Wow, no mention of Auction house / MW improvements

[Drust]

Well on the server I am on every single market ward is full of retainers, finally managed to get one in last night after the server reset, and then the market wards crashed and i've had to set her up 4 more times since. And now this time I entered a market ward and am not stuck in it as the menu to exit/search/change wards doesn't come up anymore.

[Tsuga]

Well on the server I am on every single market ward is full of retainers, finally managed to get one in last night after the server reset, and then the market wards crashed and i've had to set her up 4 more times since. And now this time I entered a market ward and am not stuck in it as the menu to exit/search/change wards doesn't come up anymore.

Hah, we're both on Besaid.

I've only really attempted to sell things in Spellcraft, Tailor, and tried to get repairs in Mending. They're ALWAYS full.

To be honest, prior to the game's release I thought this was what they were advertising when it came to retainers. It sounded more like you could run your own little npc vendor store as a side hobby if that was your fancy.How involved as a retailer would have been based on your investment (store versus stand, etc) And that I thought was cute and clever.

However, zombie room full of NPCs peddling wares like a back alley market was what I got. Personally I have no affection for it and wish it were gone. It feels like a blemish on the game. I don't even see any arguments legitimately for the wards other than people rather focus on fixing other things first. Rather than waste time dolling them up, I can't help but feel it's in the better interest of the game in the long term to simply rid of them and implement a more user friendly and familiar AH system.

In my opinion revamping the economy should be as much a priority as the battle revamp was, and it starts with eliminating the focus on Wards, just like battle revamp started with elimination of the action bar.

They can touch the wards up all they want, but it's just a waste of time compared to the potentially better system that an AH would bring in.

That said, I think parts of the original concept like you mentioned would be nice recycled back into the game.
I remember in my time on FFXI, it became a lucrative business to park mule characters at strategic areas with bazaars tailored for that area. Especially stealth potions in high aggro zones, or foods and ninja tools near exp camps. I was really hoping that wards and retainers would eventually evolve to something more akin to running a business rather than just parking and hoping your price is lower than the other 50 zombies surrounding you.

If I could set a retainer up near outposts or aetheryte camps, that would actually make them 100 times more useful. Also being able to level them up, get special outfits for them, things like that would be pretty cool, too. It'd make me like my retainers, at least.