ESOs Public Trading System

Taleof2Cities

Chronicburn wrote: »

Definitely need an auction house, that's how you know how much to pay for an item, how much to list an item at, and it makes finding things you need 1000000X easier than the current system. It's a total non brainer. The only reason to keep the current system is to allow people with convienient trader locations to gouge people on prices

Well there you have it ... the system is "broken" because someone doesn't have the time to find a good deal or the time to gather the required items themself.

VaranisArano

@Chronicburn, we don't need an auction house to know how much to pay for an item or how much to list an item at on PC NA. We already have Master Merchant and Tamriel Trade Center. Especially Tamriel Trade Center which keep track of global listing data and doesn't require guild membership to collect data. Between those add-ons and keeping track of what your own items sell for, it is not very difficult at all to figure out the market value of items in the game.

Finding things...well, to be fair the current system sucks for finding things, though again Tamriel Trade Center makes that a lot easier with their database. Of course, the price of having to guild hop to shop around for the best prices is one reason that most things retain their value. There's lot of things ZOS could do to make this easier, like adding a text search to make searching guild stores quicker. The ability to find things easily is probably the only reason I would favor an auction house. On the other hand, there are times when I find the search for items on a guild store relaxing, and its a great way to make sure that players are still going out to all areas of the game even once they are finished questing. I will often go back to cities that I otherwise wouldn't visit again just to check out what their traders have. Think about Rawlkha, which is a major trading hub because of easy access from the wayshrine to the guild stores, bank, and all the craft stations. With an auction house, Rawklha is a sleepy Khajiit town with very little going on.

Finally, I've found that having a convenient trader location actually drives down prices (at least on items that have a consistent market value, rare weapons and gear is kind of its own category). If I want to buy something in bulk for good prices, I go to the capital city traders in Mournhold, Stormhaven, and Elden Root because those people have to be competitive in order to sell. Between TTC and MM, I can quickly see what goods are overpriced, but usually I can find what I need quickly and for a reasonable price near the market value. I price mats lower than market value in my convenient trader in Belkarth because there are more people selling raw materials there, so I have to match the competition at that location. (Incidentally, if there were an auction house, I'd be competing with everyone in the game who sells raw materials including botters, driving my prices lower.)

victoriana-blue

PSA: if your guild doesn't get a trader spot, you still sell to/buy from guildies. Just go to an overland bank and select "guild store."

I don't see much difference between weeks my casual trade guild has a trader and the weeks it doesn't, since so many of us buy from each other. The few weeks my Belkarth guild hasn't gotten a trader, my sales go down but I still sell a lot to guildies (and then we get our spot back and I make more gold again).

kargen27

Chronicburn wrote: »

We need an auction house.

No we really don't. I like being able to purchase a rare item at a fair price.

Chronicburn

We definitely need an auction house

Tandor

We don't necessarily need an auction house, although that would be better than the existing system. All we really need, however, is an improved trading system whereby buyers can easily search for what they want and sellers can offer their goods unrestricted by guild membership, striking lucky in the weekly kiosk lottery, or other prerequisites and where effective participation isn't further restricted to the minority of servers where addons are available.

If that can be achieved by maintaining the guild trader system but opening it up to all players through the addition of a NPC trader in each main city through whom a small number of items could be listed at a high commission shared between the guilds trading in those locations, complemented by improvements to the base UI so as to allow effective searching and price checking then that would be fine by me.

I'm not clamoring for the introduction of an auction house, but I am clamoring for an improvement on the existing system which is dysfunctional for so many players be they low level players, casual players who only want to sell the odd few things from time to time, enthusiastic guild traders who don't win a kiosk very often despite the amount of gold they pour into their guilds, frustrated buyers who can't find what they want without traipsing halfway round Tamriel when they could be PvEing or PvPing, or especially console players who don't have access to the addons that even the present system's most ardent supporters concede are pretty essential to their defence of the current arrangements.

Mystrius_Archaion

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Chronicburn wrote: »

Definitely need an auction house, that's how you know how much to pay for an item, how much to list an item at, and it makes finding things you need 1000000X easier than the current system. It's a total non brainer. The only reason to keep the current system is to allow people with convienient trader locations to gouge people on prices

Well there you have it ... the system is "broken" because someone doesn't have the time to find a good deal or the time to gather the required items themself.

Grind trumps smart design! Read all about it!

Also, there are 3rd party websites and addons that have artificially helped, but even if you have that or take the time you will often find an item gone by the time you find where it was a good price just because you have to be at the right trader at the right time.
If this system is good then maybe we should apply it to all rewards in the game where we have to be at the right place at the right time and first one there....like Everquest boss camping which was so much fun! /sarcasm.

Mystrius_Archaion

kargen27 wrote: »

Chronicburn wrote: »

We need an auction house.

No we really don't. I like being able to purchase a rare item at a fair price.

Really? A fair price you say?
How do you manage that? Do you purposefully only go to out of the way traders where nobody else shops to find people listing their items super low because they don't sell?

A global auction house always has better prices than separate traders because of the same reason you have higher prices for things at a convenience store/gas station. You're paying the premium for convenience as they gouge you.

CalydorEstalon

In WoW, I used to play the auction house a lot when I felt like it.
In FF14, I used to play the market board a lot when I felt like it.
In ESO ... I just don't care about crafting and buying or selling off the guild traders because there are too many hoops to jump through to make it work well.

Jeremy

Tandor wrote: »

We don't necessarily need an auction house, although that would be better than the existing system. All we really need, however, is an improved trading system whereby buyers can easily search for what they want and sellers can offer their goods unrestricted by guild membership, striking lucky in the weekly kiosk lottery, or other prerequisites and where effective participation isn't further restricted to the minority of servers where addons are available.

If that can be achieved by maintaining the guild trader system but opening it up to all players through the addition of a NPC trader in each main city through whom a small number of items could be listed at a high commission shared between the guilds trading in those locations, complemented by improvements to the base UI so as to allow effective searching and price checking then that would be fine by me.

I'm not clamoring for the introduction of an auction house, but I am clamoring for an improvement on the existing system which is dysfunctional for so many players be they low level players, casual players who only want to sell the odd few things from time to time, enthusiastic guild traders who don't win a kiosk very often despite the amount of gold they pour into their guilds, frustrated buyers who can't find what they want without traipsing halfway round Tamriel when they could be PvEing or PvPing, or especially console players who don't have access to the addons that even the present system's most ardent supporters concede are pretty essential to their defence of the current arrangements.

That's a good point. Because when the proponents have to bring up addons to defend the current system they are in effect defeating their own argument.

If the current system really was fine as is then you would not need to go seeking for third party programs to begin with.

My sense of it is (with the exception of motifs) the guild trading system works alright for buying. It's when it comes to selling that it falls down. Because contrary to what other posters are saying in this thread - it is unreasonable to expect players to have to commit to a trading guild simply to access the player-driven market to sell items. No other MMORPG I have ever played does this - and the ones who have tried something similar have failed miserably at it (FF14). They quickly learned the error of their ways and implemented an auction house.

Luckily for this game, it's relatively easy to be self sufficient and avoid the need to sell items to other players to make money. And that's the only reason this Guild Trading System has not been the ruin of this game. Because if players actually had to depend on Guild Traders to make money - you can believe me that this game would have already been taken down.

All that being said - I like your suggestion and it should be worth trying.

MLGProPlayer

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

MudcrabSammich wrote: »

I just have a few hours a night to play because I work long hours, so no, I don't have time to stand around in zone trying to hock my wares. I really wish there was another way. I'm thinking of dumping one of the guilds I'm in, pending an invite from one of the (hopefully) more successful guilds.

Are players that can only log in for 2-3 hours per night a good match for a successful trading guild? Or, are those players a good match for a casual trading guild?

In addition, in those 2-3 hours per night, how much stuff do you actually have to sell?

2-3 hours a night is a lot. I play 2-3 hours a week and I'm in successful trading guilds.

If you can't sell, then just pay your dues instead.

If you only farm or resell for those 2-3 hours that you play every night, you can easily make 1 million+ gold a week.

Mystrius_Archaion

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

MudcrabSammich wrote: »

I just have a few hours a night to play because I work long hours, so no, I don't have time to stand around in zone trying to hock my wares. I really wish there was another way. I'm thinking of dumping one of the guilds I'm in, pending an invite from one of the (hopefully) more successful guilds.

Are players that can only log in for 2-3 hours per night a good match for a successful trading guild? Or, are those players a good match for a casual trading guild?

In addition, in those 2-3 hours per night, how much stuff do you actually have to sell?

2-3 hours a night is a lot. I play 2-3 hours a week and I'm in successful trading guilds.

If you can't sell, then just pay your dues instead.

If you only farm or resell for those 2-3 hours that you play every night, you can easily make 1 million+ gold a week.

Ahh, the union of ESO that you actually get nothing out of. "Pay your dues or else! No we're not giving you anything in return!"
No thanks. I'll stay guild-less.

MLGProPlayer

Mystrius_Archaion wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

MudcrabSammich wrote: »

I just have a few hours a night to play because I work long hours, so no, I don't have time to stand around in zone trying to hock my wares. I really wish there was another way. I'm thinking of dumping one of the guilds I'm in, pending an invite from one of the (hopefully) more successful guilds.

Are players that can only log in for 2-3 hours per night a good match for a successful trading guild? Or, are those players a good match for a casual trading guild?

In addition, in those 2-3 hours per night, how much stuff do you actually have to sell?

2-3 hours a night is a lot. I play 2-3 hours a week and I'm in successful trading guilds.

If you can't sell, then just pay your dues instead.

If you only farm or resell for those 2-3 hours that you play every night, you can easily make 1 million+ gold a week.

Ahh, the union of ESO that you actually get nothing out of. "Pay your dues or else! No we're not giving you anything in return!"
No thanks. I'll stay guild-less.

Suit yourself.

It's beneficial to be in a good trading guild. Let's say I need an infusion of gold one day to buy something. I can just go farm for a few hours and bam, I'm back to six figures as I can list and sell my wares instantly.

disintegr8

Chronicburn wrote: »

Definitely need an auction house, that's how you know how much to pay for an item, how much to list an item at, and it makes finding things you need 1000000X easier than the current system. It's a total non brainer. The only reason to keep the current system is to allow people with convienient trader locations to gouge people on prices

So you want an Auction House to avoid paying too much for an item or to stop you selling something too cheaply. No way - people only get gouged if they cannot be bothered shopping around or farming for an item themselves. You just want the lazy mans option.

The only changes I would like to see (for console) is a global search function and/or an alphabetical search in the trading window.

The global search function simply lists the traders that have what you are looking for and where they are. This is a QoL issue for people after the 'rarer' items in the game. You still have to travel to find the price, so still have to decide if you want to shop around.

An alphabetical search function would just make it easier to find a particular item in the guild store. Instead of having to search through pages of green recipes or purple motifs, you could enter a key work to narrow down the search. You still have to shop around if you want the 'best deal'.

Chronicburn

At least put an auction house on consoles ...

Mystrius_Archaion

disintegr8 wrote: »

An alphabetical search function would just make it easier to find a particular item in the guild store. Instead of having to search through pages of green recipes or purple motifs, you could enter a key work to narrow down the search. You still have to shop around if you want the 'best deal'.

That's a completely separate issue that should have been in from day one, especially on PC which still doesn't have it.
It's completely mind-boggling why a basic search isn't included in the trader UI.

FoolishHuman

CalydorEstalon wrote: »

In WoW, I used to play the auction house a lot when I felt like it.
In FF14, I used to play the market board a lot when I felt like it.
In ESO ... I just don't care about crafting and buying or selling off the guild traders because there are too many hoops to jump through to make it work well.

And this is exactly why the game shouldn't have an auction house. So people play the game instead of playing stock broker.

disintegr8

Mystrius_Archaion wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

MudcrabSammich wrote: »

I just have a few hours a night to play because I work long hours, so no, I don't have time to stand around in zone trying to hock my wares. I really wish there was another way. I'm thinking of dumping one of the guilds I'm in, pending an invite from one of the (hopefully) more successful guilds.

Are players that can only log in for 2-3 hours per night a good match for a successful trading guild? Or, are those players a good match for a casual trading guild?

In addition, in those 2-3 hours per night, how much stuff do you actually have to sell?

2-3 hours a night is a lot. I play 2-3 hours a week and I'm in successful trading guilds.

If you can't sell, then just pay your dues instead.

If you only farm or resell for those 2-3 hours that you play every night, you can easily make 1 million+ gold a week.

Ahh, the union of ESO that you actually get nothing out of. "Pay your dues or else! No we're not giving you anything in return!"
No thanks. I'll stay guild-less.

Seriously?

If you are only worried about the dues, you only have to sell a handful of reasonable items to recoup your weekly dues - 5 or 10 minutes work to list a few things at a marketable price will cover it. Have some duplicate motifs to sell, an oversupply of ingredients filling your inventory - sell them.

On PS4 NA, a kuta or two at 4-5k each, a rosin, dreugh wax or temper alloy at 5K+ each - you've made more than your weekly dues in no time. If you can't be bothered doing that little effort, you won't get any sympathy here.

Mystrius_Archaion

disintegr8 wrote: »

Mystrius_Archaion wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

MudcrabSammich wrote: »

I just have a few hours a night to play because I work long hours, so no, I don't have time to stand around in zone trying to hock my wares. I really wish there was another way. I'm thinking of dumping one of the guilds I'm in, pending an invite from one of the (hopefully) more successful guilds.

Are players that can only log in for 2-3 hours per night a good match for a successful trading guild? Or, are those players a good match for a casual trading guild?

In addition, in those 2-3 hours per night, how much stuff do you actually have to sell?

2-3 hours a night is a lot. I play 2-3 hours a week and I'm in successful trading guilds.

If you can't sell, then just pay your dues instead.

If you only farm or resell for those 2-3 hours that you play every night, you can easily make 1 million+ gold a week.

Ahh, the union of ESO that you actually get nothing out of. "Pay your dues or else! No we're not giving you anything in return!"
No thanks. I'll stay guild-less.

Seriously?

If you are only worried about the dues, you only have to sell a handful of reasonable items to recoup your weekly dues - 5 or 10 minutes work to list a few things at a marketable price will cover it. Have some duplicate motifs to sell, an oversupply of ingredients filling your inventory - sell them.

On PS4 NA, a kuta or two at 4-5k each, a rosin, dreugh wax or temper alloy at 5K+ each - you've made more than your weekly dues in no time. If you can't be bothered doing that little effort, you won't get any sympathy here.

Please forgive my ignorance, but...
Are the dues set by the game system at a specific amount or decided upon by the guild leader/completely optional barring being kicked out?

Dues set by the game system would be a pretty crappy mechanic while dues set by the guild leader wouldn't always be "so easy to pay", as you say they supposedly are, if there is a greedy guild leader or maybe a smaller guild.

Mystrius_Archaion

FoolishHuman wrote: »

CalydorEstalon wrote: »

In WoW, I used to play the auction house a lot when I felt like it.
In FF14, I used to play the market board a lot when I felt like it.
In ESO ... I just don't care about crafting and buying or selling off the guild traders because there are too many hoops to jump through to make it work well.

And this is exactly why the game shouldn't have an auction house. So people play the game instead of playing stock broker.

LOL
They already do play stock broker, insider trading stock broker. They get all the info on the prices at other traders and can set their price at the same level or higher, or because of the exclusivity of trader location and lack of supply due to grind and lack of interest in selling can post prices stupid high.

And actually, playing the economy has always been a valid way to play with crafter characters and farming characters and the ability to trade with players.

If they didn't want anybody to play the economy then there would be no grind, just guaranteed rewards, and/or there would be some npc vendor with everything for sale at all times for a higher price but still reasonable for those that want to avoid grind.
Or, they could just make everything BoP to kill "economy playing".

Chronicburn

FoolishHuman wrote: »

CalydorEstalon wrote: »

In WoW, I used to play the auction house a lot when I felt like it.
In FF14, I used to play the market board a lot when I felt like it.
In ESO ... I just don't care about crafting and buying or selling off the guild traders because there are too many hoops to jump through to make it work well.

And this is exactly why the game shouldn't have an auction house. So people play the game instead of playing stock broker.

What are you taking about? Half the people are playing interior decorator instead of playing the game so why should you care?
Auction house for me saves time so I have more time to play the game.

MudcrabSammich

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

MudcrabSammich wrote: »

I just have a few hours a night to play because I work long hours, so no, I don't have time to stand around in zone trying to hock my wares. I really wish there was another way. I'm thinking of dumping one of the guilds I'm in, pending an invite from one of the (hopefully) more successful guilds.

Are players that can only log in for 2-3 hours per night a good match for a successful trading guild? Or, are those players a good match for a casual trading guild?

In addition, in those 2-3 hours per night, how much stuff do you actually have to sell?

2-3 hours a night is a lot. I play 2-3 hours a week and I'm in successful trading guilds.

If you can't sell, then just pay your dues instead.

If you only farm or resell for those 2-3 hours that you play every night, you can easily make 1 million+ gold a week.

This person was responding to my original comment, that I play 2 to 3 hours a night and don't have time to stand around in zone chat selling. I belong in 3 guilds and 2 of them this week don't have a trade spot. i have absolutely no problem finding things to sell. When 1 of my guilds had a great spot last week, I made so much, more than I ever expected and it was thrilling, I loved it. That guy seems to think that if i "only' play 2 to 3 hours a night, I could never have anything worth selling. That is just not true. Yeah, maybe I'm not turning over millions a week, but it was 6 digits and it was good enough for me. My original point was, I belong in 3 guilds. 2 of them this week don't have a trade spot, lost their bids, and this is after me donating over $10k to one of them and probably about $5k to the others. On top of that, I donated to raffles that I never win. It just seems ridiculous and to me, it is like jumping through hoops.

disintegr8

Mystrius_Archaion wrote: »

disintegr8 wrote: »

Mystrius_Archaion wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

MudcrabSammich wrote: »

I just have a few hours a night to play because I work long hours, so no, I don't have time to stand around in zone trying to hock my wares. I really wish there was another way. I'm thinking of dumping one of the guilds I'm in, pending an invite from one of the (hopefully) more successful guilds.

Are players that can only log in for 2-3 hours per night a good match for a successful trading guild? Or, are those players a good match for a casual trading guild?

In addition, in those 2-3 hours per night, how much stuff do you actually have to sell?

2-3 hours a night is a lot. I play 2-3 hours a week and I'm in successful trading guilds.

If you can't sell, then just pay your dues instead.

If you only farm or resell for those 2-3 hours that you play every night, you can easily make 1 million+ gold a week.

Ahh, the union of ESO that you actually get nothing out of. "Pay your dues or else! No we're not giving you anything in return!"
No thanks. I'll stay guild-less.

Seriously?

If you are only worried about the dues, you only have to sell a handful of reasonable items to recoup your weekly dues - 5 or 10 minutes work to list a few things at a marketable price will cover it. Have some duplicate motifs to sell, an oversupply of ingredients filling your inventory - sell them.

On PS4 NA, a kuta or two at 4-5k each, a rosin, dreugh wax or temper alloy at 5K+ each - you've made more than your weekly dues in no time. If you can't be bothered doing that little effort, you won't get any sympathy here.

Please forgive my ignorance, but...
Are the dues set by the game system at a specific amount or decided upon by the guild leader/completely optional barring being kicked out?

Dues set by the game system would be a pretty crappy mechanic while dues set by the guild leader wouldn't always be "so easy to pay", as you say they supposedly are, if there is a greedy guild leader or maybe a smaller guild.

Dues are set by the guild master. I assume (I have never run a guild) that they are set based on historical cost of winning trader bids, so that when bidding time comes around the guild has enough gold to stand a chance at a trader in a good spot.

I figure 450 - 500 members in a successful guild at 10k a head is 4.5 to 5 million a week - which is still probably not enough to win a bid in a major trading centre - sales commission and donations over and above weekly fees would make up the shortfall. I actually know that guild masters and other guild officers sometimes make up any shortfall in funds at bidding time.

I am in 3 large guilds (one of which relies on voluntary donations) and a small one and as a result have a trader in Wayrest, Elden Root and Rawl'ka this week, as well as one in an out of the way place. Between them my guilds get 70-80k in fees/donations from me every week but 30 minutes work every weekend stocking them brings a minimum 500k in sales.

As for greedy guild masters - I would not know how many are out there, but as long as my stuff sells, I am happy. Going rate for weekly fees on PS4 NA is about 10k for a large guild - if it rises too quickly, or you suddenly spend more weeks without a trader than having one, it is time to either ask questions or find another guild.

VaranisArano

Mystrius_Archaion wrote: »

Please forgive my ignorance, but...
Are the dues set by the game system at a specific amount or decided upon by the guild leader/completely optional barring being kicked out?
Dues set by the game system would be a pretty crappy mechanic while dues set by the guild leader wouldn't always be "so easy to pay", as you say they supposedly are, if there is a greedy guild leader or maybe a smaller guild.

@Mystrius_Archaion Dues are set by the guild. There might even be no dues at all! If you look back to my comment listing my three guilds, I have one guild that has no dues and makes money through sales, donations to the guild auction, and a raffle. Another guild asks for a sales requirement of 1000g a week or 1 raffle ticket for 1000g. My third guild in the best location of the three asks for sales of 10k a week or 10k in raffle tickets. I have absolutely no trouble making these weekly minimums, but I also farm and sell items consistently. Players who don't might not find some of my guilds a good fit, and that's okay. Not every guild is a good fit for every player.

There's a huge variety. If you want a trading guild in a prime location that does a ton of sales and probably has a super high bid to get that spot, yeah, you probably will have to chip in more whether that's in a weekly due or a higher sales requirement (remember that for a guild 300k in sales is equal to 10k profit for the guild in the guild tax whenever you think that 10k is a high due). Good spots can require a guild to pay several million gold to keep their spot each week. For the players in those guilds, they all make enough in sales to afford the dues and feel like they are making a worthwhile investment in the guild in return for that space.

Thing is, if the dues are too high for you or you feel like the guild leader is greedy or that you aren't getting value out of your donation, you are totally free to hit X and leave the guild. There's nothing holding you in a bad guild. There are plenty of other good guilds out there that you can look at to see if they fit your playstyle and I'm sure they'd be happy to have you sell with them.

kargen27

Mystrius_Archaion wrote: »

kargen27 wrote: »

Chronicburn wrote: »

We need an auction house.

No we really don't. I like being able to purchase a rare item at a fair price.

Really? A fair price you say?
How do you manage that? Do you purposefully only go to out of the way traders where nobody else shops to find people listing their items super low because they don't sell?

A global auction house always has better prices than separate traders because of the same reason you have higher prices for things at a convenience store/gas station. You're paying the premium for convenience as they gouge you.

A global auction house has better prices on common items because people continue to undercut others for the quick sell. Sure a bag of chips might cost more at a convenience store but try and get a side of premium beef from them. Thing is those cheaper common items hurt the casual player when it comes to making gold.

The rare items will go up in price and not by just a little bit. It would take three maybe four people to control the price on the rare item of their choice. All they gotta do is watch one location and snatch up all of that particular item they see. There are people that would do this and have no qualms about it. They then sit on the items for a bit then let them trickle out at extremely high prices. Easy to do with an auction house. Much more difficult with the system in place.

And yeah if I am looking for a big ticket item in game I do shop around some. I also tend to visit the vendors near me when I am out in the boonies to grab a few things just as a way to offer a bit of support.

Back to pricing. The lower prices on common items and the much higher prices on rare items would put a real hurt on the casual players looking for that top of the line ring or special motif. Visit forums dedicated to other games that do have an auction house and you don't have to search long to find a lot of posts complaining of someone wrecking the market for one item or another.

wenchmore420b14_ESO

Ok.. Since no one has said it yet.......

Motherball

FoolishHuman wrote: »

Motherball wrote: »

Does that mean I’m not supposed to be able to enjoy trading in this game? There really should be a way for small timers to sell their crap without having to leave otherwise very good guilds.

You can sell to NPCs any time you know. If you can't afford a big trading guild you probably don't need much gold anyway. My guild with merchant in rawl'kha takes 2k in dues every week, if you don't make that through questing then you really don't need to sell stuff.

Selling stuff really isnt the issue. I can sell 10 perfect roe in a week, no problem. But I’m not sure I can or want to do that every week for more than one guild. I’m not trying to come off as whiney. I like the system, but it is unnecessarily frustrating to use and needs a lot of improvement in my opinion. Guilds should be a place to foster community, not something to use and discard when the wind changes direction; or a place to extort players who enjoy worthwhile trading options.

disintegr8

Motherball wrote: »

FoolishHuman wrote: »

Motherball wrote: »

Does that mean I’m not supposed to be able to enjoy trading in this game? There really should be a way for small timers to sell their crap without having to leave otherwise very good guilds.

You can sell to NPCs any time you know. If you can't afford a big trading guild you probably don't need much gold anyway. My guild with merchant in rawl'kha takes 2k in dues every week, if you don't make that through questing then you really don't need to sell stuff.

Selling stuff really isnt the issue. I can sell 10 perfect roe in a week, no problem. But I’m not sure I can or want to do that every week for more than one guild. I’m not trying to come off as whiney. I like the system, but it is unnecessarily frustrating to use and needs a lot of improvement in my opinion. Guilds should be a place to foster community, not something to use and discard when the wind changes direction; or a place to extort players who enjoy worthwhile trading options.

There are non trading guilds, for grouping, trials, PVP and the like, which should be free and you can still buy and sell within the guild membership using the guild store.

Some of these can still get cheaper traders if members donate but turnover will be slow. The reality is simply that if you want a guild that gets a trader in a more populated location, that comes at a price.

Do you have any improvement suggestions for ZOS?
Maybe a free market where you can list stuff for sale without using guilds or traders, such as an Auction House. Maybe ZOS set flat fees for trading sites and if there are 10 guilds wanting the same site, a guild is drawn out of a hat to have that site for the week (whether they actually have anything to sell or not).

There are still going to be people or guilds who find a way to manipulate the system - corner the market on specific items, artificially raise or lower item values, maybe bid and hold a site without actually having anything to sell, collude to lock down a trading area.

Human nature is still a factor and there will always be people out there looking to take advantage of every situation. I don't know that there is anything ZOS can do to stop it.