Why are we getting more retainers?

[C-croft]

But the problem is they do take up space - on the server. Usually when MMO players complain about space and suggest alternatives to banks like house storage they forget that it has to be stored somewhere. The issue isn't one of game limitations but server storage. yeah, storage for one player might only take a 250KB (made up) but when you have 10,000 players omline and you have another 50,000 players characters stored that don't log in it adds up. The system in GW2 is account wide remember so it's easier to store the items since all character will share it. If we had a crafting bank in FF then we would have up to 8 of those. That would be immense storage requirements.

From an RP perspective I love the retainer system but having multiple retainers just feels clunky; it's also not easy to switch between them. We have different inventories and market slots for each. Now I've had the issue that I've sold all the stuff on my first retainer but I have nothing left to sell in it's inventory. My second retainer has a full market list and has 50 items left in their inventory left too sell. So what I have to do is move the stuff into my own inventory, let's hope I have space, and then place it into my other retainers inventory. I think we just need one retainer with the storage and market slots of two.

I think the issue is with this is how the system was coded, perhaps it uses the same code as 1.0, and when it was designed it wasn't though that we'd need more space. The easier solution is now just to give us a third retainer to switch to. More item juggling. /sigh

It's early on in the games life so this needs to be looked at and fixed. If stuff like this isn't fixed then we'll end up with 10 retainers years down the line and that's not practical.

The space taken for three retainers is about the same as two larger or even one even larger retainer. The volume isn't as much an issue as the amount of resources it requires to pull one larger inventory table up as opposed to three separate smaller inventory tables. I agree switching between more than one retainer is a pain and we should be sent back to the initial choice of which retainer to access, but increasing the retainer's inventory is actually a worse solution.

[Zfz]

Most likely because expanding retainer storage means fragmentation in the database, so while it's easy to expand it, it means the game needs to be offline for longer to convert everyone's retainers into the new storage domain, which may cause irrepairable damage if the expansion routine has a bug. So in the end they chose to extend the current system ("don't fix it if it's not broken") instead of modifying the system.

Also, sorting retainers consume less server resources if each time you only sort 100 slots instead of 300 slots.

I'm very unhappy with the split retainer design, but I can live with it.

[Zumi]

Yes, we are getting an additional retainer in the patch.

Link to this? I didn't see any patch notes.

[Kirosuu]

Link to this? I didn't see any patch notes.

not this patch..future patch
yoship already said about it in previous live letter

[Zumi]

not this patch..future patch
yoship already said about it in previous live letter

Link to the letter then because this is the first I heard of it.

[Xieveral]

4) less issue to deal with the delivery tax they have for buying from retainers in other city-states.

I have only seen the tax discount once and that was during open beta. Ever since, I have seen it at the normal rate for every city. What is it that affects tax rate? I have heard that it depends on the number of retainers dispatched to a city.

[Gardes]

Where is this mentioned? I didnt see it on the lodestone, the dev blog or the dev post tracker.

Is it from the Japanese side? How late are we? Are the community rep *gasp* slacking?

[Lyrinn]

A third retainer? Does that mean I get to ruin 20 more markets?

[Erendis]

I have only seen the tax discount once and that was during open beta. Ever since, I have seen it at the normal rate for every city. What is it that affects tax rate? I have heard that it depends on the number of retainers dispatched to a city.

I have seen tax reduced to 3 % in Limsa Lominsa a few times after release, however it has been a while.

[Deifact]

Yay we can flood the market with more crap no one will ever buy!