Will undercutting be a severe issue once SE launches their FF14 chat/retainer app?

[Skyrior]

I have a slight concern: will undercutting be infinitely exacerbated due to the app allowing access to retainer market board features when it launches? I'd imagine it wouldn't be hard to code a bot to use the app to monitor the retainers and constantly undercut 24/7 while setting a minimum price so the bot doesn't get outmaneuvered by humans.

Edit: Just to clarify I'm not saying undercutting itself is a problem. I'm asking if the app will cause potential bots to undercut every other minute, which I would describe as a severe undercutting cycle. Imagine if two bots undercut each other. That will quickly crash the market into their minimum price that the bot owners decided.

[Kosmos992k]

I have a slight concern: will undercutting be infinitely exacerbated due to the app allowing access to retainer market board features when it launches? I'd imagine it wouldn't be hard to code a bot to use the app to monitor the retainers and constantly undercut 24/7 while setting a minimum price so the bot doesn't get outmaneuvered by humans.

I would imagine that you could code a bot to do the same thing right now with the game as is. I don't see how this app makes that particular problem any more likely to occur than it already is. What this app would do however is give players the ability to respond to that kind of behavior, which currently we lack. For example, I am at work, I can take a moment to write a post, but I cannot be online and playing. But with this app on my phone, I could take a 5 minute break from work, and clear my head while checking my retainers and Market Board items - updating prices as needed.

[Lexia]

Undercutting is already rampant on Balmung server anyways so I probably won't notice anyways. Not sure how other servers MBs are.

[Atlaworks]

Undercutting isn't an issue, it's just business. If you get undercut, undercut back. If it's too much work for you, you don't want that gil bad enough.

Free economy, suckers.

Though, bots using the app is actually a pretty major concern. You bring up a valid point. I'd actually worry about that, myself.

[Kosmos992k]

Undercutting isn't an issue, it's just business. If you get undercut, undercut back. If it's too much work for you, you don't want that gil bad enough.

Free economy, suckers.

Though, bots using the app is actually a pretty major concern. You bring up a valid point. I'd actually worry about that, myself.

Why are you more worried about botting via that app, than botting via the game already? It's not like anything is currently preventing a market board Bot from undercutting if it's developer wanted it to. I mean, we already faced the army of 'bot crafters and sellers, how will it be any worse, or different with this app?

[SomeRandomHuman]

As technology advances so will the hackers. We'll deal with bots until we abandon all technology completely. Aside from a few select servers undercutting is so bad that people undercut by half the going price and sometimes more because they're that stupid. We're dealing with it now and it can only get worse if these bots take over. rip every server's economy.

[Atlaworks]

Why are you more worried about botting via that app, than botting via the game already? It's not like anything is currently preventing a market board Bot from undercutting if it's developer wanted it to. I mean, we already faced the army of 'bot crafters and sellers, how will it be any worse, or different with this app?

I can report those bots.

[Kosmos992k]

I can report those bots.

The crafters perhaps, but you can't report the ones selling items or undercutting you in the market because unlike the crafter's their names are unknown to you, only their retainers - always assuming that they are there. Of course you'll reply that you can report them via their retainers, sure, you can do that if they use the phone app as well, so what is the difference? The point I am making is there already exists a fairly mature botting framework for the PC game. How does this Smart device app which hasn't got that issue, create more of an issue than we already have?

[Atlaworks]

The crafters perhaps, but you can't report the ones selling items or undercutting you in the market - always assuming that they are there. The point I am making is there already exists a fairly mature botting framework for the PC game. How does this Smart device app which hasn't got that issue, create more of an issue than we already have?

Because you can't report those.

Far as I know, on this not-yet-released hypothetical app framework, anyway.

[KisaiTenshi]

Undercutting isn't an issue, it's just business. If you get undercut, undercut back. If it's too much work for you, you don't want that gil bad enough.

Free economy, suckers.

Though, bots using the app is actually a pretty major concern. You bring up a valid point. I'd actually worry about that, myself.

Another game that had an externally browseable market, literately had bots doing this. Unless SE decides to only release it to iOS. (Android will guarantee someone making a bot for this within days.)

Like if I were SE, I'd put an query limiter on a client-sided timer, and anything that attempts to circumvent the limiter just gets their app access revoked for 30 days. I'd imagine that too many rapid adjustments would impair the performance of the market to begin with.