Over Crowded Wards (A Serious Discussion, Not a Plea for an AH)

[AlexiaKidd]

Glad there is a thread about this it has been driving me mad lately. I have a +3 Crab Bow for sale and I can't get a retainer in the Battleward so have to pay even more out on tax ><

These last few days I can't even summon my 2nd retainer in any of the wards to swap over items to my other one so i have to keep running to the bell in the Adv Guild and back to the wards.

I feel I have to price something at 999,999,999 just to make sure it doesn't sell so my retainer doesn't get removed from the wards and I wouldn't be able to put it back in.

You can say well go to Limsa or Grid well I tried that with my 2nd retainer and nothing sells and no it is not because it is priced to high, it is because everyone only uses Ul'dahs wards.

I really hope they get something sorted soon as this is getting ridiculous on my server.

[Viridiana]

Is Lindblum really getting that bad? I haven't tried to sell anything in a few weeks, though, even back then, Battlecraft was overflowing.

Still say the best solution is to stop rendering retainers and just go to a text interface. No, not an AH. A text interface. . .

[Rentahamster]

Is Lindblum really getting that bad?

If it is, I haven't noticed. I still manage to make a decent amount of gil.

[Fuzball]

As a little note on how market ward caps may work-- I managed to get both () of my retainers summoned in one of the wards yesterday by attempting to summon almost immediately after zoning in, but they happened to spawn in exactly the same spot... so, hoping that no one would be spamming to summon, I closed one of the retainers then tried to re-summon it-- no good. After a lot of tries, crying, rezoning, and sacrificing a chicken in front of the Ul'dah fountain, no good

What does this mean? It might suggest that the code managing the retainer cap probably references various things like server-load, available bandwidth, and obviously the amount of character models (retainers + players + NPC's) currently in the ward. Due to this, the cap can't be updated immediately--which is most likely why dismissing one of my retainers didn't allow me to summon another one.

Put simply, there isn't a definite number of max retainers, and the server simply sends you a yes or no as to whether you can summon one or not depending on the latest stats collected--otherwise, people who sit and spam the summon button would cause stress on the server by forcing it to grab a lot of fresh data each time you request to summon.

If anyone has some phenomenons to add to this thread, it'd be nice to start collecting events to get an idea of how we can approach working with the overcrowded markets for the time being--like things such as how often the retainer cap is adjusted or how often the server recounts the average amount of players + retainers in any given ward to do so...

As far as I can assume, either the cap was shrunk, the server accidentally said that I could summon both my retainers (getting a single one summoned is a huge challenge on selby), or someone took my un-summoned retainer's spot somewhere between my rezoning and chicken sacrifice

[GhostInfinity]

Returning player here and giving FFXIV another try. I logged on after patching to set up retainers, get my affairs in order before I start exploring and such. Like many of the posters stated the wards are vastly overcrowded. I left in October and I'm really disappointed to see this horrible system still limping along. I'm actually scanning forums and trying to figure a way to sell my wares (other than selling to npc's for a huge loss) In my opinion this is just wrong. IMO this game will always struggle under this system.

SE, cut your losses, admit retainers/market wards were a bad idea, and give the players what they want. (not what you THINK they want)

[AngryNixon]

Lindblum has really gotten that bad. I make money when I can put a retainer up sure, but lately I can't get that far. I managed to find the one empty spot in the Woodcutters Ward to list my retainer, who sells fish...

Their silly system is now working against me and I don't, practically speaking, have a choice but to wrongly list my retainers. I want to list things in the proper wards but the game leaves me no choice when it seems sometimes like all the wards are full.

So yes, something definitely needs done about the overcrowded wards. Don't care what it is but anything at this point would be nice.

[Viridiana]

Well, then I think you just took my normal spot in Woodcutters where I sell arrows. Not that I've played in a few weeks to mind, I guess.

Have I mentioned that I hate this "rendering retainers" thing lately?

[Arasiel]

I just recenly started back up. Loving the game. Decided to hold my Adventuring level around 15 until the Job patch hits. So started mining because I deleted my original character from launch for a fresh start. Decided to snag a Retainer set him up and start making some gil. Problem is every single ward was full except for one. So I have my Retainer selling Ores in some random ward be taxed.

What you need is multiple tiers of each ward. Like Mason Ward #1, Masons Ward #2, Masons Ward #3. When you search for lets say Copper Ore. You see hey someone is selling copper ore 499g a pop. Click Find.. Retainer: Jimbob - Mason Ward #3. Click Enter again. Warp to Mason Ward #3. The ward can take lets say 50 Retainers each. Once lets say Ward #3 fills. Ward #4 opens up. So on and so on.

[AngryNixon]

Well, then I think you just took my normal spot in Woodcutters where I sell arrows. Not that I've played in a few weeks to mind, I guess.

Have I mentioned that I hate this "rendering retainers" thing lately?

Clearly fish are more important than arrows, especially in the Woodcutters Row...

I just recenly started back up. Loving the game. Decided to hold my Adventuring level around 15 until the Job patch hits. So started mining because I deleted my original character from launch for a fresh start. Decided to snag a Retainer set him up and start making some gil. Problem is every single ward was full except for one. So I have my Retainer selling Ores in some random ward be taxed.

What you need is multiple tiers of each ward. Like Mason Ward #1, Masons Ward #2, Masons Ward #3. When you search for lets say Copper Ore. You see hey someone is selling copper ore 499g a pop. Click Find.. Retainer: Jimbob - Mason Ward #3. Click Enter again. Warp to Mason Ward #3. The ward can take lets say 50 Retainers each. Once lets say Ward #3 fills. Ward #4 opens up. So on and so on.

I wonder if something like those internet chat programs that create overflow channels would work... That is to say as soon as a ward of a certain type is full, another one is created. That way you don't always have x amt of every ward for no reason. I'm guessing that 2 wards a piece might work, maybe really 1.5 wards to account for the overflow. And at times it may be that only one ward for a particularly unpopular category is needed. I can't imagine the Menders ward is really full of properly listed retainers. Also possibly the ward where coins are held is 90%+ overflow from other wards.

[Arasiel]

@AngryNixon

Yeah when I describe what I think should be done it sounds simple but will they utilize it? Dunno.. There are more then one way to fix this. I don't think they will abolish this Ward system for a AH. Too much groundwork was laid and its salvagable with the new Search function.