Even without earning XP it would be useful to be able to log in to an alt to check the market of another town and such. Unless the ability to see only what is for sale locally in the AH is off the table or it will list all the prices for an item and where they are being sold globally, this will be a primary use for alts aside from basic crafting. Not to mention zerg recon.
It would seem to me that all the reasons you indicated for wanting non-paid-for alts, are essentially quasi-teleportation workarounds for cheating the naturally-inspired limitations of a physics based world.
Maybe people shouldn't be able to instantly see what is for sale at a local auction house 100 miles away?
-- If they could it would reduce the need for people to actually invest in caravaning, or reduce the value of the knowledge a dedicated trader might have of local markets by actually traveling to them.
Maybe people shouldn't be able to have instant no-danger reconaissance on an enemy bases miles?
-- If they could that would reduce the risk needed to wage war, by allowing people to utilize "drones" to do recon, rather than risking their real character by being in proximity to the enemy, or risking tipping them off of a raid, or plain just being able to stay in optimal striking position by having drone spies everywhere.
Goblinworks Executive Founder
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The advantages of alts would still be possible with multiple subscriptions. Removing the ability to gather market information for free just means that the website with that information has to charge a fee to users to recoup the costs, making the commerce game effectively pay-to-win.
I think that making the AH information available without alts is in the plan but not MVP and low priority.
Goblin Squad Member
|
Valid arguments but if I can go to the local AH and see the prices on everything everyone is selling everywhere (this is what I understand the end goal of the AH is), why shouldn't I be able to instantly see what is for sale at a specific AH 100 miles away?
I'm actually not really that opposed as I dislike the alt scouting but if I can't see what is for sale in a given location without having to click through every single item in the AH looking for what I want I will try to find a way around that as it is crappy design.
A possible solution is giving an option to list all items for sale at a given AH in addition to showing local items? If price data is available globally go ahead make the whole schebang global.
Removing the ability to gather market information for free just means that the website with that information has to charge a fee to users to recoup the costs, making the commerce game effectively pay-to-win.
That isn't realistically going to happen in a useful/effective manner unless GW decides to expose the market data via services or consumable json files, or a consensus of players decide to upload market snapshots or info to a centralized external repository.
Forcing people to choose to organize and volunteer to manually upload market data to an external central database at least requires some effort, and has the potential to be laggy in accuracy.
Alternatively -
Allowing people to have usable alts that they can place at every trade hub basically would allow them access to instantaneous snapshots of market status everywhere. Ever more efficient, I can do this with Eve with a program that scrapes the market json files for each of my characters local file cache, after logging in with each of them sequentially and scanning the local regional market I have them placed.
---
In my opinion, that argument there still makes limiting alts preferable.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I know it's early and all but the AH is nearly unusable as it stands. Finding the items you want is hard enough with the handicapped search function, mouse wheel not scrolling and huge lists in the few filter options currently available. Combined with the fact that I've only ever found items I myself have posted save for a very few other items, and it's very nearly worthless to post items. Not to mention a max of 48 hours is really short given the low turn over right now. Later with more usage it might be ok. I will admit that I'm basing this off of usage of the AH in Ossian's Crossing only as I have been trying to avoid TK due to the lag and glitches. This weekend I will take a run down there and check it out.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
You're also basing your AH experience off the Alpha when their aren't 300+ crafting characters churning out goods at the couple of crafting hubs we already have declared. (AH mechanical functionality aside)
I'm more concerned that the NPC settlements even have auction houses, that will severely decrease the odds of player settlements becoming hubs. I hope that is a temporary thing that will quickly disappear.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I don't mind the auction houses in TK and FI; the settlements closest to those towns are going to take a hit on harvestable materials and expansion room, and I don't begrudge them some trading opportunity advantages in those towns. But all of the little starter towns? I think they could lose their auction houses before EE. This Friday's patch would be soon enough :)
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
A safe and secure NPC AH location already has a significant leg up on any player settlement offering; unless they implement mechanics to make the NPC AH undesirable. I guarantee what you'll end up seeing is market hubs in each NPC town with minor wilderness player markets in the hard to reach corners at best. Such an outcome would remove a lot of player interdepenency and meaningful interactions.
Personally, if they want to keep those AH for new player use I would propose limiting what can be sold there to first tier (or even more restricted) goods.
A funny thing about trade hubs- in Eve a guy some while back did some research on average number of jumps between systems. And funny enough, the system in game that is generally regarded as the main trade hub for the entire map "Jita" is #2 in smallest average number of jumps to get there from any other place on the map, IIRC
The #1 spot is also a big trade hub, but I forget the reason it isn't really the most used.
That being said, I think trade hubs will develop, even if not an NPC settlement, because they make good trade hubs. Ease to get to, and safety might end up being factors.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
A safe and secure NPC AH location already has a significant leg up on any player settlement offering; unless they implement mechanics to make the NPC AH undesirable. I guarantee what you'll end up seeing is market hubs in each NPC town with minor wilderness player markets in the hard to reach corners at best. Such an outcome would remove a lot of player interdepenency and meaningful interactions.
Another way we can look at it: if the NPC hubs (TK and FI) are major market hubs, that means a lot of caravan movement to get goods to market. Or, alternatively, a lot of solo runners who end up being bandit food, or companies feuding traders. Sounds like player interaction.
But I'll be in the corner, by choice. I'll trade at my local market hub, by choice, because I want the local crafting settlement and my allied neighbors to thrive. Whoever wants to guard caravans running from Keepers Pass 15 tiles to Thornkeep and 15 tiles home is welcome to the job.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
A funny thing about trade hubs- in Eve a guy some while back did some research on average number of jumps between systems. And funny enough, the system in game that is generally regarded as the main trade hub for the entire map "Jita" is #2 in smallest average number of jumps to get there from any other place on the map, IIRC
The #1 spot is also a big trade hub, but I forget the reason it isn't really the most used.
That being said, I think trade hubs will develop, even if not an NPC settlement, because they make good trade hubs. Ease to get to, and safety might end up being factors.
I think it was Amarr, which was THE trade hub of the game before Jita.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I certainly hope that the lookup function of the Auction House isn't a low priority item. If that's not implemented within about a week after EE, the market-tracking Web sites that GW is trying to circumvent will pop up, design intent or no.
A Tier 1 limit on the Auction Houses in Thornkeep, Fort Inevitable and Fort Riverwatch sounds like a very good idea to me. Newbies will spawn into those cities, and they'll want to buy T1 gear. On the other hand, the near-universal accessibility of the NPC towns (except to low reputation characters) would provide a larger potential customer base than the PC settlements around them. If everything can be bought and sold in the NPC towns, it probably will be.
Scroll wheel functionality in the AH would be great. With a category, subcategory, and keyword, it's not critical, but it would be nice. I'd still like to see a toggle for 'Display items currently available at this Auction House only', but I'm willing to give Ryan the benefit of the doubt on his assertion that every item will be available at every AH once EE gets rolling. If that turns out not to be the case, maybe GW will reconsider.
Whoever wants to guard caravans running from Keepers Pass 15 tiles to Thornkeep and 15 tiles home is welcome to the job.
Guarding caravans is one of the things I plan to do. Longer trips mean more risk, which probably means higher guard fees. :)
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I've tried searching for Tier 1 crafting recipes with anything in the search and get 0 results. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but looking for a sawyer recipe for yew staves or any other recipe currently involves me dragging the slider down to about where I saw it in the list last and bracketing until I find it.
|
CEO, Goblinworks
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Right now Auctions last 48 hours. Peak use is going to be on the weekend. So auctions will likely start expiring on Monday and be mostly gone by Tuesday, and won't start to be refreshed until Friday or Saturday.
Also the vast expansion of the map has diluted player activity so people are not concentrating all their Auctions in any one place. This will start to fix itself as the number of players increases but it is likely that a "full market" will appear in one location and concentrate most activity on the server. Until the big market-makers decide where they want to set up shop things on the ground may be a little sparse.
We don't want that to be in Thornkeep either so expect the Thornkeep auction house to either shut its doors or be limited in some other ways.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
That is kinda a big issue when the only real way to get gear is to craft it, don't you think? I know that the whole idea is for a slow build but I would think a large segment of the population being held back simply by the fact that the RNG gods have not smiled on them and given them the basic tools to continue and they can't find the items they need, do to the only markets in the game being pretty much dead 4 days out of 7 by design seems... poorly thought out.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
The markets will be as active as players make them. If the population is sparser during the week, traders will put up stuff they know will sell, not stuff they hope will sell, I'd think.
If players aren't working together, aren't asking their neighbors for help, aren't doing face-to-face trading when something isn't on the market... then there's more holding them back than the RNG gods.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
He did say "right now". Hopefully, that will change before too long.
If most auctions really are concentrated around the weekend, there could be serious profit potential in selling during the week. There will probably be fewer buyers, but with fewer sellers, those who stock the AH on Monday or Wednesday will probably be able to charge a little more.
|
CEO, Goblinworks
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have checked and have been able to purchase all the starter gear in the Auction House in Thornkeep every time I've looked. There have often been Recipes for sale there too, and some Spells. Since I usually check in on weekdays, I'm sure there's even more stuff there on weekends.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A possible solution is giving an option to list all items for sale at a given AH in addition to showing local items? If price data is available globally go ahead make the whole schebang global.
That would circumvent the entire caravan mechanics plan....armed guards, crafted carts and wagons, animal trainers and trained mounts, the gear in order to ride the mounts, the interactions between the caravan owner, the guards, and the inevitable bandits... That's a lot of fun stuff to do a global AH would disallow (not of its own will, but why more a nugget if there is no need).
A safe and secure NPC AH location already has a significant leg up on any player settlement offering; unless they implement mechanics to make the NPC AH undesirable. I guarantee what you'll end up seeing is market hubs in each NPC town with minor wilderness player markets in the hard to reach corners at best. Such an outcome would remove a lot of player interdependency and meaningful interactions.
Personally, if they want to keep those AH for new player use I would propose limiting what can be sold there to first tier (or even more restricted) goods.
The costs for doing business in Thornkeep might be much higher, as the armed guards and high walls are very expensive to maintain. Military barracks are expensive to build, the place is huge, and that trained killer wolf was a rare find (I hope). The AH in starter towns should have a significantly higher fee to list and buy to pay for all the security. Plus, the guy running the market in Thornkeep only has permission to sell the most basic items. Anything of higher than average value is prohibited to sell, as the merchants guild has a deal with the folks running Thornkeep, Riverwatch and Fort Inevitable so they can get premium prices in the outlying areas. If the guards or owners of the three main towns need the best gear, that is a given. Everyone has to pay the going rate.
(A plausible storyline excuse, at least.)
|
CEO, Goblinworks
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Checking right now:
Apprentice Charged Staff: 15c-24c (lots of auctions)
Apprentice Charged Wand: 1c-6c (lots of auctions)
Acolyte's Battle Focus: 6c-44c (two auctions)
Steel Battleaxe: 89c (one auction)
Steel Light Mace: 1c-6c (lots of auctions)
Hunter's Longbow: 36c (one auction)
Hunter's Shortbow: 1c-30c (lots of auctions)
Steel Greatsword: 41c-98c (lots of auctions)
Steel Longsword: 25c-1s13c (lots of auctions)
Steel Rapier: 21c (one auction)
Steel Short Sword: 1c (one auction)
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Hardin Steele so you're telling me you think people will make caravans taking goods large distances without knowing the market at the destination? What I mentioned will just let know what is at a location, not enable you to buy it from where you are. You'd still need to go there to get it. It would also allow those with a good supply of items to find a market with a need for their goods so they can take them there to sell. But if orders are only good for 48 hours unless they have teams on standby to do runs they'll never be able to respond to the market in a less than a week.
Hardin Steele so you're telling me you think people will make caravans taking goods large distances without knowing the market at the destination?
Just because the game design might limit you (a single player) having unlimited alts at each trade hub to know what's for sale there all on your own - I don't see anything limiting a team of traders from organizing and scouting out Auction Houses in a region and coordinating their actions.
That's kind of how a trade league works, coordinating activity to maximize everyone's profits.
Now you have meaningful interactions, and teamwork. Good things, right?
--
Granting omniscience of all auctions houses, or even worse granting the ability to buy and sell across a global auction house, erases a huge amount of game-play opportunities for people, including related PvP actions.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
But that has been stated on how they want the AH to work, you can see what is for sale globally and at what price. Why shouldn't you be able to filter it in a reasonable manner for market research? That is another thing that has been stated as design intent, to remove 3rd party web sites for tracking and reading the market. My conclusions are simply asking for the next logical step and allowing for better ease of use and not having to scroll through lists of items not for sale locally or at a given location.
|
Goblinworks Executive Founder
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The information about buy and sell orders is a prerequisite for moving the goods. Why would anyone take on the risk of a significant shipment without reasonably believing that they will make a profit?
Global AH, that teleport the purchase to your location, are different from global knowledge about AH. The former is antithetical to design goals, and the latter support design goals.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Global price knowledge, but no teleportation of goods. That sounds like the plan as I understand it.
Without global pricing the solo players/small settlements will be at a huge disadvanatage compared to larger coalitions/cartels which will maintain out-of-game price checking websites to fill the gap.
The big downside I see to make every alt totally dysfunctional unless paid for is it can easily lead to pay to win.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I think there are 4 possible iterations:
1) NO global browsing of AH: this will favor large, organized organisations and the use of trader-Alts, and out of game price checking.
2) Global browsing allowed, but not able to do Buy or Sell orders in locations other then where you are browsing from: this will put every player on the same footing when it comes to information, but will still favor the above large organizations and Alts when it comes to taking action on that knowledge.
3)Global browsing allowed, *and* global Buy orders allowed, but the goods that you bought are stored locallly and should still be transported to wherever you want them. Sell orders are off course restricted to the AH that you are browsing from/located at. This would put single players and large organized organizations on the same footing, and cause less Alts that are purely for buying things fast from a local AH.
4) Global browsing *and* global buying and selling with instant transportation of goods to the location where they are bought/sold. This is never going to happen since it would gut the entire game.
I think with options 2 and 3, Settlements with an AH should be able to decide themselves to which settlements their goods are visible, and/or which settlements can buy. This would tie nicely into the whole political game.
Number 3 seems fairest to all, however I have one worry: Trader Moguls. It becomes very easy to dominate a market I think. The fact that the Mogul still has to actually *move* his goods, or has to put them back on the local AH again manually, at least curbs rampant "Buy low, Sell high" trading, but still. There will be people trading 24/7 and this way they can react immediately to anything good hitting the market. Having to log in an Alt to do this at least throws up a hurdle. It is also much harder to sustain a network of Alts that all have coin on them, then it is to just buy everything globally with a single superrich character.
Ok, I didn't know global price knowledge was in the plan. Oh well, personally I'm disappointed, but I can understand how that is probably too hard core for most people.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Pathfinder's take on sandbox economics sounds interesting, and very much like Eve, at first glance. Perhaps too much like Eve in the sense of the speed and miraculous availability of information the description implies to me.Information will propagate instantly, whether it is done in-game or out-of-game. It's trivially easy to ensure that you have up-to-the-second pricing and availability info anywhere that you care about by using alts.
So rather than put players who don't understand that at a disadvantage, we'll just provide those tools to everyone automatically.
RyanD
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Pathfinder's take on sandbox economics sounds interesting, and very much like Eve, at first glance. Perhaps too much like Eve in the sense of the speed and miraculous availability of information the description implies to me.Information will propagate instantly, whether it is done in-game or out-of-game. It's trivially easy to ensure that you have up-to-the-second pricing and availability info anywhere that you care about by using alts.
So rather than put players who don't understand that at a disadvantage, we'll just provide those tools to everyone automatically.
RyanD
Ah, that's good. I wonder if they will allow remote Buy orders, with the goods being stored locally off course.
And if they indeed allow Global browsing in-game, then I wonder if Settlements can opt-out of their wares being available for viewing/buying. This would be necessary I think if they would allow remote Buy orders.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Here is where I think we are in terms of a design:
Each Settlement will have a central market. In order to place a buy or sell order on that market you will have to physically visit that market. Information about the buy & sell orders on the market will be visible to you depending on the state of your character's abilities. Everyone will be able to go to a Settlement and see it's market orders, but some characters may be able to get that information at a distance.
When you place a sell order you'll put the inventory into escrow at the Settlement where you're placing the order. When you place a buy order you'll place the price into escrow and when the order matches, your inventory will be delivered to the Settlement where the sell order was posted. You'll have to transport the material from there to wherever else you need it if you wish to move it elsewhere.
Realistically there will be players who set up alts in every Settlement and generate near-real time information on every market, then centralize that information in tools they either keep proprietary or make available to the whole community. There's virtually no way to stop that from happening, so we'll just accept it and move on.
You will be able to control the price you offer to buy or sell an item at. So you will be able to compete with other market participants on price and quantity. When a sell order and a buy order match, they'll be immediately filled. Purchasing something by browsing the market, seeing an item at a price you want to pay, and buying it on the spot will be supported as well (you'll likely always pay the lowest offered price, to avoid scams and accidents).
We may or may not make visible the information about who is doing the buying and the selling. We will make visible price data for every item type so you can see the market price history and volume data.
This is all essentially identical to the EVE system.
Before we can talk about independent shops or bazaars we need to get at least this level of functionality implemented first, so until all of that content is deployed, we won't be Crowdforging on the question of what else to do with markets.
Personally, I'd like to be able to place Buy Orders for anything I can see on the Market, and I'd like to be able to see everything everywhere without jumping through hoops.
I'd also like to be able to Contract for another group of Characters to go and pick up my goods for me, and transport them where I want them to go.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I second Nihimon's view, the 'challenge' of the economic system should not be the obfuscation of the information you need (which the dedicated traders will circumvent anyways), it should be in moving the goods around and interacting with the other game mechanics while trying to maximize your profits.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Looks like remote Buy orders are in then, at least for those with characters that have the ability to browse at a distance.
When you place a buy order you'll place the price into escrow and when the order matches, your inventory will be delivered to the Settlement where the sell order was posted.
I could imagine though that certain Settlements or alliances of Settlements would rather not have their wares visible and being bought by some remote Trader. Maybe that Trader is not even planning on collecting the goods he buys, but just wants to mess up some local AH.
Some of these people will be so rich that coin does not matter.
So I am wondering if Settlements may be able to put restrictions on what remote buyers can do in their AH. Since physical presence is not needed, a lot of gamemechanics are being circumvented, like Reputation, Alignment, Faction, Wars and Feuds. At least for the buying character (not so much for the collectors/transporters).
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Looks like remote Buy orders are in then, at least for those with characters that have the ability to browse at a distance.
When you place a buy order you'll place the price into escrow and when the order matches, your inventory will be delivered to the Settlement where the sell order was posted.I could imagine though that certain Settlements or alliances of Settlements would rather not have their wares visible and being bought by some remote Trader. Maybe that Trader is not even planning on collecting the goods he buys, but just wants to mess up some local AH.
Some of these people will be so rich that coin does not matter.
So I am wondering if Settlements may be able to put restrictions on what remote buyers can do in their AH. Since physical presence is not needed, a lot of gamemechanics are being circumvented, like Reputation, Alignment, Faction, Wars and Feuds. At least for the buying character (not so much for the collectors/transporters).
Seems to me the settlements with AH are the craft heavy ones that actually want to sell stuff. If everythign yu put on your AH sells to some remote rich character regardless of how inflated the price what is the issue ? You can always direct barter with players from your own settlement.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Currently all settlements will be 'open' to start from what I have seen, unfriendlies would need to sacrifice rep to stop you from picking up your goods. Longer term locking down your settlement regularly will probably be possible.
As to your example I think it's a bigger problem if you buy some goods only to realize after the fact that you can't pick them up for whatever reason. Sometimes you might do it on purpose because of supply/demand issues and work something out to get them move to a safer location, but it shouldn't happen accidentally.
I do think some controls that restrict remotely browsing your AH should make it in the long run, maybe a few tiers: All, Nation Only, Settlement Members Only and maybe even a basic permission list type option. Along with being able to skew preferential treatment or what not, detailed and flexible controls are my preference.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Personally, I'd like to be able to place Buy Orders for anything I can see on the Market, and I'd like to be able to see everything everywhere without jumping through hoops.
I'd also like to be able to Contract for another group of Characters to go and pick up my goods for me, and transport them where I want them to go.
My preference would be that we can place contracts with distant groups to buy or ship goods, but the actual purchase has to be done on site.
Could players have multiple alts positioned across the map to buy and store goods? Yes - but each alt would have a limited supply of funds, and the player's fortune would therefore be fragmented.
Using a Buy-and-Ship contract could achieve the same thing; the characters accepting the contract buy the goods and transport the goods to my location. No need for alts; no need for distant magical purchasing using funds that aren't present at the buy location.
It's all good. As long as there is no global AH that allows you to buy/sell from *anywhere*, I'll be happy.
I think the local vaults, and local AH system is awesome.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I'm with the remote buy crowd. As long as we have to move the goods physically. At least until we see that the economy is robust enough to survive and thrive without it.
There are a great deal of hurdles and gates in the game already. Let's not make it too hardcore and narrow (further) the niche of players that will enjoy the game.
*note to self: Take a typing class!
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
As to your example I think it's a bigger problem if you buy some goods only to realize after the fact that you can't pick them up for whatever reason. Sometimes you might do it on purpose because of supply/demand issues and work something out to get them move to a safer location, but it shouldn't happen accidentally.
That is working as expected for EVE.
It is quite common to accidently buy goods in losec and have to relist them for resale becasue its impractical to go get them and too expensive to have them shipped.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Maybe that Trader is not even planning on collecting the goods he buys...
As long as the money is transferred immediately when the Buy Order is placed, that shouldn't be a problem.
Since physical presence is not needed, a lot of gamemechanics are being circumvented, like Reputation, Alignment, Faction, Wars and Feuds.
That's a really good point, and compelling enough for me to change my mind. As long as the information is available, I don't see a lot of downside in there being a possibility that someone else will have already bought the goods you traveled to get. However, I do see a lot of downside in letting folks buy something remotely when they wouldn't be allowed in the Settlement to buy it directly.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
As to your example I think it's a bigger problem if you buy some goods only to realize after the fact that you can't pick them up for whatever reason. Sometimes you might do it on purpose because of supply/demand issues and work something out to get them move to a safer location, but it shouldn't happen accidentally.
That is working as expected for EVE.
It is quite common to accidently buy goods in losec and have to relist them for resale becasue its impractical to go get them and too expensive to have them shipped.
It's also common for Low Sec pirates to list goods at great prices, then attack the bargain hunters when they arrive to pick up their purchases.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Maybe that Trader is not even planning on collecting the goods he buys...As long as the money is transferred immediately when the Buy Order is placed, that shouldn't be a problem.
Since physical presence is not needed, a lot of gamemechanics are being circumvented, like Reputation, Alignment, Faction, Wars and Feuds.That's a really good point, and compelling enough for me to change my mind. As long as the information is available, I don't see a lot of downside in there being a possibility that someone else will have already bought the goods you traveled to get. However, I do see a lot of downside in letting folks buy something remotely when they wouldn't be allowed in the Settlement to buy it directly.
He lost the money, but he does not really care because he is so rich. I am talking about someone who is consistently buying every resource of a certain AH up untill a certain price, basically wrecking that AH for local users. Obviously the sellers on that AH will put up those resources at ever higher prices, untill that remote buyer reaches his cutoff point, but at that point the AH has become useless for local buyers who now have to buy coal at 3 silver a piece, instead of the normal 10-30 copper. So now they have to resort to direct trading, rendering their costly AH useless.
And in the end, the buyer still has that cache of Coal stored there, and may well be able to somehow move the goods out of there too.
Superrich dude + remote buying feature + no way to block/restrict access to your AH = potential for Economic griefing.
So either no remote buying, or Settlements should be able to opt out of the GLobal buying thing. That seems like a pretty easy fix. If you want lots of potential buyers from around the world, take the risk and open up your AH; if you do not want people to mess with your AH, then close it off. Or just open it up to friendly folk: members of friendly settlements, certain factions, certain Alignment, maybe even a certain Rep. All sorts of restrictions are possible.
Though this could lead to Altitis too off course: need to be on Hellknight faction to buy remote from a certain AH, roll a Hellknight ALt. But I think we should not be so afraid of Alts. Most people will not bother with rolling an Alt every time they hit some hurdle.
|
Am I the only one here who really REALLY hates the ALT economy or most MMOs?
I understand having Alts to play, learn new stuff on, and to make a "different" character but it seems like the popular opinion around here is pushing is that Alts should have little to no restrictions on trading from PC to PC, should be the primary AH market dominators, and should always be free from PvP since they have no interest being logged in for moments at a time let alone every leaving town.
I'd personally LOVE to see a system whereby items and equipment cannot ever be exchanged between characters when one of them is not gaining XP. I look at it like taxes, if you can't pay the bill for the PC, you shouldn't have access to any of the trading, reputations gates, or Marketplace since they are essentially homeless leeches that don't add anything to the system, instead they just move it around to make the game harder for others at their own profit.