Quote Originally Posted by Allistar View Post
I think people are so hung up on an AH that they fail to see that markets are nothing like an AH or meant to operate like an AH. Basically you go see what items you want and either pay what the seller is asking or you find another seller who offers the item you want at the price you want. Think of it like a flee market or a garage sale...everyone has something to sell and they all sell what they want at the prices they choose...what you see is what you get if you so choose...and I think its a good idea the way its set up...now the UI lag and all the other stuff that makes operating in the market wards harder than dodging Ifrits plumes...well thats another story.
An auction house works the same way as the retainer system...they are just presented differently, and the retainer presentation simply DOES NOT WORK. In an AH system you can still post items for whatever price you want....the item will either not sell because theres too many of them up for cheaper,or someone will get desperate and buy yours for the higher price because there arent any others besides yours. The same thing happens with the retainer/market wards system....people will buy all the cheap ones first,and then when the only stuff left is the people making up their own prices,then that stuff will get bought. The whole point here is to have a central location to put things up for sale on......having to go to the wards, do price research, then call your retainer from the bell, trade your stuff to it, then set it up in their bazaar for whatever price and finally fight with the population to dispatch it to a busy enough floor in the wards that your stuff has a decent chance of being looked at is an overly complex and rather rediculous mess of crap that needs to be done away with hands washed of.