Quote Originally Posted by Kaedan View Post
Sure, just a few:

-The current system allows the opportunity to sell additional items to the buyer. Example: Buyer is looking for a Potion. He searches and finds cheapest retainer. Visiting that retainer, he also sees that retainer is selling a weapon that would be beneficial to him. So now, instead of just buying one item, he buys two.
This can be replicated with a window/single NPC interface. Instead of "physically" (meaning, moving the character to where this retainer is, and then examining it) browsing the retainer, the buyer in question is presented with a list of available shops/bazaars/retainers/whatevers, and like now, the ones with the item he is looking for are marked appropriately. Upon browsing this shop/bazaar/retainer/whatever, he is given a list of all items sold by it, which includes the weapon. There is no longer a need to change zones if the retainer is in a different ward, the retainer is no longer subject to any penalty for having different item categories for sale, and the whole transaction happens much much faster. Dragonica has something like this; you can browse all player owned shops/bazaars from the menu in any city, and purchase the items remotely. When you search for item X, you are presented with a list of all shops that have item X, and you must then navigate the interface to that specific shop and purchase the item from the shop.

-The current system adds an aspect for roleplay.
This is something subjective and not measurable.

-The current system discourages exploitation and manipulation of the market.
NPCs have nothing to do with it, but rather the way the economy and the purchasing and selling actions happen. All of this can be replicated without using NPCs.

I'm not going to pretend that I'm going to convince you to change your mind... it's quite obvious your opinion differs. BUT, the point is that you cannot make the claim that your idea is objectively better, because that would require that it would be better in all ways for everyone... and that just isn't the case. It's a subjective topic.
I can when the only arguments against it are "but some people LIKE the way it is!" and nothing that is measurable.