cost with my rules: about 17k, compared to the 16k of getting +4 Str), I get an additional option during the game (hit someone, or use my lightning rod), and more options are good.
However, I have noticed that when people make their characters from scratch, they generally tend to focus on straight bonus items rather than the more "fun" spell items. The only spell items I see most of the time tend to be wands/potions of healing, and the occasional scroll of a spell that's rarely used. But when I give out spell items in the course of play, the PCs seem happy to hold on to them rather than sell them off (at half price), which tells me that they're probably overpriced by a factor of somewhere between 1 and 2.