Market Ward concept has failed

[Haibel]

You do realize that's how it has been since the beginning...right? That is, of course, disregarding the early ward crashes and all.

BAWHAHAHA!!!! I about fell over after that one. Good post man.

[Ratm3000]

The Market Wards current system fails in so many ways that I think its time for the Auction House to be release...and while you at it some type of house or FFXI like Mog House. Please SE stop stacking all zones for Missions/Companies onto the same zone Market Wards actually create its own place or at least create elevators of actual existence. I find it lazy and cheap...that keep repeating...don't get me started on the new raid armor...lazy and just changing colors. I get it your busy fixing other things but sometimes I find it stupid to be adding the hide weapon future or the "awesome" 3D fonts that blind me when someone joins the party or even more fun drops the party because they disconnect because of poor servers, especially in raids.

[Viciouspixie]

I feel I have to add to this post, since the lack of an AH is a game maker or breaker for myself.

I stopped playing the game last year about 2-3 months after it came out after purchasing the collectors edition.

The market ward was one of the main frustrating reasons of why I left this game because frankly, when I log into play after a long day of work, I want to be able to relax and enjoy myself with the couple of hours I have to play before I pass out drooling on my keyboard from exhaustion. I do not want to waste 1hr out of those 2 that I have, searching through a market place.

After loggin in today I see some attempt has been made to make the market ward more user friendly, however it's still time consuming and misses the core point. I appreciate the developers trying to be unique and integrate story line with function however there is a reason why every single successful MMORPG has an AH. People want to spend time playing and having fun instead of wasting it on a market ward.

Please, admit to the fact that this concept has not worked and provide a functional AH for people. Leave the two in place in tandem and you'll see how many people will still bother with the use of a retainer when an AH is made available to them.

I can't see myself coming back to this game or letting my friends know it's okay to play without this feature. I will most likely cancel the account again for a few months or just not log in.

[HunkaMunka]

Monkeysnarf

The market ward would be just fine if you could actually avoid wasting time and lag and buy and sell stuff from the item look-up counter...

THIS!!!

Talk about a simple and elegant solution...maybe not for every issue, but certainly for the majority of them.

Yes, yes, it's basically an AH at that point, but isn't that the point?

Keep what we have, and add this on top. For those who want to go wander through the mall and actually see what they're buying, go to it; and for those who want it quick and dirty, done and done.

Also, +2 to Ivy re: details about rate of sales and limiting the number of items for sale.

For one, listing the prices that other retainers are selling items for is not helpful for the seller (though it's wonderful for the buyers). The FFXI system of showing the last couple of sell prices is a much better system because 1) it tells the seller how often the item actually sells and 2) it limits crazy undercutting.

While I disagree with your conclusion under #2, I wholeheartedly agree with #1.

I disagree with #2 because undercutting was rampant on Ramuh in XI. When buying, I would always start well under the most recent price; and when selling, I would ALWAYS undercut, even if only by 2 gil, just to get the next sale, because I want my mfing money!!!

I also liked the 7 item limit for the FFXI auction house. While putting Mistletoe onto my retainer, someone else was selling 56 of them. Should I even bother with my measly 2? I guess I could put them on for 100 gill less and try to undercut, but that's only good until someone else undercuts me, which is easy to do in this current system. If we limit the number of items to sell to a small number, people will be selective about what they put up for sell and we won't have hundreds of the same item up for sale.

THIS THIS THIS!!! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Brilliant! Couldn't have said it better.

[BlaiseLallaise]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Ditching the MW for an AH is not the answer. Most of the arguments I see for implementing an AH are at the very least related to the ability to instant-buy without physically walking to a retainer. This can be solved without a complete rework of the system we have.

For the record, I am not against an instant-buy feature. I actually think it would make a good addition to the current MW system. The implementation of it has to be just right, though. Picture this: When you go to the MW, the choice to go to the item search counter sends you to another smaller instance of a ward, where you see actual counters with actual NPCs to interact with. These NPCs would act just like the item search counter currently, except with the option to buy on the spot. Why put them in another ward instance? Well, for realism, honestly.

Now here's the catch. Just putting in a feature like this sight unseen would remove any incentive to 'window shop' except for those who really enjoy that. This would be an easier in & out feature that would threaten to completely throw the current method of shopping into obsolescence. Now, some of you may think that's a good thing, but many do not, so let's not sacrifice that on the altar of convenience just yet. To balance things out a little, I would propose a transaction fee for every item bought at this new counter. What you would gain in time saved should be countered with a fee or some other method. Something like this would essentially be an AH for those who want it, but preserve the fundamentals of the MW system for those who want that. Those who like to window shop, or wish to avoid a fee, can still go to the retainers instead of purchasing the item at the search counter.

Would such a compromise be acceptable to the pro-AH community?