Retainer system just...there isn't space

[Arcell]

Allowing all 3 city markets to be accessed from the same search menu would be nice, however it would only be a temporary fix. What happens come 2.0 and we still don't have an AH? It'll fill up even if they merge the 3 city wards.

At launch I was all for the market wards system and keeping it while improving it. However because such caps exist on how many retainers can be in the wards at any given time, this issue will come up again no matter what they do. It wasn't a bad idea however there are limitations that will simply always be an issue.

[viion]

One solution would be to kick empty retainers, sure you could put a 999m item on it, but many people dont, and until those people go back to the retainers then it can sit there with nothing selling forever, annoying when people end up "stop playing the game" for a while.

Or put in week resets. Or timers, give retainers maximum of 3 days until they depop, you reset it by going back to them and talking.

Dont need to do much, if only a handful can get depopped on a regular basis it would help until 2.0

I spent about 10 days straight trying to get my retainer up on Gungnir (which btw got its access locked for new chars, just shows how busy it is!) and havent been able to, completely given up now.

[TheVedis]

One solution would be to kick empty retainers, sure you could put a 999m item on it, but many people dont, and until those people go back to the retainers then it can sit there with nothing selling forever, annoying when people end up "stop playing the game" for a while.

Or put in week resets. Or timers, give retainers maximum of 3 days until they depop, you reset it by going back to them and talking.

Dont need to do much, if only a handful can get depopped on a regular basis it would help until 2.0

I spent about 10 days straight trying to get my retainer up on Gungnir (which btw got its access locked for new chars, just shows how busy it is!) and havent been able to, completely given up now.

i personaly wouldnt mind seeing a timer on all retainers to keep them up, basicaly, same thing as the stalls but for free and they last a bit longer

[Wolfie]

One solution would be to kick empty retainers, sure you could put a 999m item on it, but many people dont, and until those people go back to the retainers then it can sit there with nothing selling forever, annoying when people end up "stop playing the game" for a while.

This is happening now, and there are a TON of people who put up a random vegetable or item for 999m, myself included.

[Lux_Rayna]

This is happening now, and there are a TON of people who put up a random vegetable or item for 999m, myself included.

Myself included to.

Easy solution is that one person can only have one retainer active in Market Wards at a time. That should drop numbers considerably.

[Arcell]

Myself included to.

Easy solution is that one person can only have one retainer active in Market Wards at a time. That should drop numbers considerably.

That and having a time limit before being kicked would help a bit. That was inactive or barely active players wouldn't be clogging the wards with their retainers.

[Jinko]

I am one of those people who has an item up for 999m also.

The only thing I can think of is if they move retainers to players homes and then when you go to a ward can summon retainers with the specific items you are looking for.

[Geesus]

The thing I find funny is, we need a way to spread out the populace again and having filled MWs & Inns in Ul'Dah I think is SE trying to nudge us to use the other 2 city states. Having a centralized search feature would be nice but then you still have people only congregating in one area... Ul'Dah. The idea was to have 3 nations not one and 2 little holes in a wall to go level up at on occasion.

Nothing else will change with 2.0 around the corner...literally. So we all either figure out a way to bring the other MWs to life or just wait till Sept-Nov PC 2.0.

[Platinumstorm]

The retainer system can work, they just have to make adjustments in 2.0; they've already stated they can't do it in 1.x.

These are some adjustment suggestions:

Interconnect the cities via a real auction house system that you can type in the item you're looking for without just having to search through the ward categories. Also interconnect retainers from personal housing and guild housing with this system as well. Add great customization options to personal market presentations.

Organizing the market wards:
Increase the size of the market wards, but only allow players to place retainers in stalls. Add system that creates market wards as needed, and make sure that players can easily choose the ward their retainer is in, so that if a player has a retainer in Tanner's ward 57, Tanner's ward 57 is highlighted and easily accessible for that player. Players should be encouraged to move their retainer to their personal housing so they can do their own storefront in their house.

Changes to retainers:
Currently retainers can only sell 10 items on the bazaar at one time. This protects and hurts the seller, but also does the same for the customer. Changes should be made that prevent people from flooding a market, but also to increase diversity among the items sold. Perhaps limiting players from making more than 5 stacks of an item on a retainer, but up to 20-30 bazaar items could alleviate this issue. So if a player had 6 elm canes and 4995 warped arrows then the player could post 5 elm canes and all 4995 arrows on his retainer. This prevents market flooding, but also allows sellers to craft for more level ranges with an increase in the bazaar cap.

[Wevlum]

Took me 3 days to get a space for 1 of my retainers in wards so yeah I do the 999mil trick too.

Also Ul inns are broken because...something...servers...something...limitations...something, not to nudge us away although that is a funny theory.

There are reasons why everyone is clustered in Ul and it's not entirely fair to just blame the community. Ul is where all shouts take place (unless we get a way of checking Ul shouts in other cities I don't see this changing), Ul is closest to Ifrit for cheaper teleport costs, and everyone hangs around in Ul so people are going to use wards in Ul since they want their things to sell (I don't see this changing unless we can start 'internet shopping' at other cities). Hubbing always happens but SE can take steps to allow us to get the benefits of hubbing without taking up space in the hub city. (Hub doesn't look like a word anymore.)

I do find it hilarious though that lore-wise Ul'duh is the money obsessed state and that's where all transactions are taking place.