Market Wards, enough is enough

[Wynn]

They've been stated many many times already.

One of the biggest ones being that the servers and whatever process is running them can't handle all the NPCs in one area, despite the fact that hardly anyone plays this game. How are they supposed to remedy this when they release the PS3 version and expect the population to grow again?

Another flaw is just the fact that the NPC-based system doesn't grant any significant benefits over a purely menu-based system. It's just slower and prone to bugs due to server issues and game engine issues.

The fact that server congestion and game engine problems are even negatively contributing at all to the issue of economic transactions is a huge red flag. In what sane universe does our economic activity and marketplace get all screwed up because graphically, the game can't render enough NPCs at once?

The main engine of economic activity (market wards) is intimately tied to a whole host of other problems (graphics insufficiency, server congestion, server memory, NPC rendering, etc) that it shouldn't even be associated with in the first place. It needlessly relies on those systems to stay alive, and when any one of those things destabilizes, the whole thing comes crashing down.

How do we know what is crashing the wards? How do we know it is the NPCs? Did SE tell us this? All I see in this thread is a lot of assumption and a lot of people yelling about what they want. This thread does not deliver on facts.

[Rentahamster]

How do we know what is crashing the wards? How do we know it is the NPCs?

What else could it be? The only difference between the wards and everywhere else is that it contains a huge population of NPCs that contain their own database of inventory, geographic location variables, and are subject to interaction, functions, and calls- stuff that normal NPCs are not burdened with.

We've already seen the problems that the game engine has rendering player characters and NPCs. We experience the popup all the time.

Do you really believe that a purely menu-based, text-based market interface system that performs the exact same functions as the current market wars system would crash just as often?

[Wynn]

What else could it be? The only difference between the wards and everywhere else is that it contains a huge population of NPCs that contain their own database of inventory, geographic location variables, and are subject to interaction, functions, and calls- stuff that normal NPCs are not burdened with.

We've already seen the problems that the game engine has rendering player characters and NPCs. We experience the popup all the time.

Do you really believe that a purely menu-based, text-based market interface system that performs the exact same functions as the current market wars system would crash just as often?

Like everyone else here, I don't know what is causing the crashes. I certainly hope they can fix it though. But I really don't believe throwing the baby out with the bathwater is the solution here.

Besides the crashing, I have no problem what so ever with the market ward. Actually I take that back. If they add the ability to indicate +1s and the like that would be great. But again this is just my opinion and my personal preference. I really don't want to see an AH like we had/have in XI.

[Rentahamster]

I really don't want to see an AH like we had/have in XI.

Most of the people aren't arguing for an AH just like the one in FF11.

Most people are arguing for a system that performs the exact same things that we get from the Market Wards now, except without the hassle of NPC retainers.

Basically, as if you were able to just buy and sell straight from the item search window. Leave everything the same, just get rid of the NPC retainers until they fix game engine stability and server load issues.

[Wolfie]

Like everyone else here, I don't know what is causing the crashes. I certainly hope they can fix it though. But I really don't believe throwing the baby out with the bathwater is the solution here.

Besides the crashing, I have no problem what so ever with the market ward. Actually I take that back. If they add the ability to indicate +1s and the like that would be great. But again this is just my opinion and my personal preference. I really don't want to see an AH like we had/have in XI.

Guess what? We don't have to. Everything that Market Wards does now can be replicated in an NPC-less system that's infinitely faster, better, more intuitive, more convenient, and easier and cheaper to maintain.

You know what it would look like? www.amazon.com. No auctions there and items are sold from user created shops. Want more examples? Neopets' player shops. Examples in another MMO? Dragonica's shop system where you can search, buy, and create a shop from a single interface.

[Physic]

Guess what? We don't have to. Everything that Market Wards does now can be replicated in an NPC-less system that's infinitely faster, better, more intuitive, more convenient, and easier and cheaper to maintain.

You know what it would look like? www.amazon.com. No auctions there and items are sold from user created shops. Want more examples? Neopets' player shops. Examples in another MMO? Dragonica's shop system where you can search, buy, and create a shop from a single interface.

and a lot of people dont want to play amazon.com the game, but even amazon.com doesnt instantly give you the items you purchase

[Rentahamster]

even amazon.com doesnt instantly give you the items you purchase

...err, that's because Amazon.com is real life.