Market Area Improvements discussion

[Asiaine]

The devs said in the past with current system they can't combine all the markets so we can't access one market to do all but I think this patch is temporary fix they found that works till 2.0. I think they tried their best for us on this one.

I think they found a happy-medium.
They did not combine all the markets into one seamless view, however, they made it possible to view each of the markets from each of the city. You may have to do three different searches to find something, but you can at least do it from one location.

I actually think that is perfectly fine, and slightly more realistic than full merge.

(If I am understanding the notes right).

[Lurex]

Nah, the problem with the huge player concentration in Ul'dah is that there is no "central", non-starter city for everyone to flock to like Jeuno or Aht Urghan in XI. It's gonna take an unaligned, centralized city to get a lot of people out of Ul'dah.

Depending on multiple airship routes, Ishgard should become the new hangout for everyone, especially if it's going to have it's own Aetheryte plaza.

What does it matter, if people flock to Uldah, Ishgard or wherever. The problem remains, until it is addressed. Also when is Ishgard due to open. I've been waiting for this for what, 2 years?

[Jinko]

This is great news, hopefully they continue to add features in 1.23 such as filtering and sorting by name/level etc.

Good work SE !

I'll be moving to Gridania permanently.

Nice

but i predict people will still complain cuz people dont want to buy from grid/LL now cuz they will get taxed for use of the item search menu....

cuz you know, there always has to be something to complain about

I would be interested to know how many people even bother running to the retainer to get their item any more, I haven't for a long time. (its not like gil is rare in this game)

[Radav]

Ok, so we're going to be able to search all 3 cities from 1 location? If so PRAISE THE GODS! This patch can't get here soon enough.

I hope that this entire server mess has caused the current group to rethink the use of retainers completely. Give us an Auction House! It has to be so much easier to set that up then this ridiculous mess that is the retainer and ward system.

[rickalk]

Very nice. However there is still one big thing missing to make people leave ul'dah, and that's a world global chat channel.
Hope SE is aware of this and working on it..

[Arcell]

nope, the tax is for using the item search, its still the lazy man tax
if you care that much about your gil and you find the item cheaper in another city you want...nothing stops you from running or teleporting there and buying it directly just like you do in uldah

That and the game does need gil sinks, this one just happens to be avoidable.

Honestly I think people will start moving away from Ul'dah a bit and with it hopefully they'll also start using the party search feature. It won't force people out of Ul'dah but it also doesn't force them to go there for the only market ward that matters. Also people will start switching over to selling in Limsa and Grid if only for the space.

[Cendres]

This is wonderful! A much needed improvement and great to see it's going in already!

[Hulan]

Nice

but i predict people will still complain cuz people dont want to buy from grid/LL now cuz they will get taxed for use of the item search menu....

cuz you know, there always has to be something to complain about

Actually, if I were to play Nostradamus, I would predict that the real nightmare will descend when people realize that this will be slightly less convenient, since you have to zone to use the search menu now; and again if you want to use a different city's search. Personally, I don't feel like it's a huge inconvenience - and worth it for the huge benefits we are getting out of it - but I can see where this is going a mile off.

[Jinko]

since you have to zone to use the search menu now; and again if you want to use a different cities search.

I hope its more like 3 NPC's in one zone, it's pretty simple to link information to an NPC interface without changing zones.

Part the reason they are moving the search to a zone is to speed the transaction process when buying from the Menu, you will notice now how much faster it is to buy within a ward than at the entrance.

[Hulan]

I hope its more like 3 NPC's in one zone, it's pretty simple to link information to an NPC interface without changing zones.

Part the reason they are moving the search to a zone is to speed the transaction process when buying from the Menu, you will notice now how much faster it is to buy within a ward than at the entrance.

Yep, I have grasped the reasons and benefits myself, and am greatly looking forward to this change. Unfortunately, if you will re-read the notice, it is unclear but it does say:

The following locations will be added to each city’s market area:
Limsa Lominsa Mercantile House
Gridania Mercantile House
Ul’dah Mercantile House

Which is the same verbage they used when describing the changes they made when they split up the original Market Wards. I'm fairly confident the smart money is on each search being in a different Market Ward area.