Market Wards, enough is enough

[Rentahamster]

What is the Market Ward without NPCs?
I'm having trouble visualizing this and not calling it the "common" AH.

That's the point. Currently, the MW's reliance on NPC retainers is more of a liability than a benefit. Fixing it requires much more overhauls to game engine efficiency and server optimization. If I were in charge, this is what I would do;

Temporarily remove the ward aspect of the market ward system, but keep the retainers as storage and bazaar.

Have all buying and selling be done through the item search interface menu. (this should not take long since they don't have to deal with NPC overcrowding anymore)

Fix the underlying game engine and server problems so that the game can sustain a single area full of NPC retainers.

Reintroduce the "ward" concept and reintroduce retainer bazaars along with features such as custom stalls, advertising, etc.

Side note: you may want to read my market stall suggestions in my gil sink thread for more insight.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/11434-DevTalk-GIL-SINKS!-Ideas-to-Stabilize-the-Economy-and-Curb-Inflation

[Shai]

That's the point. Currently, the MW's reliance on NPC retainers is more of a liability than a benefit. Fixing it requires much more overhauls to game engine efficiency and server optimization. If I were in charge, this is what I would do;

Temporarily remove the ward aspect of the market ward system, but keep the retainers as storage and bazaar.

Have all buying and selling be done through the item search interface menu. (this should not take long since they don't have to deal with NPC overcrowding anymore)

Fix the underlying game engine and server problems so that the game can sustain a single area full of NPC retainers.

Reintroduce the "ward" concept and reintroduce retainer bazaars along with features such as custom stalls, advertising, etc.

Side note: you may want to read my market stall suggestions in my gil sink thread for more insight.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/11434-DevTalk-GIL-SINKS!-Ideas-to-Stabilize-the-Economy-and-Curb-Inflation

Enter a bot that buys low and sells high ad infinitum and YAY! No more worrisome crafting.

At least in the current system any one trying to control product distribution has to actually move around and be at their position (and ideally, 1 per city if all Wards were being used). This will make it much easier. Hey, it's going to happen anyway, why make them work for it.

[Rentahamster]

Enter a bot that buys low and sells high ad infinitum and YAY! No more worrisome crafting.

A bot that can do that along with containing critical market analysis algorithms that are accurate aren't that easy to make. A slight mess up in the algorithm and they end up not selling their product.

With a comprehensive price history, this sort of behavior can be easily seen by players, and those who are trying to game the system are easily identified.

As long as there are enough real players in the system, they should be able to even out any aberrations in real market value caused by bots.

Having the ability to place buy orders allows you to get direct access to sellers, should they wish to sell directly to you and not the bot.