Market Wards vs AH

[Kiroh]

Market Ward: Pick Ward -> Pick item/compare price -> Walk to item -> Buy item

Real world: Pick shop -> Pick item/compare price -> Walk to item -> Buy item

Just like in RL you can easily "go on a mission" with Market Wards.

And just like RL, I don't like shopping in FFXIV. I don't see why they would add something that half the population has to grudge their way through tolerating. I've never heard anyone complain that an AH was inconvenient or wasted their time, I've heard plenty of people say that about the market wards.

[Warp]

An impulse purchase is by definition something you weren't looking for, and that just appeared in front of your eyes and you bought.
An AH has no "windows shopping" system, so by-definition impulse purchases aren't part of the concept. You cannot just walk around an AH. You have to make an active search effort in order to have items offered to you.
That's not what an impulse purchase is.

And you have to endure lists loading with an AH.

You CAN make an impulse purchase from a list. Especially if it has a sort feature. You see something you haven't seen, you buy... how is this any different? Also, it's somewhat difficult making an impulse buy when retainers load up slowly.. or not at all.

As far as list loading taking longer than a computer loading up a zone... give me a break. You're totally incorrect with that one.

[Abriael]

You CAN make an impulse purchase from a list.

You need to make an active search action in order to bring up the list. No matter how you sort it. Again, that's not an impulse purchase. It's an aimed purchase.

Also, seeing an item on a list is much less conductive to an impulse purchase than seeing the actual item right in front of you, worn by a model.

basic marketing.

[Argh]

there needs to be an AH for the economy to have a fighting chance. the AH creates a centralized hub for players to gather around in and socialize along with engaging in commerce easliy.

the current market wards are turning into an AH already with their search features being added. it is just a mistake continuing updating the wards when the manpower would be better spend inserting auction houses.

[Amsai]

@Abriael
You completely missed the point. I wasn't trying to make a direct comparison of the process. I was showing that I want the process to be fast and efficient. Is the market ward fast and efficien? Somewhat. Would an AH be faster? Yes. Lets assume I'm looking for something on the wards, then go to get it, and it takes me all of 3 min. However, If I was using an AH, I could get the same item in 30 seconds or less. I just shaved off 2.5 mins from my shopping experience and in an MMO where everything can take time, thats 2.5 mins I can now spend doing something else. Does that 2.5 mins matter to me? ABSOLUTELY!

[Verecund]

The Retainer system and the standard AH system both have their benefits.

The AH employs a simple approach to selling, buying, shopping, etc., requiring a minimal amount of steps to perform mundane functions.

The Retainer system is more robust in that retainers can hold items (acting as a sort've Bank) as well as sell them on the Bazaar. Additional functionality can also be added in the future as well.

Ultimately, the Retainer system is not nearly as efficient as an economy driven by an AH system, simply because employing a retainer requires about 5 times as many steps. First, you have to give the retainer your items to hold, then jump into another menu and designate which of those items you want to sell (though I don't think this would be an issue if the UI wasn't still.....so......laggy...). Lastly (and most important), in order to buy from retainers you have to actually be right next to them, whereas in an AH system you can purchase from any major city as long as its economy is connected to the other cities.

And herein lies the true MAJOR flaw of the retainer system: The Retainer system is inherently a collection of closed economies. Because of this fact, the heart of the economy will now slowly start to favor one city over another. Although this sandbox possibility sounds good on paper, it is absolutely awful for both players and the developpers because it ultimately results in alot of content being thrown away.

This effect is easily seen when you examine the progression of the city-state populations in the game, and how they have evolved over time. When I started playing (around December), I began in Gridania, the zone which seemed the most interesting to me. At the time, it wasn't exactly a bustling metropolis, but you could still find maybe 20-40 people hanging out in the city at the same time. However, over time this number became almost 0 as players began flocking to Uld'ah... Why? Because Uld'ah had become the extreme center of the world's economy, since it had the easiest leveling content (Coblyns) as well as the most ideal position of the three city-states. Consequently, there is now really no reason, outside of filling out guildleves or picking up guild quests, to even go to Gridania. Over time I have also began to see this happen to Limsa Lominsa as well (on a slightly less accelerated scale).

[zaviermhigo]

My view on the XI style AH and the XIV style wards is.......I hate malls, I hate going to them, I hate browsing stores while standing up for countless hours while peoples ill-raised kids run wild- this is kind of what the Market Wards resembled when the game came out, it has gotten better.

IMHO, I would rather sit down on the internet and spend 30 or so minutes comparing prices and then have it shipped to me, maybe I'm lazy.

The search function to the wards made them better but I still spend a ridiculous amount of time in them trying to get everything I need for a synthesis. In a game designed around being able to hop on quickly and do something, the market wards is an obstacle to this.

[sasukeuchiha]

Auction how is way better always will be because its faster. If i wanted to shop like i do in rl i would go shoping in rl. The faster the better in my eyes. I refuse to deal with constant loading and cluter of the ward system were no one will sell there stuff in the right ward making even more time consuming then forcing people to put things in the right ward. If this game got more popular there would just be more wards longer load times more items were they shouldnt be that stupid. Ah all the way.

[Abriael]

@Abriael
You completely missed the point. I wasn't trying to make a direct comparison of the process. I was showing that I want the process to be fast and efficient. Is the market ward fast and efficien? Somewhat. Would an AH be faster? Yes. Lets assume I'm looking for something on the wards, then go to get it, and it takes me all of 3 min. However, If I was using an AH, I could get the same item in 30 seconds or less. I just shaved off 2.5 mins from my shopping experience and in an MMO where everything can take time, thats 2.5 mins I can now spend doing something else. Does that 2.5 mins matter to me? ABSOLUTELY!

Since you've mentioned efficence, let's talk about efficence.

Market wards serve their purpose, you can get every item you need in acceptable times. Even faster the more features and search improvement are implemented, because let us say is clearly, there's NO feature included in any AH that can't be implemented in the market wards system.

Market wards are already implemented. They already have an engine, and any function that's to be added to them can be programmed on top of a solid base.

On the other hand, an AH may be (for some) somewhat faster. Maybe you gain 30 seconds with them. if you're lucky. They don't exist in the game, and they would have to be programmed in from scratch. Every single function and feature.

This game needs a lot of work, in a lot of fields. Quests, Solo content, Guild content, transportation, battle system, server-side optimization, UI optimization... I could go on for several lines.

Now, I'd much rather see them dedicate all the development resources to URGENT changes and additions listed above, improving my overall enjoyment of the game and giving me a lot more things to do, than to replace a system that's NOT broken with a completely different and new one that would make me save 30 seconds. Especially when those 30 seconds can be saved anyway by improving the existing system little by little with new features.

This is what I call efficency.

The implementation of an AH (just because some people can't fathom the sole possibility that alternative methods to the familiar ones can ultimately work just as well) would be mostly redundant.
Using precious development resources/time, in a game that requires a LOT of work (IE: a lot of resources/time) across the board, to implement a redundant system is *not* what I call efficent.

People demanding the implementation of an AH simply have no idea of the concept of "priorities" and would need a big injection of the concept of "realism".

[Maat]

I also agree that the market ward function can prove to be much more rewarding than AH if it was refined just a little bit more... If you have ever played Phantasy Star Universe there market ward system was superior and I had much more fun and ease looking through items .. I think SE should really look at How Phantasy Star Universe and other RPG's have this type of trade system set up.