[dev1019] Examination of an auction house system

[Meenkieblade]

Personally, I think the latest update on the Market Wards solved the majority of the problems I was having.

I can now find the items I want without spending days running around hopping I get lucky.

I only have two problems;
1) There's not a sort feature for armor by level, stats, etc. within a search page.
For example;
If I'm looking for good leg armor, it's hard to figure out what is better for me without scrolling up and down the page listing every leg armor.

2) Most of the wards make sense now....but only 3 separate wards for most of the armor groups makes it hard to track down what level range lays in which ward.



Personally, I'd like to avoid an AH if at all possible.

To my knowledge, a main reason against an AH is the fact that RMT can 'read' it, get character's names, then spam them in /tell. This got annoying when I played FFXI, and I know it really gets to some people.

Another is the fact that inflation of the high-demand items will skyrocket. Right now, everyone lowballs everything a bit because it's hard to figure out how much gil is a lot gil. With the wards system, there's nearly always someone selling something cheaper than someone else and if you're quick you can get a bargain!

[Lusavari]

I stick to what I've said the whole time, it's best in a way to have both. Though admittedly the most recent updates have dramatically alleviated a lot of issues. At this point though, it's hard to really scream we need the dedicated AH anymore. It'd be nice to have, but a lot of items are just as easily found in the wards now. The one thing I can say is you don't have to compete for space as much. The Ul'Dah Rows often will tell you the area is to full to summon anymore in some parts. I would like to see something like a history added to the wards though so I can have an idea how to do my pricing. But then again, many people claim that caused problems in XI. Of course here, the pricing is public, which is nice as well.

The thing with the RMT, they don't need the AH to spam tells to you. They just had a bot run alphabetically down the search list.

[Yuuki_Talamara]

I honestly don't see a point in having an ah anymore either. the current system has taken away the ever rolanmart feel of things. But what i do miss is a mail box. as a person playing a crafter on one and a melee gatherer on the other, this is sorely missed and needed.

[Reika]

If we have both, I will never look at the AH. I hated FFXI's "Guess the price" AH. Market wards are A-OK.

[Lusavari]

We need a house for a Delivery box though. Which we totally need already.

[Reika]

I do miss the mog house...

[AngryNixon]

We need a house for a Delivery box though. Which we totally need already.

In short and not to be rude or intentionally terse: No you do not.

See: Aion for one because this early in the morning it's the one that's coming to mind.

You send/receive from a free standing mailbox in town. It's perfectly plausible to do it that way without having to go to the extent of tying in a much larger issue like personal housing.

That said, and on a broader note, I think that same solution is plausible for an AH system where you post your items and receive items that did not sell or your profits from the same kiosk.

The possibility of creating systems that are independent of a mail system, however, does not excuse the absence of a mail system in this game.

problem #1 with the wards is that they aren't global

I'm always in favour of any in game market system that ends up with a global market solution accessible from each of the major cities.

[Yuuichi]

Hmm no AH is what some people are saying all I have to say is why do you even like the current system.

Number 1: Wards crash, then there's NOTHING there granted it gives people the chance to try to over price stuff and sell it.

Number 2: I honestly would love to have a global market instead of having to tele/run from town to town to look for something.

Number 3: Yes there's a Limit to how many retainers can be in each ward, 1) I can understand why there's a limit too many would bog down server and make it release speed to load the retainers lol. 2) As someone else stated and am merely saying it again, the player base is small, IF the player base does not grow then I guess it works, but with how many players we have now, certain wards get full... and that's with a LOT less players then we hope to have.

On a side note, honestly RMT's if they wanna spam you tells, they'll find a way, AH makes things easier they can use the extra data saved from the wards and put it towards a Mog House which would be nice, and finally I agree with the old auction house system being a bust, it had it's "uses" for those who were too lazy to put a price and getting a emp pin for 1 gil, but on a side note, I can't believe I'm saying this but WoW's AH isn't have bad, there's a buy out option and a bid option, kinda like ebay, not a bad thought in taking what's good and making it better for basic stuff like that.

[Rjain]

I don't really think an auction house is necessary right now. Market wards are fine with a few more adjustments.

[Fensfield]

Ditto.

I'd much, much prefer continued development of the wards concept. RMT benefits already discussed aside... I just prefer them. It feels like wandering around a market, when you just browse around, and yet as is you can still go shooting off after whatever it is you need if you want to be quick about things. I've never had bother with them, not really, and especially not since the more recent changes.

That aside, Auction Houses for me have always been annoyingly.. difficult to suspend disbelief on, especially when they're worldwide and instantaneous, which also takes a lot of the fun out of travelling around.

And beyond that, I always wanted to play a travelling merchant type role. I know the Market Wards don't much support that, but they're a damn-sight less of an impediment to the idea than an Auction house system would be.

Right now what I'd like for the wards is for them to be developed into a more believable market-place, rather than the disorganised jumble of loitering NPCs they currently are.. thus enhancing the 'shopping experience' aspect of the system >.>