Player Poll: What Specifically is it you want from an "Auction House"

[Alhanelem]

I don't want anything in an auction house. I think the current system is fine.

I don't want to see EVERY unique bit of this game cut away.

[zdanmu]

I don't want anything in an auction house. I think the current system is fine.

I don't want to see EVERY unique bit of this game cut away.

Just because something is unique doesn't make it good. I dread every trip to the MW for many of the various reasons already stated in this thread.

[Demacia]

Just because something is unique doesn't make it good. I dread every trip to the MW for many of the various reasons already stated in this thread.

Dude, don't even bother. I must've repeated this line at least a hundred times but it's far too complex for fans of the current game to comprehend.

[Sephr]

There is only going to be one way to solve this issue. Give the players an AH and charge them an massive Jeuno Style Tax and send their stuff to their retainer for pick up. Then remove all the taxes from the market wards so people dont bazzar outside town.

Why?! I ask you, why, in 2011, do you want everything to be so needlessly annoying and inconvenient?

I want an AH. I want to open it from a convenient location. I want to access the right category easily. I want to select from a list that contains ALL the damn items of that type. I want to select an item and see previous prices. I want to have bids and buy-outs. I want the item to come straight to me or at LEAST to a delivery system that doesn't require me to go to the stupid wards.

Why should half the time I spend playing the game be used up battling the inconveniences of the system in place? I should be able to log in, meet my friends, battle some monsters or craft or whatever, and log out feeling I've achieved something and not that I've just micromanaged the shit out of an ultimately pointless and unenjoyable task.

AH's are a MMO standard because they work well, and because finding an item should be a minor afterthought at best.

Edit: Also, screw the idea that the market wards are good because they're unique. They're unique because they're bad, and no other self-respecting company would attempt to implement something so ultimately crap.

Also, the market ward rooms themselves are awful.

[Demacia]

Why?! I ask you, why, in 2011, do you want everything to be so needlessly annoying and inconvenient?

I want an AH. I want to open it from a convenient location. I want to access the right category easily. I want to select from a list that contains ALL the damn items of that type. I want to select an item and see previous prices. I want to have bids and buy-outs. I want the item to come straight to me or at LEAST to a delivery system that doesn't require me to go to the stupid wards.

Why should half the time I spend playing the game be used up battling the inconveniences of the system in place? I should be able to log in, meet my friends, battle some monsters or craft or whatever, and log out feeling I've achieved something and not that I've just micromanaged the shit out of an ultimately pointless and unenjoyable task.

AH's are a MMO standard because they work well, and because finding an item should be a minor afterthought at best.

NO, FUCK CONVENIENCE I WANT THE GAME TO BE A UNIQUE SNOWFLAKE >(

[AlexiaKidd]

What I personally would like is the following 3 things:

1. -I would like to be able to buy directly from the counter and have the item put straight into my inventory. For the convenience of this I would happily pay an extra 5-10% delivery tax on a purchase made straight from the item search list. If it was an expensive item then I would probably still go into the wards and pick it up to save on the tax.

2. -I would also like the item search menu to have more sorting and filter options. I would like to be able to sort by things like class and rank. I did like FFXI's AH menu setup as I could find what I was looking for pretty easy with the wards it is harder to locate more obscure items if you don't know what ward it should be in. Also I want be be able to distinguish between NQ and HQ items. Finally on the topic of searching I want the ability to type the item into a text box it will pull it up.

3. -My last request which I think might have the biggest impact on the economy is the addition of a Seeking Item search. This would work exactly the same as the current item search but would bring up retainers that are seeking that item instead. You could also allow the ability to sell directly through the menu with the addition of the delivery tax or go drop it off yourself to the retainer and save a bit of gill. The other addition they would have to make is allowing retainers to seek for ANY item currently in the game even if they do not have that item in their possession. Currently in order to seek an item you must already have that item, to me that is strange as most of the time I would not seek it if I already had it.

If they could add the Seeking Item search I think it would help a lot as currently I just throw away or NPC a lot of what i consider Junk. However these items might actually be of use to someone so if there was an Seeking item search then I could just sell all that "junk" to other players/retainers super easy.

[Cairdeas]

What I personally would like is the following 3 things:

1. -I would like to be able to buy directly from the counter and have the item put straight into my inventory. For the convenience of this I would happily pay an extra 5-10% delivery tax on a purchase made straight from the item search list. If it was an expensive item then I would probably still go into the wards and pick it up to save on the tax.

2. -I would also like the item search menu to have more sorting and filter options. I would like to be able to sort by things like class and rank. I did like FFXI's AH menu setup as I could find what I was looking for pretty easy with the wards it is harder to locate more obscure items if you don't know what ward it should be in. Also I want be be able to distinguish between NQ and HQ items. Finally on the topic of searching I want the ability to type the item into a text box it will pull it up.

3. -My last request which I think might have the biggest impact on the economy is the addition of a Seeking Item search. This would work exactly the same as the current item search but would bring up retainers that are seeking that item instead. You could also allow the ability to sell directly through the menu with the addition of the delivery tax or go drop it off yourself to the retainer and save a bit of gill. The other addition they would have to make is allowing retainers to seek for ANY item currently in the game even if they do not have that item in their possession. Currently in order to seek an item you must already have that item, to me that is strange as most of the time I would not seek it if I already had it.

If they could add the Seeking Item search I think it would help a lot as currently I just throw away or NPC a lot of what i consider Junk. However these items might actually be of use to someone so if there was an Seeking item search then I could just sell all that "junk" to other players/retainers super easy.

I'd love this. Especially because it pushes it more to a Market Window like Eve.

[RedAffinity]

The retainer system is pretty much exactly like the auction house in FFXI. The only difference is, the user interface is poorly implemented, and there's more steps required to accomplish the same thing you did stepping up to an auction house counter in FFXI

I'd like the retainer menu system reworked. 1 menu, allow me to trade, set prices, take money. Right now it's sluggish and unintuitive.

As for the buying end, I'd like a UI that is much cleaner. Once an item has been listed, leave that item slot up, even if there's 0 up for sale. I'm fine without seeing price history, but I'd like to see the available items in game, even if none are up for sale.

That's really pretty much it. SE was so against an auction house, but really isn't that was the Retainer system pretty much currently is? It just, in typical SE fashion, a few more steps to accomplish, what a basic auction counter could have easily done.

[Wolfie]

Option 1. FFXIV's economy set up (player-run shops) is good and workable, but because of having to graphically render every shop, it's inconvenient and limited. When/if SE decides to switch to a menu/window interface only, with no retainers and zones and whatever, then it'll be a great system.

[Anty]

Option 1. FFXIV's economy set up (player-run shops) is good and workable, but because of having to graphically render every shop, it's inconvenient and limited. When/if SE decides to switch to a menu/window interface only, with no retainers and zones and whatever, then it'll be a great system.

true. they might have to do that when we get an increased number of players, since i doubt well have like 120 wards/each city in the future. Would be stupid if anyways.