Auction House or Player Governed Markets?

Do you as the player enjoy an auction house system or just individual player markets?

What are the Pros and Cons?

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Auction houses make the game more accessible, as it´s easier to aquire items. (Global auctions through some ui interface that is always accessible)

Player markets can be engaging content if done well and have a lot of advantages for games that are build with communities as a focus imo

Schmuky

Hold on, which one is the normal trading post?:)))

As an idea, i like the concept of Auction houses, being able to auction on certain items, but thats more for the rare stuff. I don't want auctions for bloody wood and stone

arsnn

Auction events for rare items would be nice.

Guilds can gather in economic nodes every know and to outbid each other and showcase their economic prowess.

Atama

As a player I've enjoyed auction houses immensely.

I'm old school and I remember in original EverQuest, having to travel to East Commons where people would hang around a cave and just yell out what they're buying and selling. That was the closest thing we had to an auction house 22 years ago. It wasn't an immersive experience bringing a community together, it was just a pain in the ass because nobody had done anything better yet.

I'd prefer options. I'd like if you had both an auction house, and a store managed by a player. It would be even better if they were tied together; say, you could search for a kind of item and it might lead you to a person who had those things for sale. A hybrid between what Star Wars Galaxies had (actual physical stores you had to go visit) and a directory to help you find them. I think that's the best of both worlds.

BaSkA_9x2

I have fond memories of games that had player stalls across entire cities, but unfortunately I believe that's just my nostalgia taking the best of me.

I think the best route is to have both player stalls and auction houses. Auction houses make trading simple and less likely to be scammed. Player stalls allow players to avoid paying the AH fees.

It could become problematic if player stalls blocked entire streets in Ashes due to collision, though.

Boanergese

The auction house is convenient in that I can see everything that is for sale. I guess your post has a lot to discuss with the pros and cons. From a role play perspective if I am in City A and the person is selling in City B I would have to travel to City B to pick up the item or merchants would have to deliver the item to me. A disadvantage of the individual player market is that the player might have what I want but may not be playing at the same time as me, so I may not know they have it for sale.

The game could have a market board where players list the item for sale and then have to meet up to sell the item. I think personally I would like to see sales from every node and wouldn't mind having to travel to the node to pick the item up from the shop. I realize this game doesn't have factions like world of warcraft. Once nodes are up and running are people going to be able to travel into them if you are from a rival node? They talked about being a citizen and voting for your mayor by purchasing housing.

AidanKD

I like the concept of the player stalls - there would have to be a benefit to it of course over the AH. Saving on fees, perhaps use a mail system for the auction house for sending of items, longer depending on distance, or make the AH node-specific and keep it fixed.

Stalls would then have the benefit of no fees and instant trading, in a fixed location. But I don't think setting up shop should be free either (or should it?). Could have a node "newspaper" which populates news based on events but can also list "top x of the week/month" i.e. top trader, top caravan runner, top dungeon runner.

Helps to build reputations on the server!

Sylvanar

Auction House has been limited to economic metropolis only at the moment afaik.

So, there can be auction events weekly or bi-weekly where node specific AH will come up and the entire event can last a day.
- The option to put things in AH will start couple of hours before buying becomes accessible. This way players who want to put things in AH will have some time to set up shop so to speak.
- If a player wants to buy something, he/she might find something cheaper in different nodes AH but will need to decide if travelling time is worth it or not.

This way player shops and AH both will see abundant traffic.

Development-wise, as this will use the already planned feature of economic node, implementing this wouldn't be much of an issue as well.

Conrad

I personally seriously hate it when AH is not server wide. However, i understand why them being city wide is far better overall

CROW3

City wide AH (Anything broader will destroy the cadence of the economy), and some premium market stalls that are earned. I’d also want the AH to have an option to sell as an individual or as a little company (This may allow for some discounted posting to those merchants that put the time in building a shop up).

This would centralize most city sales / purchasing, provide incentive for those players dedicated to crafting & mercantilism, and give those merchants really dedicated to a node to have specific, preferred locations.

TheHiddenDaggerInn

Auction Houses are very easy to use, however I think it's better for the game overall to have player stalls that develop bonds with their customers, names on weapons and armor they craft. So when people find a stall they like the can keep usingit.

RazThemun

I would prefer a player market... but it will not be as consistent of supply and would be hard for players to know if they are giving a good deal. If you as a player are selling something for let's say 20 silver and another player is selling same item for 6 silver.... how are you really going to know? Take the buyers word for it? I think what would be cool is if they had a market that you could rent a space and it had cap prices based off of the types of things you wanted to sell. It would have engagement, but you would also have a realistic price point in the things you wanted to sell.

tautau

I love player stalls, wandering from one to another looking for deals. Always knowing that the buyer must beware of the scammer.

An AH is unrealistic, it is imposing our 21st century technology artificially into a non-tech society. If Verra is just rising from the Dark Ages, there should NOT be a computer linked economy any more than there should be ray-guns in the midst of swords.

Atama

tautau wrote: »

I An AH is unrealistic, it is imposing our 21st century technology artificially into a non-tech society.

It’s not technology, it’s magic.

Kovrm

Atama wrote: »

tautau wrote: »

I An AH is unrealistic, it is imposing our 21st century technology artificially into a non-tech society.

It’s not technology, it’s magic.

Uncomprehensibly advanced technology would be indistiguishable from magic. 😉

Caeryl

Decentralized markets are better for the economy focused players and sellers in general. Less direct competition, easier to keep track of local markets due to less info overload. Buyers prefer centralized AHs because competition drives down prices significantly, but those systems also run a high risk of botters and wannabe monopolists for the same reason; everything is in a single location.

Ironhope

I agree with the decentralized markets.

Less convenience but better long-term health for the game.

Silberwolf

Hello all,

totally agree with player driven markets.
Does anybody remember Ultima Online and the Vendors placed around players' homes ?
As far as AoC has the claim to be a sandbox game of some kind, it's my opinion that an
auction-house would destroy the immersion of a player driven economy ...

However, this reflects my opinion, only !

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