Buy Order System

[Chonobaatar]

Hello!

I would like to propose a system for trading in-game, that is in many modern games today. It is the Buy Order System.

This is where a Player would go to the market (or maybe their retainer) and create an order to purchase materials or items for a set price, with a set quantity. Then other Players with those items may deposit them to the buy order and get paid immediately for fulfilling whatever quantity they can bring.

The buy order would stay in place until it is met (or cancelled by the player). A deposit will be taken immediately from the player who places the buy order. This will ensure that both parties are satisfied with the transaction and cannot back out of it half way.

I believe this should be limited to retainers, so people cannot spam ridiculous buy orders, like buying 1000 miniature aetherytes for 1gill each 100 times. 1 retainer = 1 buy order.

[Emitans]

Guild Wars 2 has this and it's so convenient. I'd love the market boards to be improved.

[Hyperia]

This is a core part of adventuring in any fantasy story, this is usually handled by the adventurer guild. Put the order request board in the adventurer guild area or add or replace the leve NPC with an order request NPC.

[Vespar]

Wouldnt it be far easier to implement a system that allows players to buy a set quantity of materials that are being sold on the market board already without buying the entire stack?
Not that an ordering system isn't a cool idea. Often times we only need 5 or 10 of something but the only amount available on the market board is a quantity of 99.
I've wondered why this hasn't been a feature from day one, it would help both buyer and seller move goods more effectively.

[Themarvin]

Go Star Wars Galaxies way... all this modern crap is crap.

[DPZ2]

GW2's buy-order system isn't flawless. It encourages constant 1-copper bid wars, ties up player currency in outstanding orders, and makes market manipulation and speculation much easier for dedicated traders. It's great for efficiency, but that doesn't automatically mean it's the best fit for FFXIV's economy.

One thing people often overlook is that adding buy orders would make the market board more efficient, but it would also make it more financialized. The optimal way to make gil would increasingly shift toward analyzing markets, maintaining orders, and playing trader rather than crafting, gathering, or actually playing the rest of the game. That's not necessarily bad, but it's a major design change that would benefit some players while making others feel pressured to engage in market PvP if they want to stay competitive.

Another important difference is that GW2's buy-order system exists alongside a game-wide Trading Post. A centralized market dramatically increases liquidity and convenience, but it also concentrates economic power. Large traders, automated tools, and dedicated market players can operate against the entire player population at once rather than being limited to a single world or data center. The result is often a more efficient market, but also one that's more vulnerable to speculation, buyout strategies, and aggressive order management.

FFXIV's fragmented markets may be less efficient, but they also act as a natural brake on players attempting to dominate the economy. A trader can influence a single world's market, but influencing an entire region is far more difficult. If FFXIV were to adopt buy orders, comparisons to GW2 should also include the impact of its centralized Trading Post, since the two systems are closely tied together.

[CCheshire]

Wouldnt it be far easier to implement a system that allows players to buy a set quantity of materials that are being sold on the market board already without buying the entire stack?
Not that an ordering system isn't a cool idea. Often times we only need 5 or 10 of something but the only amount available on the market board is a quantity of 99.
I've wondered why this hasn't been a feature from day one, it would help both buyer and seller move goods more effectively.

Because as a small-time trader that I often list tons of stacks of mats for a lower price overall and it's one way many others make gil or I can split them into batches if it's an expensive item and you need only a few of them. If I only need a small amount of X mat, then I will world hop or DC visit until I can find a lower price for it or I will buy the entire stack of them then re-sell the extra.

Also, yeah, I can see this would allow a few hardcore traders to control an entire region, which would drive down competition in-game, which isn't great for everyone else like imagine we can have 2-3 folks control all of NA's DC markets and it would be rough too.

[DiaDeem]

Don't threat me with a good time. I'd make two or three of these my actual dailies.

[Kranel_San]

GW2's buy-order system isn't flawless. It encourages constant 1-copper bid wars, ties up player currency in outstanding orders, and makes market manipulation and speculation much easier for dedicated traders. It's great for efficiency, but that doesn't automatically mean it's the best fit for FFXIV's economy.

So.... nothing different than what's happening in-game right now.

[Veritas-Ancora]

I wouldn't mind this.