What Do You Think of ESO’s Trading System?

kargen27 · December 5

The system is fine as is, I enjoy the hunt and guild dynamics.

Artanisul wrote: »

kargen27 wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

I wouldn’t care if we keep this system or get a centralized system, though a centralized system would suck for trade guilds… but also would drive people to join more non-trade guilds. Main thing is I wish we had a sanctioned crown:gold conversion marketplace like other MMOs.

At this point a centralized system would be a disaster. There is a lot of players sitting on 100+million gold and they could easily manipulate the market on high end items. You also have the problem of players being able to see prices and undercutting on common items.
Common items prices would drop and rare items would shoot up in price. Had the game started with a central system maybe it would have worked. The system we have has created entire guilds that are built around trading as an end game activity. Changing it now would cause some of those players to leave the game.
The downside of changing is far greater than any upside. There could be some tweaks to what we have now. I would like to see a central board in each zone that lists items for every trader in that zone. No prices would be shown and you would need to go to the trader to purchase. That way players just wanting something and not worried about price can go to the most convenient location. Players wanting a bargain are going to have to hop around from trader to trader. Flippers can still flip.

The point you make here is only possible because the system wasnt fixed a long time ago.

The malicious people (the organized crime syndicate that has it now) WOULD do that to the system. Starving them out with reposting fees is the only way the market would recover for sure. They can do this because the keys to the market were handed to them over the years.

Neutral dealers would be very helpful. Caps on prices would be helpful.
RIght now on PC NA prices are so high for things that we just play like there is no Market. The game gains nothing from the current system, just the Mafia Guilds.

I've been trading for a very long time and prices are not high now. They were high before we had the ten year anniversary events that over supplied the market but were already beginning to correct before that hit. There is over 200 trader locations in the game. No syndicate or mafia is able to control the market. At best they maybe can control a few key locations. Other MMOs I've played that have a central market have had problems with a group of individuals controlling prices on certain items. A central location makes in much easier to do than the system ESO has in place.
Switching now would make what is a problem in other games much worse here. Also still have the problem of prices bottoming out for common and semi rare items. That is where most new players start making their gold and that opportunity goes away with a central system.
We have problems sure but a few well placed tweaks could make trading much better. The economy is vibrant, strong and flows well based on supply and demand. All it needs is a bit of quality of life consideration.

Nomadic_Atmoran · December 5

Too much running around, blind bidding, and reliance on add‑ons.

Unfortunately this forum is always going to skew in the direction of supporting the nonsense that is guild traders. Youre not going to get an insightful look into what the community thinks of the system from here. The supporters will definitely try to convince you theyre the voice of the many though.

SerafinaWaterstar · December 5

The system is fine as is, I enjoy the hunt and guild dynamics.

So, if I say I am happy with the trading system ‘nonsense’, then apparently I am some sort of shrill that doesn’t know what I am talking about, and my opinion is not valid. Ok.

Trading is not difficult. 3 of my social guilds have small traders from donations, and they sell stuff.

If the OP was not able to work out what many others have & do weekly, then rather than start some sort of crusade, might it not have been best to ask? Could have done it here or on other platforms; or even Googled it.

To change the current system to a central one would take time & resources better used elsewhere in the game.

Gabriel_H · December 5

Rufusstan wrote: »

What about the game is improved by not having an auction house).

A reason to visit zones.

Varana · December 5

The system is fine as is, I enjoy the hunt and guild dynamics.

Nomadic_Atmoran wrote: »

Unfortunately

this forum is always going to skew in the direction of supporting the nonsense that is a global auction house. Youre not going to get an insightful look into what the community thinks of the system from here. The supporters will definitely try to convince you they're the voice of the many though.

SilverBride · December 5

It’s clunky, but I’ve learned to live with it.

In real life if I am looking for something in particular I am not going to drive around town going from store to store until I find one I like. I am going to go to my favorite online shopping site, find what I want there then order it and have it delivered. It's not surprising that players would like the same convenience in game.

Vaqual · December 5

The system is fine as is, I enjoy the hunt and guild dynamics.

SilverBride wrote: »

In real life if I am looking for something in particular I am not going to drive around town going from store to store until I find one I like. I am going to go to my favorite online shopping site, find what I want there then order it and have it delivered. It's not surprising that players would like the same convenience in game.

Yeah that is what the medieval fantasy setting needs, online shopping and Wall Street.

SilverBride · December 5

It’s clunky, but I’ve learned to live with it.

Vaqual wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

In real life if I am looking for something in particular I am not going to drive around town going from store to store until I find one I like. I am going to go to my favorite online shopping site, find what I want there then order it and have it delivered. It's not surprising that players would like the same convenience in game.

Yeah that is what the medieval fantasy setting needs, online shopping and Wall Street.

It already has it. It's called the Crown Store.

JeroenB · December 5

I don’t trade enough for it to matter.

After some consideration I voted for "I don't trade enough for it to matter", but that's not quite right for my situation. Rather, I have little desire to engage in the 'trading game', I just want to be able to feed my unneeded drops into the player economy for some change rather than vending or destroying it.

Acting as an infrequent buyer, the trading guild mechanism is of course inconvenient, but for me that is outweighed by it being interesting. To me, it feels fitting for ESO's world more than globally unified or faction unified auction house NPCs would.

What I'm missing is a way to feed my drops into the player economy without having to join a Trading Guild. Perhaps more importantly, without having to bother with the pricing-guessing and unsold-items-management-game. General inventory management is already enough a waste of playing time in this game.

I do not think ZOS will ever change anything, but speculating for the fun of it, my proposal would be:

a merchant guild NPC that all players can sell tradeable items to at a dynamic, system-determined price;
a merchant guild auction house that player trading guild representatives can bid to buy those items from;
the player trading guilds can then include those items in their stock to sell back to players via their trading NPC.

This would give non-trading guild players an optional way to feel engaged with the player economy, feed more items into the player economy, and open up a whole new optional aspect in the 'trading mini-game' for players who enjoy engaging with that part of ESO.

Northwold · December 6

ESO needs a universal auction house like other MMOs.

JeroenB wrote: »

After some consideration I voted for "I don't trade enough for it to matter", but that's not quite right for my situation. Rather, I have little desire to engage in the 'trading game', I just want to be able to feed my unneeded drops into the player economy for some change rather than vending or destroying it.

Acting as an infrequent buyer, the trading guild mechanism is of course inconvenient, but for me that is outweighed by it being interesting. To me, it feels fitting for ESO's world more than globally unified or faction unified auction house NPCs would.

What I'm missing is a way to feed my drops into the player economy without having to join a Trading Guild. Perhaps more importantly, without having to bother with the pricing-guessing and unsold-items-management-game. General inventory management is already enough a waste of playing time in this game.

I do not think ZOS will ever change anything, but speculating for the fun of it, my proposal would be:
a merchant guild NPC that all players can sell tradeable items to at a dynamic, system-determined price;

a merchant guild auction house that player trading guild representatives can bid to buy those items from;

the player trading guilds can then include those items in their stock to sell back to players via their trading NPC.

This would give non-trading guild players an optional way to feel engaged with the player economy, feed more items into the player economy, and open up a whole new optional aspect in the 'trading mini-game' for players who enjoy engaging with that part of ESO.

I like this I think it's a good option for squaring the circle in terms of the selling gate.