Maintenance for the week of November 11:
• PC/Mac: NA and EU megaservers for patch maintenance – November 11, 4:00AM EST (9:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EST (14:00 UTC)
• Xbox: NA and EU megaservers for patch maintenance – November 13, 4:00AM EST (9:00 UTC) - 12:00PM EST (17:00 UTC)
• PlayStation®: NA and EU megaservers for patch maintenance – November 13, 4:00AM EST (9:00 UTC) - 12:00PM EST (17:00 UTC)
A serious possibly fatal design flaw
First I'm not a hater. I actually love this game. The breadth of its exploration alone is unique to MMORPGs of today and that alone gives it a place on the market that could sustain it.
The lore is both written and acted with great talent. I love questing on this game. The combat (though I feel the targeting functions could be improved) is a lot of fun. Crafting is straight forward and effective. Lack of inventory was an issue. But I just made priorities and can deal with it. Limited to only five abilities? No big deal for me. I feel it adds variety to separate masteries among players.
BUT (and I bold this for a reason) - this game's stubborn decision not to include a standard auction house is starting to seriously impede my enjoyment of this game.
I am the type of player who likes to take their time and explore and experience everything. Exactly the type of player this games seems to aim for. However, due to the lack of an auction house I am finding it increasingly difficult to obtain the materials I need to progress my character to my standards. I have joined many different guild stores and find them lacking, to put it diplomatically. Not to mention I find the whole idea of joining a guild simply to buy/sell stuff off-putting.
Already I am starting to feel as if I should hoard my rare materials since I have no reliable way to replenish them. In short - it's significantly impeding my character to the point its hurting my enjoyment of the game. And I refuse to start spamming advertisements or boring myself to tears reading constantly the zone chats in hopes someone is willing to sell me what I am looking for at a reasonable price.
So in the meantime, I am considering taking a break from this game in the hopes the developers will reconsider this and come back when a reliable economic system is put in place so players like me can better enjoy advancing their characters through what is without doubt a beautiful and interesting world.