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.
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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.
