Is anyone here familiar with the game Phantasy Star Universe (PSU)? Back around 2006, I played this online action-RPG for about 2 and a half years before trying out FF11, and later, getting into FF14. Although it wasn't very successful outside of Japan due to many issues I won't go into (trust me, if you've played it, you know what I'm talking about! :p ), one of its strengths was the ease of use of its player shop search feature, and how it was implemented.
Both FF11 and PSU had forms of a personal living space, and FF14 is supposed to be getting this as well. In FF11, you could manage your inventory by giving your items to a Moogle; in PSU, you could do the same with a Partner Machinery - essentially the same thing, but you could also use it for item synthesis and battle. However, in FF11, you had to travel out of your room to the Auction House to sell something, or otherwise place it in your personal bazaar, like in FF14; in PSU, you could do it all from your room.
Imagine this: FF14 implements player housing (upgradable through crafting/gathering, of course :p ), and instead of running through Market Ward hallways filled with NPC's, players who want to buy something from you can instead warp directly to your house, and not only buy what they want, but also check out how you've arranged your house and everything in it. Not only that, but you can manage your inventory and shop without the need to constantly run around checking prices and going to different Wards - all from the comfort of your own home!
PSU's shop search functions were also much more extensive: all you had to do was type in the name of the item you were looking for, OR select an option to only display a specific type of item. For example, instead of every time having to select Item Search -> Upper Tailor's Row (or is it Middle...?) -> Shoes (or is it Sandals? or hell, is it under Armorfitter's Row??) and then look through a disorganized list of available items just to find some Mahogany Pattens, how about, I dunno... simply typing "Mahogany Pattens" ? Or leaving said space blank, and selecting an option to search only for Feet items, thus displaying every equippable Feet item on the market? Or being able to narrow your search specifically for those in the range of level 30 to 40? And on top of that, search only for +1 versions? PSU let you set such parameters when searching for the perfect weapon or armor, and you didn't have to necessarily know the name of such an item, nor have to dig through countless menus to try and find it. Similarly, FF14 could set up search options such as "display HQ only" to look for +1, +2, or +3 versions of an item, or "display melded only" to show which items for sale have Materia attached to them, and have them sorted in a logical manner.
Finally, upon finding the item that you want to buy, PSU would prompt you to travel directly to the owner's room to buy it from their Partner Machinery, who could also greet you with user-made messages and ads, or thank you messages upon purchase. On top of that, players also had access to a message board where you or other people could comment on your prices, the appearance of your room, or whatever else. I guess an option where you could just buy the item directly without traveling to the player's room could also be implemented, but I enjoyed being able to see other players' personalized rooms, or the social aspect of sometimes meeting them in person.
So there you have it: buyers can easily search for items without hassle and enjoy other people's rooms, and sellers can do the same and check how to price their items from the comfort of their room. For those of you who aren't familiar with PSU, here are a couple of random videos I found on Youtube which, despite the titles, will hopefully display how this works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNHrNh7YF_w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziwhFWnnvz4
Now, I realize there is still a long way to go before player housing is implemented (unless SE surprises us), but I would love to hear some feedback. :p
My suggestions for player shop reforms, in comparison to another game I used to play.
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12-02-2011, 12:33 AMTetsaruMy suggestions for player shop reforms, in comparison to another game I used to play.
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12-02-2011, 12:44 AMShneibel
I am sure most of your question & demand had already in those:
2.0 Road map
Live letter II
Live letter I
and the newest info about market ward change will come with 1.20 patch note -
12-02-2011, 12:51 AMgrandmagreed player housing in FF14 is not a myth its been confirmed, the market system is getting a revamp in 1.20. and we are getting new servers for 2.0 so there could be more revmping then aswell.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shneibel
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12-02-2011, 12:52 AMredmage
Hey Tetsaru! I too played PSU for a long while and agree, though the game had some faults, I enjoyed how they handled the personal shops and rooms! A common box would be a nice little feature too if you have alts.
But yeah, I liked how the partner machines could be personalized and greet customers and such and for customers to be able to also see your living space. Of course, for those who don't want that, rooms could be set to private and such. -
12-02-2011, 12:57 AMPicoman
Yoshi-P's vision of Player Housing excites me but there has been no mention of what you can do inside in terms of storage, retainers, mail ect. The full version of housing isn't coming with 2.0 remember, this is post 2.0 along with DX11 and something else that was mentioned but forgot.
I got the feeling we may see Rent-A-Rooms sometime after 1.21.