Curse

Galatea · Jul 12, 2005, 03:17 PM // 15:17

jsmp01:
So long as that limit on chat only applied to the Trade Channel, then it's a good start.

And I definitely agree, it's only a short term solution. I'm sure some people will still manage to find a way around it.. and it wouldn't make finding items or selling items any easier.

And the current offer on the exact item doesn't necessarily need to show. Rather than the current offer, a list of the 5 previous winning bids on the same/similar item should show, so others can see the winning bids. Let's say there was a standard, clean white Chaos Axe being sold in the AH. A few are in stock, and the previous 5 winning bids were: [1k, 1k, 1.1k, 980g, 1k]. We can see now that the going price is 1k on a standard chaos axe. Buyers will bid 1k, unless they're stingy and bid something like 900gold in an attempt to get it slightly cheaper. Sellers will post theres for 1K exact, or 999g to get theirs to sell first perhaps. Then of course there will be the greedier sellers who post theirs for 1.5K, or even 2K, in a hope that someone will overbid.. but most likely theirs will never sell unless all the Chaos Axes run out, and theirs is the last one left.

Prices will fluctuate according to supply and demand. When demand is high and supply is low, price increases (so the axe went up to 2K).. then as soon as more supply comes in, the price should drop back down to 1K.

The 'running average' is also a really good idea, as prices wouldn't fluctuate too much, and all players would see what the going price is.

7 days is a bit long, you're right, since there's so many items in the game. Maybe 3-4 days is better. And internationally sounds good.

-----------
Xanthar:

Yep, those incentives hit the nail on the head. The AH should be accessible from Day 1 in Post-Seared Ascalon. The workload is definitely cut back, since you no would no longer have to stay online for x amount of hours spamming and trying to sell. Players would also no longer need to worry about storing items until they actually have a time when they CAN do that (some people would rather do something productive with their time in or out of the game, then hope someone will meet their buyout price or exceed the c/o).

As for the deterrants:
Fees & commissions: If the percentage is small, then it won't completely turn away sellers from using the system. I'm sure we won't see single wood planks in the AH for example, because 1) they're cheap, 2) they're super common and 3) there's a material trader for that. However, I could definitely see "Stack of 250 Wood Planks" in the Auction House, as it makes more sense to purchase these things in bulk.

The AH still should only be accessible in main places, either in a Trading Center that everyone can access via Map (like the Guild Hall is accessible, even if you just finished the Academy).. or in main cities (Ascalon, Amnoon, Droknar's, Lion's Arch, Denravi). Either way, players will always have access. It's not that hard to Map Travel (most people map travel to Ascalon or LA Districts 1-3 to do all their trading anyway).. and new players will have access the moment they enter Post-Seared Ascalon.

As for usage.. I have confidence that, if it were implemented, it would definitely be put into use by the majority of the GW community. Most other games that have some sort of AH system are always put to use, and surprisingly, even with fees, low-cost items are available for purchase, simply because some find that it's better to make the items available to other players than to have it destroyed at an NPC.

Additionally, items needed for collectors, salvaging materials, etc.. will find their way into the AH. Sometimes, I find myself spamming "WTB" for the most absurd sounding things (as opposed to weapons, upgrades, and runes), like Frosted Griffon Wings, because I need them for a collector's item.. but either my build can't farm them, or I've been killing them for so long and can't collect the amount I need, or I'm just too lazy to even bother that I'd rather spend gold. Heh. I'm sure these items aren't going to be priced at 10K a piece and will go for a more reasonable price.. like I don't know, 100-150g.

I agree, while it will be impossible to drive the cost down of EVERYTHING (like a Gold Max Damage Chaos Axe with insanely perfect mods, dyed red, lol), it'll at least be nice to see what the going price on items like that SHOULD be. It's possible too, players will still sell these items in Trade Spam.. but if players do research in the AH and see a similar/same item went for (hypothetically) 70K, then they'll know now to spend more than that with this seller.

Tsukiyomi · Jul 12, 2005, 06:26 PM // 18:26

You sure are putting a lot of thought into this. I hope they eventually get around to doing this.

JoDiamonds · Jul 12, 2005, 08:55 PM // 20:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darksci

"players may decide to sell items like superior runes only in droknar's forge auction houses, making it nearly impossible to attain one until after ascension"

Why can't you make all the aution houses be linked up? Personally i don't like the idea of having to going to each of the major cities to find out which prices is the cheapest. I mean the traders are linked up (i think - since the price of a dye i wanted was the same in ascalon, forge and lions arch).

I'd be happy to have all auction brokers link to one big auction house, but I'm not SO worried about it.

In all reality, everyone would just use Ascalon's auction house anyway, to get the maximum number of possible buyers. Having separate auction houses just plain wouldn't work; only one would get used.

Zubrowka · Jul 13, 2005, 02:58 AM // 02:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galatea

I think the idea is shot down a lot because:
1) it's been suggested a LOT and
2) no one can agree on a single way to actually house it.

There is also the more fundamental question of whether you want to promote trade by making it easier. On one hand I would like to have a easy way to buy rarer things. On the other I wonder if perhaps I don't know what I'm asking for. GW is an adventure game after all. Being a merchant cum farmer just isn't adventurous or fun. The RPG aspect of the game suffers too when there's excessive commerce.

elthrain · Jul 13, 2005, 06:16 PM // 18:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ba Ne

Well done and a good idea.

The first thing that came to my mind was this: make it function closer to eBay.

When putting an item up for auction you select the amount of time you want to leave the auction open from several predetermined selections. Then you can set a reserve price if you wish or choose to have no reserve. The buyer's can see the item, the current high bid, whether or not the reserve has been met and the auction log, but not the reserve price.

You could also have the "buy now" function so you get it right then... the price would be hight but then you for sure have the item you wanted. Or is that what the "buyout" function is on mikes idea?
EDIT> Oh right, buyout means when it reaches that price its sold.

Galatea · Jul 16, 2005, 02:55 PM // 14:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoDiamonds

I'd be happy to have all auction brokers link to one big auction house, but I'm not SO worried about it.

In all reality, everyone would just use Ascalon's auction house anyway, to get the maximum number of possible buyers. Having separate auction houses just plain wouldn't work; only one would get used.

Not so true. If you happen to be in an area with an Auctioneer NPC, you'd just sell there. I go straight to Lion's Arch District 1 to do all my selling, and Ascalon is usually my second choice. Droknar's used to feel empty, but now people have more access to the city, so I think an auctioneer NPC there would get used, too.

Right now, we've got a group of traders in every main city, and I always see a nice crowd of people at each location.. I don't see why an Auctioneer NPC would receive any different attention.

elthrain · Jul 19, 2005, 06:14 PM // 18:14

He may be right though, if each auction house is seprate, the one in Lions Arch or Ascalon would be used the most because they aare the 2 most thriving cities in Guild Wars. And as you said "but now people have more access to the city, so I think an auctioneer NPC there would get used, too." this would give everyone and anyone acess to all cities as soon as they are out of the Pre-Searing? This then would give the access to all armor and missions without doing anthing, throwing the game entirely out of balance. I think 1 big auction house would be the best plan.

Yellow_lid · Jul 19, 2005, 07:54 PM // 19:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galatea

a) One Single Institution
Under this option, the stock of the five auction houses is shared. This means that a player in Ascalon City can bid on the same items available to a player in Amnoon Oasis. This also means that if I place an item on sale in Lion's Arch, then anyone can buy it from any of the other auction houses.

First, you have done an amazing job with the thought process behind this system (love the graphic)
Second, You take the time to respond to the ppl who are reading your thread, thats nice.
Finally, /SIGNED
I like system (a) better in the long run.
I think it should just be a one time membership fee. Kinda like the storage box. Then the listing fee.

Galatea · Jul 20, 2005, 05:05 AM // 05:05

elthrain:
I'm not saying that everyone will have access to the main cities upon entering post-searing. I'm just stating that having a single system, but with multiple NPC's in various locations, would work well.. since that's the current system we have, with rune traders, etc.

yellow_lid:
thanks

i care strongly about this idea lol, and i'd like to see something that could benefit all the players of gw, as well!

Guild Master · Jul 20, 2005, 05:29 AM // 05:29

Out of the two ideas you have, I would pick the first one.

Da Outlaw · Jul 20, 2005, 01:50 PM // 13:50

Wow, if your ideas are implemented, I know I'd be one of the first to stock up the auction house with all the wares I've been collecting and hoarding on a couple characters. This is an excellent thread, with an excellent idea, I hope this is on Ane'ts list ti add in the future, because not only would it be a fun way to make a little money, but it will make life easier for everyone. It will actually be enjoyable getting rare drops, because you know it isn't gonna be sitting around useless in your storage (assumnig none of your current characters can use the weapon), or you will salvage or sell it for pennies.

Galatea · Jul 20, 2005, 02:41 PM // 14:41

Da Outlaw:

Yeah! I hang onto a lot of stuff sometimes that I don't even need (like weapons, runes), but I don't sell them off to the trader/merchant because:
1) there's no profit
2) I'd feel bummed out knowing that there's someone out there who could use it, but I don't want to have it completely destroyed.

I think an 'auction house' has been briefly mentioned once in one of the Fansite Friday's, but I don't know where it stands on their list of priorities, and nor do any of us know what kind of system it will be like.. which is why I made this thread in the first place, because I was curious to see what kind of system would be the most useful. I really do hope we see one implemented in a nearby future update; it would with trading tremendously.

jsmp01 · Jul 22, 2005, 12:26 PM // 12:26

i think the membership fee is a gr8 idea but what level do you set it at? If it is 2 high then people who want to sell to new players in ascalon will still spam the channel but 2 low and then everyone would join. It also has the potential to be a massive money sink as it is something everyone wud join. What if it was only available after you did a certain early mission maybe in Lions Arch and then you could pay for your membership?

Galatea · Jul 22, 2005, 06:05 PM // 18:05

Personally, I'd rather have an auction house that everyone could use the moment that they enter post-searing. Perhaps a one-time character fee, like the storage, but otherwise.. I don't see why people should NOT have access to it.

JoDiamonds · Jul 22, 2005, 07:35 PM // 19:35

It should be available in Ascalon, as you can already trade with super high level players in Ascalon. The auction house wouldn't be providing anything that players can't already get; just a more convienent means of getting those things.

BrandonIT · Jul 22, 2005, 08:19 PM // 20:19

Good idea. I'd like to see all the auction houses linked if possible.

ifuwerepbandj · Jul 22, 2005, 08:23 PM // 20:23

/signed

Bwsk8 · Jul 23, 2005, 01:57 AM // 01:57

Just another /signed .

ANET WE NEED A AUCTION SYSTEM. GIVE YOUR MEMBERS WHAT THEY WANT!

timmo567 · Jul 23, 2005, 02:04 AM // 02:04

/signed

jsmp01 · Jul 25, 2005, 11:58 AM // 11:58

/signed