Questioning Retainers

[Koreos]

I am sure I am not the only one that thinks retainers are an obstacle to inventory management, crafting and to the auction house. Yes, although I am sure we all love the idea of retainers, I think they could be so much more.

- Retainers make us go out of the way and micro-manage 14 individual bags across 2 retainers with no way to quickly sort or find what you need.
- Retainers are the only ones that can sell things on the AH, even if you are at a market board.
- The process of using them to store/retrieve/sell/sort items is extremely cumbersome.

I honestly think that FFXIV should either re consider the purpose of Retainers in the game, or simply scratch them for a more straight-forward inventory management system.

These are a few things that I believe would make Retainers a viable inventory management option:

- Being able to call them anywhere, anytime
- Being able to craft from their bags
- Having just one retainer with a lot of space, or being able to easily categorize, search and find items across different retainers
- Assist you with purchases at the AH (buy orders)

Honestly, the idea of Retainers goes extremely well with a system that is already in the game: Companions. Have Retainers be companions that can level up, like mentioned here: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...tem-Discussion. However, instead of being a battle-based companion, is a storage and crafting companion.

I really hope I am not alone in wishing Retainers would add to the game's experience, and not to detract from it.

[Garhauk]

I second this. I especially like the idea of crafting from retainer inventory. And you really need to be able to view market boards and have access to retainers without having to run back and forth.

[rabbitzero]

I especially like the idea of crafting from retainer inventory.

I'd love this. In fact, every game that lets you do this (bank or whatever) gets huge props from me. especially with so many mats that don't make it clear what craft they are used for. Granted, this is still miles better than it was when i played in 1.0, especially with buying or selling.