Quote Originally Posted by Rentahamster View Post
Yes, I know we had MUDs before.


You made my point right there. Graphics have a direct influence on the impact of battle. All things being equal, better graphics means a better battle experience.

Graphics do NOT have a direct influence on the impact of trading. At the end of the day, I'm still only exchanging goods. It's the exact same transaction in a MUD as it is in a contemporary MMO.

If FF14 can leverage its graphics to enhance the trading process, then great. However, as we all can see, integrating the graphics engine into the main driver of economic transaction is a liability since the failings of the game engine impact the trading process directly. So far, this endeavor has only hurt FF14 rather than help it.

Forcing a buggy, unstable NPC to act as my middleman isn't working.

Forcing a bug-free, stable NPC to act as my middleman would be fine, but we STILL haven't reached that point yet despite 5 years of development and near 8 months of post-launch waiting.
Not to mention that the primary purpose of Market Wards (or any in game trading system) is not to provide something visually stunning, it's to facilitate trading between players, and as is evident, adding complex graphics to that DETRACTS from its purpose.