Any word on when we will get an Auction House?

Honestly, if the markets weren't there you would all be begging for an AH and not something like the market wards. A lot of people are just afraid of changes and some are just allergic to wtv sounds like a WOW feature... even if that feature was in FFXI long before WOW had it.

Ward was a good idea until the area was fully crowd, Auction House is the only way to go. they should put off ward and give instead the "mog house" system in the marker ward place !

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Originally Posted by Raistlin

1) so i dont care if u want an AH coz u cant move 15 seconds. After that: "Why we cant open and buy from anywhere?, i want a menu to buy via linkshell!!" and in the end, your character will be killing mobs in your mog house playing a console, buying stuff via NPC linkshell, your retainer crafting for you, and u calling pizzahut to improve your stats...

2) i can remember a game with posible best AH ever and lots of players in rolanberry selling stuff in bazaar... ohh wait, could be coz AH had taxes? i hope if they implement AH add 5% and 10% taxes for u lazy guys, and allow MW to us without taxes and some fixs/upgrades :)

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Yay slippery slope! Wait, I mean. . .

Yes, people will always want to take an easy way out. There's a difference between wanting to take the easy way out, and wanting basic functionality. Fact is market wards as they stand are missing a lot of functionality, which is all most of us are asking for.

Also, I wouldn't say XI had the best AH ever. WoW would let you post every single item in your inventory that wasn't bound to you all at the same time, compared to XI's limit of 7 items at a time. WoW also let you compare prices, which, if I'm not mistaken, XI didn't let you do (never played XI, to be honest). As far as the taxes, I wouldn't mind paying a straight 5% across the board, or even 10% across the board. What I do mind is knowing that I could be paying 2% instead if it weren't for crappy design.

The sad thing is, I'm not even pro-AH. I just think your arguments suck as much as the wards do right now.

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Originally Posted by Viridiana

Yay slippery slope! Wait, I mean. . .

Yes, people will always want to take an easy way out. There's a difference between wanting to take the easy way out, and wanting basic functionality. Fact is market wards as they stand are missing a lot of functionality, which is all most of us are asking for.

Also, I wouldn't say XI had the best AH ever. WoW would let you post every single item in your inventory that wasn't bound to you all at the same time, compared to XI's limit of 7 items at a time. WoW also let you compare prices, which, if I'm not mistaken, XI didn't let you do (never played XI, to be honest). As far as the taxes, I wouldn't mind paying a straight 5% across the board, or even 10% across the board. What I do mind is knowing that I could be paying 2% instead if it weren't for crappy design.

The sad thing is, I'm not even pro-AH. I just think your arguments suck as much as the wards do right now.

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You said everything that needed to be said. AH for the win

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Originally Posted by Onidemon

Honestly, if the markets weren't there you would all be begging for an AH and not something like the market wards. A lot of people are just afraid of changes and some are just allergic to wtv sounds like a WOW feature... even if that feature was in FFXI long before WOW had it.

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AH is a change? AH's are common. MW aren't really unheard of either.

My preference does have a bit of "been there, done that" in it, and it's true that I enjoy the MW as is, but it's also because I can see potential in them. There's a saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water." That's been happening all over FFXIV already (although I understand why), I'd hate to see it happen to the MW too.

If anything, it's people asking for "standard features" that are afraid of change. But it's SE's fault really. :( Now they have to do what they have to do to save the ship. Although, I think it will still be fun. :)

You're a level-headed person, Chezen. Tell me why you think MW are better than an AH. I'm not poking fun, just honestly curious.

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Originally Posted by quantumsaint

You're a level-headed person, Chezen. Tell me why you think MW are better than an AH. I'm not poking fun, just honestly curious.

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:) I don't think they are "better". I think they are fun. I like searching for the items, and I like the quiet Wards. I like that they are, in my opinion, an oasis to the busy streets of Uldah.

When I go to the wards, I look up what I want and go to the retainer, who is often decked out in what they are selling, which I think is cute. I also like all the names people come up with for their retainers, it's entertaining.

When I find my item, I'll look and see what else that seller is selling. Then I might browse some of the retainers nearby, or check a few of the others selling the items I want, in case they are +1/2/3. If I am trying to craft something, I'll sit down and craft and... oop, I forgot something. Run off and find what I'm missing, and then craft right there in the quiet. None of this is an experience I can get from an AH, except for browsing maybe.

This is just my opinion, and my experience. I don't think it's wrong to like to get your items and get moving to the areas another person thinks is fun, nor is it wrong that another sees the wards as lifeless and wants to see them more busy. If the Wards were to be kept at all, they would need to be rehauled in a way that would be appealing to more people. I understand that. But I'm personally the kind of person, that while I like some things to be fast paced, I also like to "stop and smell the roses" (although I might not want to smell what's in the Wards. They do look in need of a good cleaning :p).

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Originally Posted by Onidemon

Honestly, if the markets weren't there you would all be begging for an AH and not something like the market wards. A lot of people are just afraid of changes and some are just allergic to wtv sounds like a WOW feature... even if that feature was in FFXI long before WOW had it.

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Thank god somebody still has common sense here. Very good points there!

Issue is “unable to summon anymore retainer in this zone” meaning Uldah’s Ward

SE just need to give us the following
Increase maximum # of retainers capacity (will have it 1.19).
Be able to purchase items under the search menu.
Link/Combine up the three market wards.

I think they should do away with search feature, but that's me. I'd like for people who want to sell their wares to actually have to hawk it to other players. This set and forget shit is dumb.

So quantumsaint, I have a question (and to anyone else who wishes to answer). You have a group of people who want immersion and interactive gameplay, and a group that just wants to do what they need to do and go. What do you do to turn the economy into an experience that lets those bypass it who want to, but others get fully involved with it?

My personal thoughts (not a programer here) and some ideas I've previously seen:

1. Let people buy from the search list. That would solve a lot of issues right there. Why make an AH when you can do that?

2. Remake the look of the wards so they are more appealing. Circular with fountains might be nice. Get some light in there.

3. I had my own ideas on what the retainer levels could be, but in any case, make a reason to come to the wards besides buying that is completely optional, but appealing. I'd like to see the market become a mini game of sorts.

4. Revamp the retainer menus so they are less painful. We really shouldn't have use two different menus to store items/use bazaar.

5. Make an option to warp directly to your retainer if you have one set up to sell. This would cut down on time for sellers.

I realize that none of these ideas account for the real problem, space. With entire maps filled with avatars and personal data, I'm not sure why this has been an issue. Like I said, I'm not a programmer. Anyway, they're just ideas. I've no doubt SE will address this fully when they get to it. They might have an entirely different direction in mind that a lot of us might even like. :)

The Max capacity problem can easily be fixed by having a time limit on how long a retainer will stay in the ward, same as any AH would. I with Chezen 100% of the way with the exception of one point..

You can't get the browsing you get in the MWs in an AH. The MW forces you to randomly encounter new and different items. Thing you never would have thought to search or didn't even know were in the game. AHs take that entirely out of the game. No more random finds.

I also don't think making an AH would be remotely worth the time. The effort that would be needed to port the current systems to a new format could be used to implement the features people want into the MWs and get them in game two or three times as fast. Literally the only feature an AH offers over the MWs is that you don't have to go inside.

I for one don't believe running to my mailbox is better than walking to the person selling the item. Although I do want a mail box..

The overcrowding would probably fix itself if they would make it so that the leves and content were more balanced between the three cities.

A AH would make it so noobs wont under cut you item by 100s and 1000s dollars and stuff and also build a better economy

@ Chezen (instead of quoting your whole post)

I would like very much to be able to buy items directly from the item search. I don't care if it has a 5% or 10% markup (it's not like gil matters much). Honestly, I NPC'd everything from my retainers (and I'll agree on your previous name point, I'm fond of my retainers Daphne and Ophelia, even though they're next-to-worthless at the moment) and never go into the MW anymore if I can help it. I liked shopping in FFXI, but I can't stand it in FFXIV, so obviously there is a disconnect there. Maybe it's part of the larger issue of stats not mattering as much as they should, or gear rank not being set in stone as it was in FFXI, but something somewhere needs to be fixed.

What I'd like to see once Ishgard opens up is a -wait for it- auction house. But not in the FFXI sense of the word. More like the FFIX auction house in Treno. I think the MW can be re-worked to function as the primary shopping interface, but I still would like to see an actual auction house, where players can list items and other players can bid on them real time, using paddles or whatnot. The primary use of this auction house though wouldn't be for common items and gear, but for the endgame rare stuff that players will be looking to sell.

So there you go, quick and dirty MW window for common stuff, immersive AH bidding wars for the rare stuff.

Completely real AH huh? :) That would be interesting. Might be tough to find a good time when as many players as possible would be on, but it could get really interesting watching bidding wars.

An idea someone mentioned in the player housing thread, was being able to buy from your house. Although I would miss some of the immersion of the MW should they scrap them and go with this idea, I would still get the quiet peaceful feeling I get in the wards, and I could craft there easily as well. Might be an idea worth exploring.

Honestly I don't care if the wards were filled with rainbows and fountains the moment I'm forced to warp in there and search for a seller without price histories is the part where it has already failed the most.

I don't enjoy looking at a character 3d model nanoseconds before I manage to open the shop menu because the fact that it even exists is the reason I had to wait for it to load.

Honestly if they add an AH like Yoshida hinted and what players voted for in a massive scale the wards would die within weeks.

You few ward enthusiasts know this otherwise you wouldn't be against the idea of them both existing in the game.
Also you KNOW people would prefer it because it's more handy so why do you keep on lying to yourselves? It's sad and the thought of you ward-zoning for minutes while trying to find cheap mats with a forced grin on your face is a bit creepy to be honest.

The market ward sucks....
Or at lest it use to.

Now with the new fetures and search of the market ward.
It has become a lot easyer to find what you need and the common selling price.
Which makes it easyer for me to sell and buy stuff from the market ward.

So why do we need an auction house when the market ward works.

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Originally Posted by Crawlerbasher

The market ward sucks....
Or at lest it use to.

Now with the new fetures and search of the market ward.
It has become a lot easyer to find what you need and the common selling price.
Which makes it easyer for me to sell and buy stuff from the market ward.

So why do we need an auction house when the market ward works.

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Horse and cart worked, why did we need cars? Because the horse and cart was no fun, and took much more time to get to the good stuff.

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I also don't think making an AH would be remotely worth the time. The effort that would be needed to port the current systems to a new format could be used to implement the features people want into the MWs and get them in game two or three times as fast. Literally the only feature an AH offers over the MWs is that you don't have to go inside.

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Strange logic. They wasted weeks and months of development time just to fix all the bugs and shortcomings of wards already. Time to pull the plug.

The market wards being "good enough" as often I hear protest to, doesn't equate them to being better or more convenient.

The first time I tried to tutor a new player on how the wards worked, they completely flipped out and couldn't believe how wildly impractical they were. His impression that he expressed to me was, if this simple task of purchasing and selling something is so half-baked, the remainder of the game probably is too. If a major function of the game is seen as unappealing and cumbersome to new players, at a time when we're trying to win back as many subscribers as possible, I just don't see trying to maintain the unpopular wards on life support as the best of ideas.

We've come accustomed to settling for the wards as we've seen worse early on in the game, and have really nothing better to rely on at the moment. It's silly to me though to expect a new comers who are used to auction house system in practically every other MMO as well as FFXI to jump through obstacles and learning curves just to buy their first weapon to play. The ward's location in the city zones aren't even obviously marked.

On a side note, I get frustrated when making purchases through the wards as I have the memory of a goldfish and instantly forget the retainer and location of whom I just searched. ^^; The role play aspect of the wards is lost on me as well. It doesn't feel or look like I'm browsing the bustling bazaar markets in some foreign land. Rather, I feel like I'm trying to buy bootleg watches from some guy in a trenchcoat in a back alley.

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Originally Posted by Rinsui

All they see is how they can cope with their environment, but few try to improve it out of fear to desecrate their dying god.

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And yet the past 100 years of man's "improvements" has slowly been killing the planet.

Just sayin'

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Originally Posted by Crawlerbasher

The market ward sucks....
Or at lest it use to.

Now with the new fetures and search of the market ward.
It has become a lot easyer to find what you need and the common selling price.
Which makes it easyer for me to sell and buy stuff from the market ward.

So why do we need an auction house when the market ward works.

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why not have both? Also the wards barley work as of now, can you imagine them if the game had a normal(larger) player base.

So can we go ahead and get that AH or will helping fix the economy take to much developement time away from extremely important things like the summer fest?

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Originally Posted by TonyMontana

So can we go ahead and get that AH or will helping fix the economy take to much developement time away from extremely important things like the summer fest?

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I would just like to know where the dev team actually stands on this, and if they are still against the auction house ideals of the players, what are they going to do to keep improving the market wards?

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Originally Posted by Scherwiz

I would just like to know where the dev team actually stands on this, and if they are still against the auction house ideals of the players, what are they going to do to keep improving the market wards?

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It's so simple. Give us an AH or give us a billboard to search & purchase from the wards.

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Originally Posted by Tezz_Xivectro

It's so simple. Give us an AH or give us a billboard to search & purchase from the wards.

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Which is an AH...

People talk about next gen and innovating, and junk, but in the end, they really made a mess of GUI theory to the thousand degree. Graphic user interface doesn't mean you have animated instances with proxies that need several hoops to jump through in order to get what you're looking for.

What would happen if your OS can only launch programs after you have open 16 windows, typed in the first 3 letters of it, and have to watch an intro movie everytime before running.

Keep the MW. But add a buy from search counter option... and add a 5% convenience fee. 2 birds with one stone, simple implementation. I don't see why they wouldn't do this..

For any new player that never tried any MMO, this system will work for them, but for people that played other MMO's they will never like it, and would like an AH instead.

none of my friends that stooped playing this game wants to come back because there is no AH, Mail, Mount system yet.

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Originally Posted by Scherwiz

I would just like to know where the dev team actually stands on this, and if they are still against the auction house ideals of the players, what are they going to do to keep improving the market wards?

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IIRC they never said they were against it, but looking into it.

However until they fix server hardware/etc. I don't think we'll see it any time soon.

This thread again.

I've always argued for having an auction house since day one. The biggest reason why? Sure the wards are a very crude form of an auction house, that "somewhat" works at the moment.

What happens when ps3 is released? Or if the game for some reason gets somewhat popular?

The small number of people with a few retainers right now have already caused problems for the wards since release. Fill the servers up, give each player a few retainers, and then what?

Overcrowded crashing wards. Imagine going into say the lower tailors row. There's 20,000 retainers in there. Only about 20 of them load a time, if you have a super nice pc. I mean, seriously? lol

The AH needs to happen, hands down. To say "the wards are fine" is just a temp fix IMO, translated into "for now, I'd rather they worked on other things, but the AH NEEDS to happen sometime in the future".

If people want something unique, maybe try making an auction house that is cross servers. I think that would be neat.

So 1.19, 1.20 dont really look very promising for an auction house maybe 1.21 along side of new jobs?

chocobo is coming, now Mail and AH.

No MMORPG game can make it without these things

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So 1.19, 1.20 dont really look very promising for an auction house maybe 1.21 along side of new jobs?

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They have never stated that they were adding one, so it's a bit silly to assume it will be added. The only thing to date they have said is they would look into the need for one if they felt the Market Ward wouldn't work out. You'd be better off not holding your breath for an AH until they, you know, actually promise you one.

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Originally Posted by AlexNiculaie

They have never stated that they were adding one, so it's a bit silly to assume it will be added. The only thing to date they have said is they would look into the need for one if they felt the Market Ward wouldn't work out. You'd be better off not holding your breath for an AH until they, you know, actually promise you one.

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I have to agree with you SE has very notoriously made very poor choices for this game so it would be silly of me to think they might do the right thing here.

Can we please hear from SE concrete plans for the AH and on what exact date can we expect to log in to this game with a working AH finally installed? These dozens of threads have been goin on long enough.

Sure we appreciate you confirming Airship content and replying to requests about sexy outfits but seriously this is the most important feature of the game and we haven't heard any dates on when it's coming.

The player's poll confirmed that overwhelming majority of the players want an AH.

Lesser issues on that list have all been dealt with or are in the works. I find this way of working really dubious since surely you can't think features like the materia system is more important than the AH?

Get the most basic functions of an MMO working first before moving on to the finer details because without a good foundation the economy will never start working in this game and that makes almost all of the crafting classes a lot less fun to play.

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Originally Posted by Seif

Can we please hear from SE concrete plans for the AH and on what exact date can we expect to log in to this game with a working AH finally installed? These dozens of threads have been goin on long enough.

Sure we appreciate you confirming Airship content and replying to requests about sexy outfits but seriously this is the most important feature of the game and we haven't heard any dates on when it's coming.

The player's poll confirmed that overwhelming majority of the players want an AH.

Lesser issues on that list have all been dealt with or are in the works. I find this way of working really dubious since surely you can't think features like the materia system is more important than the AH?

Get the most basic functions of an MMO working first before moving on to the finer details because without a good foundation the economy will never start working in this game and that makes almost all of the crafting classes a lot less fun to play.

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Agreed....

The only thing I dislike about the wards is the fact that when you want to check the storage of your retainer from another location, they don't go back to selling.. if you know what I mean, other than that I really don't mind it, if anything I prefer it as well. though I wish we had price history and a widget to check current AH prices.

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Originally Posted by RathSkybreaker

The only thing I dislike about the wards is the fact that when you want to check the storage of your retainer from another location, they don't go back to selling.. if you know what I mean, other than that I really don't mind it, if anything I prefer it as well. though I wish we had price history and a widget to check current AH prices.

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As a person who prides himself in crafting high end +2s and +3s the market wards dont work. A few days ago I made an Iron Celata +3 and with 37 NQ Iron Celatas in the wards for 35k gil I have no way to sell mine. Why would anyone favor a system that punishes people for creating high quality items.

I like the way it is, it does need a bit more work but I like being able to walk around and look at what is in the wards. SE does need to connect all three cities though.