[Console] Zone Wide Guild Trading Hubs and Searching

Williamxx · August 2015

After playing this game after two months one of the top things that frustrates me are the guild traders. I think I understand the principle behind it... Well kind of. What I personally would like to see (since there isn't going to be an auction house) is being able to access all the guild traders at once in a particular zone. It would still make players travel to each zone, looking for deals, but I don't have to go to each trader and search individually.

That brings up the next point of how horrible the search functionality is as well. No place to search by name, searching options reset at each guild trader you visit, and just an overall pain in the arse. It took me so long to search for a particular ring this weekend. Literally I would have to go to each guild trader and set Apparel > accessory > ring (when it didn't bug out) > vet rank > quality> look for item. I had to do this with like every guild trader in the game. It was sooo frustrating.

I think the overall consensus is the system needs some work. I hope for change someday...

NewBlacksmurf · August 2015

I have to disagree to the idea of making all guild traders available via one.
I think you're missing other key parts of the system and why those limitations are in place.

Regarding fixing the search and filters within the traders- Yyyeeessss!!!!

puffy99 · August 2015

Yes, very good points OP!

What the heck is the purpose of having to travel to all of these far off places just to do a crappy, long process search?

If they are not going to allow an auction house they should at least have a global search, or a priority search of everyone in zone if they want to still have a premium on trader locations. But to have to travel is basically a joke and slows the entire game down to a crawl. terrible design decision and no REAL purpose I can think of..

Williamxx · August 2015

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

I have to disagree to the idea of making all guild traders available via one.
I think you're missing other key parts of the system and why those limitations are in place.

Regarding fixing the search and filters within the traders- Yyyeeessss!!!!

Why are the limitations there? I'm still new to the game. Is it just so the "economy" doesn't crash due to bots an such?? Or about getting lucky and selling an item for higher than somebody else? I guess it would be less frustrating with good search options...

@puffy99 Yeah, travelling becomes a pain for sure. Especially area's where there is literally just one trader, and then they have nothing because they aren't sought after.

I guess the issue with having a zone wide hub would make it harder for smaller guilds to get a trader. However, most of those places are usually lacking goods to buy any ways. You could maybe add a rotation system per zone. If you win once in a zone you would be locked out for a week. This would allow other guilds to get in prime areas, but the other guilds still to have traders up.

Zorrashi · August 2015

Personally I think interconnecting kiosks in zone--be it a zone AH or a simple search--partially defeats at least one of the purposes of guild kiosks. That purpose is diversity of costs.

Part of the points of kiosks is the differing economic rates of goods in different regions. You may have a white quality weapon with a trait that costs barely 50g in one zone because several other newer players are selling similar products, but in coldharbor the same piece can go for 100g because that particular trait has not been up for sale at such a low price before (because they are usually with blue quality items, which costs more).
Or on a smaller scale, while top guilds in Rawl'kha sell their goods for a premium price due to their large convenient supply, a guild trader on the side of the road can offer the same goods for a lower price because they are aware they get less traffic.

All interconnectivity on such a large scale does it make it one step closer to being a zone AH--one market with only that one array of price rates for the limited array of items ingame.

That being said, the base UI for the guild stores can be improved. Adding a text search would be a nice place to start.

Lenikus · August 2015

"global search" = " auction house" so no, we ain't gonna get that ~

And that is precisely why some places (the most popular ones) are so expensive to guilds to have. if you want to search for an obscure item or price window, you kinda have to go to more obscure traders.

Asherons_Call · August 2015

Completely agree on all points. This was one of the first things I noticed when I started needing specific items

Williamxx · August 2015

@zorrashi well maybe zone wide for all guild traders are could be a bit much, but at least a trading hub in each zone's main city. So the obscure traders @Lenikus mentioned is still there, but makes it a bit streamlined for people who spent the money on guild traders in city.

I know this is an MMO, but it would also be nice just to have a "stock" trader that users without a trading guild(s) could sell their items on too. They can make this less lucrative by taking more of a cut. I just know I'm in 3 trader guilds that won't be getting a guild trader anytime soon. It would be nice to know I could have a place where my items might actually be seen. I don't feel like standing outside a way shrine asking people if they want to trade since there is no text chat.

However, the major thing we can all agree on is search functionality needs to be improved.