A Thread About How I Like the Current Guild Trader System

Orjix · July 2017

So i see it all the time here on the forums, people are constantly complaining about how there is no global action house, and i feel like i should say something.
I LOVE THE WAY GUILD TRADERS ARE IN THE GAME.
sure, having a global action house may be more convenient, but with the price of convenience there also come with it the negative effects that i would have, if there was a global action house would i have been able to buy 5 different alliance motifs for 10 gold each, pick up a stack or raw rubidite for 3 gold a pop? probably not! i make a killing in my trading guild by picking off these low priced items and then reselling them on a guild trader in a big city, i love the way it feels having to have your guild fight for a spot, and just traveling around to all the small traders in hopes that you can find a steal, or going through guild stores that don't have a trader to find that epicly priced item it just fun and exhilarating. It makes you feel like a master of the art of the deal when you pull this off. i just (personally) cant understand all the hate for the system. it makes you work, BIG DEAL! you put in the time, you come out with a metric-butt-ton of money, and who doesn't love money?

Diminish · July 2017

I didn't buy the game to port around looking at load screens nor do I enjoy sifting through pages upon pages of items with no real guarantee that what I want is even listed at the trader I'm at. I'm happy that you find enjoyment out of that, but the system is broken. You defend it because you are probably in capital city trading guilds. I get it, you want to maintain that buy low/sell high mentality. Good for you. 95% of the other players feel otherwise.

IronCrystal · July 2017

I would say, I enjoy the aspect of location mattering in terms of traders. I enjoy going from trader to trader trying to find good deals. I know I could go to the top capital cities and get it for the most part instantly, but its gonna cost me more.

What I don't like is the terrible UI ZOS implemented. I use Advanced Guild Traders or whatever the addon is called and now I love the trading system.

All ZOS needs is a better filter function for finding items for sale at a trader.

Agobi · July 2017

Good timing...I was just thinking what this forum really needed was one more thread about AH and the trading system.... o.O

Orjix · July 2017

IronCrystal wrote: »

I would say, I enjoy the aspect of location mattering in terms of traders. I enjoy going from trader to trader trying to find good deals. I know I could go to the top capital cities and get it for the most part instantly, but its gonna cost me more.

What I don't like is the terrible UI ZOS implemented. I use Advanced Guild Traders or whatever the addon is called and now I love the trading system.

All ZOS needs is a better filter function for finding items for sale at a trader.

alright i forgot, an addon is essentially needed to make it enjoyable, but after the addon is installed its all fun and games

Orjix · July 2017

Agobi wrote: »

Good timing...I was just thinking what this forum really needed was one more thread about AH and the trading system.... o.O

lol i know, i just am sick of seeing all of the "we need an action house threads" so i decided to state my opinion

Tandor · July 2017

Orjix wrote: »

i make a killing in my trading guild by picking off these low priced items and then reselling them on a guild trader in a big city

That is, of course, one of the scare arguments people put forward against an auction house, that people will buy up all the items cheap and resell them at a high price. Thank you for confirming that the practice exists under the existing system.

I don't personally want an auction house necessarily, I just want a trading system that is open to all and if that can be done by opening up the existing system then that's fine by me. I've suggested many times that one way of doing it would be by having a single NPC merchant in the main trading locations with whom anyone could list a small number of items at a high level of commission that would be divided between the guilds trading in that location. This would cater for casual sellers who currently cannot participate in the guild trading system as well as those who either don't want to be in trading guilds or are in guilds without traders at any particular time.

However, there is also the argument that for the guild trading system to operate successfully sellers have to rely on addons and those are (a) contributing to performance and security concerns and (b) not accessible to console players. I don't know of any PC supporters of the present trading system whose support would remain unchanged if the trading addons were removed yet they expect console players to accept the present system without those addons unquestioningly.

If ZOS want to persist with the present trading system they should at the very least acknowledge the need to improve it and do so in such a way that makes it equally workable across the different platforms.

abigfishy · July 2017

The worst thing is the search function in the guild stores. You have to scroll through far too many pages (often blank pages) to find the item you want or to find out that it is not there. Why can't there be a sensible search system?

MLGProPlayer · July 2017

I'm in several major trade guilds. I make a ton of gold. I still don't like the trader system.

- You have to waste an insane amount of time searching for goods. I don't know about other people, but I prefer to play the game instead of playing a shopping simulator for 2 hours whenever I need something. TTC helps with this, but it's not perfect, and it isn't available on consoles.

- Trade guilds waste guild slots. If you're serious about trading, you need at least 3 trading guilds (but I know of many people with all 5 slots dedicated to trading guilds). With traders only allowing you to sell 30 items at a time, joining multiple guilds is a necessity.This means you have less slots available to join guilds that do actual content (like raiding or PvP). Some of the more established trading guilds set up events, but a lot don't.

- Trading guilds require commitment. You need to log on every week to either sell your minimum requirement or pay your dues. This adds a layer of unneeded stress to an activity that should be relaxing (you shouldn't have to feel compelled to log on every week if you don't want to). Sure you can get an invite back into a guild if you get kicked, but it's an extra step you need to take after coming back to the game. If you're leaving on vacation or something, you need to message your guild leaders letting them know so they don't kick you. It's silly.

Yolokin_Swagonborn · July 2017

Current system is a garbage time sink, favors only the richest guilds in the best spots, and makes it very difficult to find rare gear.

It needs an overhaul yesterday.

Vipstaakki · July 2017

Diminish wrote: »

I didn't buy the game to port around looking at load screens nor do I enjoy sifting through pages upon pages of items with no real guarantee that what I want is even listed at the trader I'm at. I'm happy that you find enjoyment out of that, but the system is broken. You defend it because you are probably in capital city trading guilds. I get it, you want to maintain that buy low/sell high mentality. Good for you. 95% of the other players feel otherwise.

Where you do you get this 95%? Last time i checked 56% of the people on the forums enjoy trading as it is currently. The AH lunatics are in the minority here.

Cpt_Teemo · July 2017

Hardly anything to be liked about the current trade system its the most horrid system ever in the history of MMO's tbh.

Cpt_Teemo · July 2017

Vipstaakki wrote: »

Diminish wrote: »

I didn't buy the game to port around looking at load screens nor do I enjoy sifting through pages upon pages of items with no real guarantee that what I want is even listed at the trader I'm at. I'm happy that you find enjoyment out of that, but the system is broken. You defend it because you are probably in capital city trading guilds. I get it, you want to maintain that buy low/sell high mentality. Good for you. 95% of the other players feel otherwise.

Where you do you get this 95%? Last time i checked 56% of the people on the forums enjoy trading as it is currently. The AH lunatics are in the minority here.

If its 56% then its the majority, not the minority, and plus I really do believe alot more than just 56% of the entire game want an AH, or atleast something close to it so we don't have to waste our entire gameplay time running around like lab rats.

Tandor · July 2017

When swapping statistics it's important not to confuse those who don't want an AH with those who like the present system as it is. Various polls have shown that most of those who oppose a different system do actually want significant changes to the existing one. Only a very small minority want the present system left exactly as it is, and I suspect they're all on PC and heavily reliant on addons.

Of course, it's also important to remember that it never strengthens your argument to throw personal abuse at those who hold a different opinion to you, such as calling them "lunatics" for example.

MLGProPlayer · July 2017

Tandor wrote: »

When swapping statistics it's important not to confuse those who don't want an AH with those who like the present system as it is. Various polls have shown that most of those who oppose a different system do actually want significant changes to the existing one. Only a very small minority want the present system left exactly as it is, and I suspect they're all on PC and heavily reliant on addons.

Of course, it's also important to remember that it never strengthens your argument to throw personal abuse at those who hold a different opinion to you, such as calling them "lunatics" for example.

Even add-ons can't fully fix things.

TTC acts as a global AH of sorts but it requires that each trader in the game be scanned to be updated. This relies on players using the add-on. The dev scans all traders once a day as well, but this isn't a perfect system.

Awesome Guild Store lets you search guild traders, but only the current page (not the entire trader). This means you still need to click through dozens of blank pages to find what you're looking for.

The only people who like the current system are those that only trade and do nothing else in the game.

TheEvilJD · July 2017

You literally described everything wrong with the current system.... with no auction house, casual players can't sell items for their real prices and also it's a struggle to even find the items you are looking for. So there are some traders that earn millions a week, but people that don't want to waste all their time trading lose out

Faustes · July 2017

The current trade system is horrible.

* Encourages trade spam in zone chat
* Makes guild pride meaningless - everything is just a trade guild
* Encourages scams/ripoffs - hard to evaluate what items are really worth
* Have to endlessly port around to different zones just to try to find a simple item you're looking for

It's 2017 - we really need a global auction house like all MMOs.

Betheny · July 2017

TheEvilJD wrote: »

You literally described everything wrong with the current system.... with no auction house, casual players can't sell items for their real prices and also it's a struggle to even find the items you are looking for. So there are some traders that earn millions a week, but people that don't want to waste all their time trading lose out

This.

Is the OP being ironic or is he being serious....or

maybe.

Orjix · July 2017

Betheny wrote: »

TheEvilJD wrote: »

You literally described everything wrong with the current system.... with no auction house, casual players can't sell items for their real prices and also it's a struggle to even find the items you are looking for. So there are some traders that earn millions a week, but people that don't want to waste all their time trading lose out

This.

Is the OP being ironic or is he being serious....or maybe.

nope all serious here @Betheny

Betheny · July 2017

Orjix wrote: »

Betheny wrote: »

TheEvilJD wrote: »

You literally described everything wrong with the current system.... with no auction house, casual players can't sell items for their real prices and also it's a struggle to even find the items you are looking for. So there are some traders that earn millions a week, but people that don't want to waste all their time trading lose out

This.

Is the OP being ironic or is he being serious....or maybe.

nope all serious here @Betheny

But literally everything you mentioned is what's wrong with the current system...you telling me you don't see the irony in your post?

People have written up huge lists about how terrible the current guild trader system is, has nothing there struck you and made you stop to think "hey maybe some of this system isn't quite working, changes could be made here to make it better"?

Betsararie · July 2017

The system is very simple. If you are in good trader location, the system works well for you. Even better if you don't have to pay anything to be there.

If you are in an out of the way location, you'll barely sell anything and as such, should not like the system.

From the buyer's POV, the system is inconvenient. Hopping from one trader to the next is somewhat ridiculous, and there is no guarantee you will find what you are looking for.

Out of the way traders very rarely have anything of value.

smacx250 · July 2017

To me, I "like" the current system because it offers various options for play that wouldn't be available with a global auction house. If you aren't in a trading guild and don't play the trading game it seems it's pointless to try and explain, because you don't like it, don't get it, and don't want it (I could say the same about grinding trials and whatnot for gear - but I don't and won't). If you actually do care why people like it, go read the 100's of posts over the last three years - it hasn't changed.

I say "like" in quotes because I agree that there are many deficiencies that don't benefit the system in any way, shape, or form. Namely the horrible search abilities. These kiosk trader NPCs do this day in and day out - it's their only job. Through the standard UI you should be able to walk up and "ask", "Did you get any Akaviri chest motifs in the last two days?" The trader would say, "yes - here you go!" And show them to you. Instead we get a "huh? Look through this heap of stuff I have back here and see what you can find." Completely broken and not in any sense in line with how traders should work. It's actually insulting!

Now imagine a global AH with the same interface. Feel much better paging through 1000's of screens until you get to the stuff you are interested in? At least I can go to certain traders that I know won't have crap loads of junk obscuring the "good stuff" (because they can't afford to list tons of stuff that won't sell). With an AH you are getting all that crap from EVERYONE dumped in one place for you to sort through. F that! The problem with most of (all?) the AH threads is that they assume a whole lot that all the problems with the current traders would be fixed in an AH - faulty logic! Instead, consider fixing all the problems with guild traders and then comparing that to the vision of an AH - and consider all the additional gameplay that guild traders provide (though you don't care because you don't like it, don't get it, and don't want it).

The game isn't about making it as easy as possible to fill your slots with everything you want on a moments notice. Otherwise, why not just hand me everything I want in the game from one big menu - screw actually doing anything to get anything! Hell, why should I even have to play the game when they could just give my character everything I want at creation time? And yeah, for all of you that always state "I can sell whatever I want on ebay", why don't they just give us machine guns, fighter jets, and nuclear bombs while they're at it? All that stuff came before ebay - if we get an AH we should have that in the game too!

FloppyTouch · July 2017

Once spent 2 days looking for 1 item total of 2 hours each jumping from guild trader to guild trader with an AH in 1 min I would have found it

Nuff said

Cpt_Teemo · July 2017

Blanco wrote: »

The system is very simple. If you are in good trader location, the system works well for you. Even better if you don't have to pay anything to be there.

If you are in an out of the way location, you'll barely sell anything and as such, should not like the system.

From the buyer's POV, the system is inconvenient. Hopping from one trader to the next is somewhat ridiculous, and there is no guarantee you will find what you are looking for.

Out of the way traders very rarely have anything of value.

Simple for someone that can only log in for 2 hours a day, really.

Betsararie · July 2017

Kyle1983b14_ESO wrote: »

Blanco wrote: »

The system is very simple. If you are in good trader location, the system works well for you. Even better if you don't have to pay anything to be there.

If you are in an out of the way location, you'll barely sell anything and as such, should not like the system.

From the buyer's POV, the system is inconvenient. Hopping from one trader to the next is somewhat ridiculous, and there is no guarantee you will find what you are looking for.

Out of the way traders very rarely have anything of value.

Simple for someone that can only log in for 2 hours a day, really.

lol'd

In all honesty if you only play this game 2 hours a day, you will get next to nothing done, and achieve very little. I say that in a very kind way... however the reason for that is how long everything takes to do in this game.

Everything takes soooo long to do in this game. Just doing your writs alone and actually going to the waypoints to turn in the quests, and sorting all of the items you get from the writs.... all of that can take over an hour on 1 char. I don't know how, but it can.

One daily quest can take close to an hour, depending on the quest.

If you play 2 hours a day, I daresay you will be able to, in fact, play the game very little. I strive for 6 hours a day (sometimes can't do it), and I even wish I could play far more than that.

Narvuntien · July 2017

I have never played another MMO so I have no idea if a AH is better.

I really like my trade guild. Without the current system it just wouldn't exist. No one would have to work together to get a guild trader. They would all blindy list things and be on thier way with no human interaction at all.

MLGProPlayer · July 2017

Blanco wrote: »

Kyle1983b14_ESO wrote: »

Blanco wrote: »

The system is very simple. If you are in good trader location, the system works well for you. Even better if you don't have to pay anything to be there.

If you are in an out of the way location, you'll barely sell anything and as such, should not like the system.

From the buyer's POV, the system is inconvenient. Hopping from one trader to the next is somewhat ridiculous, and there is no guarantee you will find what you are looking for.

Out of the way traders very rarely have anything of value.

Simple for someone that can only log in for 2 hours a day, really.

lol'd

In all honesty if you only play this game 2 hours a day, you will get next to nothing done, and achieve very little. I say that in a very kind way... however the reason for that is how long everything takes to do in this game.

Everything takes soooo long to do in this game. Just doing your writs alone and actually going to the waypoints to turn in the quests, and sorting all of the items you get from the writs.... all of that can take over an hour on 1 char. I don't know how, but it can.

One daily quest can take close to an hour, depending on the quest.

If you play 2 hours a day, I daresay you will be able to, in fact, play the game very little. I strive for 6 hours a day (sometimes can't do it), and I even wish I could play far more than that.

It's because of all the loading. If you just stick to one character, it's not so bad.

I don't even log onto my alts to pick up hireling mail. I just can't stand loading screens.

Betsararie · July 2017

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Blanco wrote: »

Kyle1983b14_ESO wrote: »

Blanco wrote: »

The system is very simple. If you are in good trader location, the system works well for you. Even better if you don't have to pay anything to be there.

If you are in an out of the way location, you'll barely sell anything and as such, should not like the system.

From the buyer's POV, the system is inconvenient. Hopping from one trader to the next is somewhat ridiculous, and there is no guarantee you will find what you are looking for.

Out of the way traders very rarely have anything of value.

Simple for someone that can only log in for 2 hours a day, really.

lol'd

In all honesty if you only play this game 2 hours a day, you will get next to nothing done, and achieve very little. I say that in a very kind way... however the reason for that is how long everything takes to do in this game.

Everything takes soooo long to do in this game. Just doing your writs alone and actually going to the waypoints to turn in the quests, and sorting all of the items you get from the writs.... all of that can take over an hour on 1 char. I don't know how, but it can.

One daily quest can take close to an hour, depending on the quest.

If you play 2 hours a day, I daresay you will be able to, in fact, play the game very little. I strive for 6 hours a day (sometimes can't do it), and I even wish I could play far more than that.

It's because of all the loading. If you just stick to one character, it's not so bad.

I don't even log onto my alts to pick up hireling mail. I just can't stand loading screens.

That is likely a primary cause.

The loading times in this game are absurd. so long

That is largely why it takes such a long time to do things. I dread the loading screens. Oftentimes, they are painful.

And god forbid, you are stuck in an infinite loading screen. Truly, it is a terrible experience.

I wish the loading times were improved.

Cpt_Teemo · July 2017

If the loading was cut to nearly instant I wouldn't mind as much but to go around the entire game every day in 3-10 min loading screen is bad.

Kurkikohtaus · July 2017

The for and against arguments are ALL moot, for 2 reasons:

1 - ZOS will never implement a global auction house. The current system is what we have and always will have, so either learn to use it or don't participate in trading.

2 - "IF" a global auction house were to be implemented, it would immediately bowl over the existing system, because even those that favour it would abandon guild traders and use the new system out of necessity. So any arguments "for" guild traders fall by the wayside, largely due to the predictable, server-wide activity that would ensue.

Can anyone who favours guild trading in all honesty state that they would boycott a global auction house if one were implemented?

nine9six · July 2017

Guild Traders SUCK.