Market Wards, enough is enough

[Gracious]

Here is a very simple fact that people keep misunderstanding.

Players do not WANT an auction house. They want the Time and Convenience one gives through illusions.

If you ask a player if they want forced Blind or Timed Bidding they 99.9% of the time will most likely say no. They don't. They want to see the item, see the price, and buy it without haggling. Thats not an Auction House, Its an NPC vendor for Player Made Items. The only thing the Market Ward needs then are those same Conveniences. When someone like me says "I do NOT want an auction house." it isn't because I do not want the time and Conveniences it gives. Or that I want some system that takes forever and a day to buy something. Its because I DO NOT WANT TIMED OR BLIND BIDDING WHICH ARE THE ONLY FEATURES 100% EXCLUSIVE TO AN AUCTION HOUSE.

So when 26% of the players voted they wanted an Auction House they lied? It was only 2nd to content.

[Elexia]

So when 26% of the players voted they wanted an Auction House they lied? It was only 2nd to content.

Players wanted a better game, and unless people are admitting they figure an AH would have instantly fixed all problems, it wouldn't lead to a better game, much like the rep stated that even if they went with an AH system it wouldn't instantly solve all problems.

Know what else a lot of people voted for? Battle system and Socialization (Japanese) as the #1, which is actually the foundation of this game.

[Gracious]

Players wanted a better game, and unless people are admitting they figure an AH would have instantly fixed all problems, it wouldn't lead to a better game, much like the rep stated that even if they went with an AH system it wouldn't instantly solve all problems.

Know what else a lot of people voted for? Battle system and Socialization (Japanese) as the #1, which is actually the foundation of this game.

(1) When the poll was done the Market Wards were in effect 26% voted they didn't want it.
(2) Most of "naive" players thought they were working on an Auction House and have been patiently waiting on it to be introduced.
(3) I am referring to NA players and I am also naive to assume that most players posting are from English as a primary language country.

[TheVedis]

(1) When the poll was done the Market Wards were in effect 26% voted they didn't want it.
(2) Most of "naive" players thought they were working on an Auction House and have been patiently waiting on it to be introduced.
(3) I am referring to NA players and I am also naive to assume that most players posting are from English as a primary language country.

3) these are the NA forums...so of course we speak english!
geeze did you really just make a point out of that

[Gracious]

3) these are the NA forums...so of course we speak english!
geeze did you really just make a point out of that

I'm saying that many players that post are not from a English as a primary language country.

[Cairdeas]

3) these are the NA forums...so of course we speak english!
geeze did you really just make a point out of that

actually its english. not region.

[Gracious]

actually its english. not region.

I'm not the one that brought up another country. If you read above. And I don't understand why players that speak English as a primary language can not have a forum. I don't go on other language forums. It leads to misinterpretation.

[Amineri]

So when 26% of the players voted they wanted an Auction House they lied? It was only 2nd to content.

This is a question of semantics. An auction house in the real world is a place where people go to bid on rare and unusual items. Ebay isn't really an auction house anymore (although there is some bidding), because most people use the 'buy it now' option.

I think a lot of people voted for an auction house because
(a) the term is used in a lot of other MMOs for a convenient market system interface
(b) people wanted a market system better than the market wards at the time

We should all simply stop using ambiguous terms like "auction house", I think. The phrase is loaded, and means different things to different people.

Gracious, what specifically are you wanting to see? Beyond the catch-phrase "auction house".

[Cairdeas]

So when 26% of the players voted they wanted an Auction House they lied? It was only 2nd to content.

Do you want Timed or Blind Bidding?

If not then you yourself do not want an auction house. You want the benefits that one gives you through illusion. None of the benefits of an auction house are exclusive to the auction house itself. Only Bidding on items in a Blind or Time Delayed System.

The Only reason the WoW AH is called an AH is because it has timed bidding. If it was just a "post the final price and sell" type system they would have probably called it a Player Market or something. Which is exactly what SE did, SE just hasn't finished adding those same illusionary conveniences.

And if you did want Blind and Timed Bidding, your an idiot who wants RMT's to own the marketplace.

Cairdeas, I think that there is room for an ACTUAL auction house with bidding. Certain high-end items could be marketted through a bidding system, keeping the market wards for the task of selling the bulk commodity goods. But yes, auction house should mean AUCTIONS.

I agree. But if there is the items that are sold to it need to have a special designation so you can't sell chaff and brittle on it. IE. Something like what I designed in my Gob Shop idea where you can sell Unique/Untradable items to the "Auction House" then they are recycled turned into new items and exchanged out to people buying them in "Gamble Bags" A bag that when you open it you get a random item from the inventory of the system. This prevents RMT's from being able to corner the market on special items and if you use an Endgame token system to use it then you can limit the amount of RMT influence on it over all.

[Amineri]

I agree. But if there is the items that are sold to it need to have a special designation so you can't sell chaff and brittle on it. IE.

Just so. There is no reason for puk wings to be up for auction. These things would ONLY ever be listed for a 'buy it now' price. Commodities should stay in a market.

Something like what I designed in my Gob Shop idea where you can sell Unique/Untradable items to the "Auction House" then they are recycled turned into new items and exchanged out to people buying them in "Gamble Bags" A bag that when you open it you get a random item from the inventory of the system. This prevents RMT's from being able to corner the market on special items and if you use an Endgame token system to use it then you can limit the amount of RMT influence on it over all.

I like your concept for random mystery grab bags. Games like Magic:TG, and Pokemon show that people will gamble on getting "phat loot".

I think that there are also items that naturally lend themselves to being auctioned rather than sold in a marketplace. Someone in my LS recently made an engraved iron bhuj +3. What sort of price is appropriate for that? Also, there is no way to effectively advertise such an item, without standing in Ul'dah and shout-spamming.

THAT (to my mind) is the type of item that deserves to go onto an AH. The purpose is the (a) create visibility (b) determine market price for rare items. RMT is going to be a factor ... there is no getting around it. Whether it's sold in the wards or put up for auction, it's a sad reality. All SE can do is try to minimize the impact.

This sort of system would require:
a) barriers to prevent commodities from flooding an auction system
A high listing cost, and absence of "buy it now" option may be sufficient here.
b) Some sort of anti-sniping measure
Perhaps an autoextension of the bidding whenever a new bid is placed, of perhaps 12 hours. And further allow the seller to actively end the auction, taking the highest current bid, so that auctions don't go on indefinitely.

My $0.02