"how much does this item mean to me...how much would I pay...what can I find it for...who can I talk to obtain this item" not "ok do I have 5k for this to buy from AH". I think market transactions and finding what you need should be more player involved rather that just going to the AH to buy what you need.
Seriously? I hear almost zero player to player trading. FFXI was always busy in Jeuno with trade chatting... WOW has thier own trade chat channel...

And price set by demand is exactly whats happening in the wards. Just 10x slower. You gotta be pretty stoned to buy the 20k cotton cowl with one up for 5k.

I feel right now the anti-AH peeps are fussin because the gil input/output is not balanced. Just wait until square fixes this and 70% of us become broke... now the cheapest avalible, or fastest way to sell wont sound so bad.