Market wards - Auction hous status for 2.0?

[Lilith]

The latest interviews and info regarding 2.0 are all very interesting but I didn't find much info on how the market wards system (auction house) is going to be in 2.0.
Can someone pls link info on that or have one of the dev reps give a clear vision about what they have planned for 2.0 in this regards?

[Tonka]

I would also love this information. Read a recent post talking about bazaar and retainer functionality in 2.0 and it made me worry. Market Wards are improved but daggumit, it can be far simpler to manage your buying/selling. I can't think of any reason to hold onto this crazy system.

[IvoryFox]

I believe the above is referring to this post:

Originally we had envisioned a variety of content for retainers, but we held off on them and kept retainers as they are currently. In version 2.0, we are planning to expand their uses beyond just the current bazaar system, as well as raising their levels and the things they can do. However, we do not have any plans of linking the inventory slot numbers to their levels, so leveling them up will not yield a greater amount of inventory space.

I agree with Tonka... I hope they scrap the market wards in favor of a global auction house. The current system is a headache. Perhaps treat your retainer as storage (think moghouse moogle)/AH access within your own home instance. With the ability to summon them to the outside world for whatever expanded retainer functionality they're adding (assuming it's like the companion NPCs in FFXI). Would be nice to get some more concrete info.

[TokyieRage]

I think they said they are going back to the normal Auction House type. Like the one in XI or WoW. I believe it was in the Letter from the Producer LIVE. And you can pay (I wasn't sure if it was Real Money or In game gil) to rent a Retainer for extra space.

[Lilith]

I think they said they are going back to the normal Auction House type. Like the one in XI or WoW. I believe it was in the Letter from the Producer LIVE. And you can pay (I wasn't sure if it was Real Money or In game gil) to rent a Retainer for extra space.

Can anyone confirm this pls? (link?)

[Tonka]

The post does refer to bazaar functionality. I'm curious to what degree. And will we go back to having bazaars littering the landscape like XI if the Wards are done away with. (I can handle that more than using the Market Wards...lol)

Here's another quote from earlier in the year that indicates there wills till be Market Wards:

We are planning on linking all three market wards together in 2.0! The reason behind not being able to link them earlier than that is due to the current system limitations.

I'm open to a revamp of the Market Wards. But to make them as convenient as an auction house...I have no idea why a physical set of "wards" would even be necessary. Especially if they link across the cities. What is the reason one would need to physically place a retainer in a ward? Why not just have it in your home instance or something, if we must continue to hang on to the retainer system?

[kurokawa]

Personally, I hope they change the role of retainers one day soon.

Storage should be part of housing. Purchasing should be made via NPC shops, an auction house or personal Bazaar.

Maybe I'm wrong but the only reason FFXI had so many mules selling gear was because we were limited to posting no more than 7 items on the AH in one go. Was that an RMT measure?

As long as they don't limit the number of things you can sell on the AH and they let us store gear in our houses, I see no reason to keep retainers in the game for their current purpose.

I do remember reading (maybe officially, in a dream or on a thread - I may be making this up) that we could summon retainers whilst in the field, get them to take goods to the AH, take gear back home, put stuff up for sale or make purchases/deliver mail on our behalf.

Just like I do with the missus. Lol

[Lilith]

How I personally would like to see the flow of buying / selling: 1 window with different tabs

Selling:
- Drag/drop from your inventory into the AH window's "sell" tab, or dubbelclick/rightclick from your inventory to sell something.
-> Pop-up window (or integrated in selling tab) with an overview of the actual average price, the actual lowest price and a price history, with the option to either: follow average price or equal the lowest price, or alternatively put in a custom price.
-> confirm

Buying:
- Choose by category or search by item name, type or level in the buying tab.
It should include the option to choose to display any equipable weapon (or armor) that is better than what you're wearing (for your level and class/job).
For crafters: search by recipe-level and display materials etc.
-> When you click on an item in the list displayed, it should automatically show you an overview of current prices/sellers and price history of that item, and suggest to buy that item the lowest priced atm (Still giving you the option to buy from someone else / more expensive)
-> Confirm (either it goes to straight to you inventory, or to a purchased tab idc)

- A market system that is linked through the 3 cities
- Limited to minimum 30-50 items on sale.
- Retainers for housing and storage purposes.
- A minimum on response time for any of the actions performed.

Not a must but definite plus: Selling straight from inventory when out of town (through retainer/moogle transporting services?)

[Jinko]

I hope they completely kill the MW off and add a typical AH style interface like FF11/WoW/Aion and every other MMO out there.

I wouldn't mind retainers becoming more like housemaids/butlers who can tend your chocobo and garden and manage your house storage etc, that would be a much better fit for them IMO.

Lilith that is exactly what I want also, I just know SE are guna screw this up though, I can feel the impending disappointment already.

[JackDaniels]

I agree with Tonka... I hope they scrap the market wards in favor of a global auction house.

Both would be nice. I enjoy retainers, just not when it's my only option.