Auction House coming officially - Sort of

SadisticSavior · May 2014

So bascially, how I am interpreting this, is that you have a few privileged guilds (or maybe just one) that are open to everyone on the server. But you need to pay a fee (as a guild) to get the privilege. And the fee has to be higher than what your competitors are paying?

Guild functionality updates: guild store interface updates, customizable guild insignias, tabards, and guild ranks, and Guild Kiosks—guild stores open to everyone that are available to the highest-bidding guild.

http://elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/post/2014/05/01/the-road-ahead---may-1st

If this is how it works, yeah, I can kinda agree with this I think. The guilds will then basically be like Mini Malls, where players can shop even if they are not members.

Jeremy · May 2014

SadisticSavior wrote: »

So bascially, how I am interpreting this, is that you have a few privileged guilds (or maybe just one) that are open to everyone on the server. But you need to pay a fee (as a guild) to get the privilege. And the fee has to be higher than what your competitors are paying?

Guild functionality updates: guild store interface updates, customizable guild insignias, tabards, and guild ranks, and Guild Kiosks—guild stores open to everyone that are available to the highest-bidding guild.

http://elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/post/2014/05/01/the-road-ahead---may-1st

If this is how it works, yeah, I can kinda agree with this I think. The guilds will then basically be like Mini Malls, where players can shop even if they are not members.

This sounds promising because this game's economy is total crap and needs immediate attention. So I'm glad to see the developers recognize this, and are working on ways to give players access to a larger market.

I will stick around to give it a shot and see if it works.

SadisticSavior · May 2014

I was a huge skeptic of the guild system, but I think this can be made to work. And it will avoid the 'Megamall" issues the DEVs are afraid of with a single server-wide Auction House. The MiniMall system will encourage competition and customer loyalty without removing choice from the player (you can still make your own merchant guild any time you want and invite people to join like you do now).

KariTR · May 2014

Yeah I like it I this idea. It seems like the system L2 had in place for permanent guild halls. There was a limited amount of properties and when one came on the market, it went to the highest bidder. It was quite an achievement for a guild to own a hall, especially if, like my own guild, you were relatively small.

I know many will complain about this (some subscribers have the mindset everything should be available to everyone) but, anything that fosters group cooperation is a positive endeavour, in my opinion.

Seraseth · May 2014

Depends how many guilds can sell to the public, what the cost is etc. If it's a very limited number, like 3, then that's not really any different as a buyer than being part of 3 trade guilds.

And for sellers, the competition to get into one of the few 'elite' trade guilds that are able to sell to the public still excludes a large portion of the players.

Depending on how it actually works, could be a real fix, or could be a tiny band-aid that doesn't really do much, but makes people feel better.

Jeremy · May 2014

Seraseth wrote: »

Depends how many guilds can sell to the public, what the cost is etc. If it's a very limited number, like 3, then that's not really any different as a buyer than being part of 3 trade guilds.

And for sellers, the competition to get into one of the few 'elite' trade guilds that are able to sell to the public still excludes a large portion of the players.

Depending on how it actually works, could be a real fix, or could be a tiny band-aid that doesn't really do much, but makes people feel better.

I'm skeptical too. And something tells me this is just a baby step toward putting in public auction house.

But since the developers are so afraid of them for some weird reason, I'll give it a shot.

Laerian · May 2014

How I see it

- One guild controls store kiosks for a limited amount of time (1 week probably)
- The incentive to win these kiosks is to open the guild store for everyone (I'm not gonna lie here I believe this is only for selling)

I'll reserve my opinión until I see a more clear description.

Abigail · May 2014

Just a hunch on my part, but I'm reasonably convinced all the developers' reasons for not instituting a global marketplace have much more to do with technical difficulties associated with server architecture. It's a fair bet game philosophy has much less to do with it than shear physical constraint.

Game economy shall forever remain gimped until sellers can reach the widest possible marketplace. This is a baby step in the right direction, but it is most definitely not a silver bullet solution.

Willow · May 2014

If a solo player can only buy from this type of set up then it is not good enough . We need an ebay or something. Solo players like to sell stuff too ya know.

SadisticSavior · May 2014

Abigail wrote: »

Just a hunch on my part, but I'm reasonably convinced all the developers' reasons for not instituting a global marketplace have much more to do with technical difficulties associated with server architecture.

In interviews they have said their reasons are based on game design and game economy...they think a single auction house will contribute to inflation and make it harder for Sellers to make a profit.

Morrawind · May 2014

I think they are just not capable to create a good auction house. Look at the bad design of the guild store.

Abigail · May 2014

SadisticSavior wrote: »

In interviews they have said their reasons are based on game design and game economy...they think a single auction house will contribute to inflation and make it harder for Sellers to make a profit.

Yeah, yeah, I've read the same propaganda as you.

I'm not condemning ESO, I like it generally, and more so than other MMOs I've played recently. But the developers obviously had a narrowly defined paradigm about how players were to engage in the game. ESO is about cottage industry, casual crafting, and players who ought to adhere rigidly to the storyline. The game's so called philosophy does not account for dedicated crafters or players wanting to engage in the economic meta game. As of now the only people achieving any wealth in the game are those who've found exploits; gold buyers; and, of course, the gold sellers. ESO's developers seem determined to ensure everyone else is forever sucking the proverbial hind teat.

Of course I must be wrong because everything about game delivery and functionality has been so completely flawless to this point.

Evanis · May 2014

This is a half-measured approach, and for the life of me, I do not understand their trepidation. There are no technical difficulties with a global AH on a megaserver as it has been done successfully before.

SadisticSavior · May 2014

Abigail wrote: »

SadisticSavior wrote: »

In interviews they have said their reasons are based on game design and game economy...they think a single auction house will contribute to inflation and make it harder for Sellers to make a profit.

Yeah, yeah, I've read the same propaganda as you.

So you are basically accusing them of lying.

Which is fine. But I'd like to know what you are basing your assumptions on, if not what the DEVs have actually said.

Abigail wrote: »

The game's so called philosophy does not account for dedicated crafters or players wanting to engage in the economic meta game.

No, it doesn't. It's not intended as an economic simulator. It's a medieval adventure game that has economic interactions as a facet. Wealth is not the goal of the game. It's a means to an end.

Most MMOs are like that. The closest thing I can think of to an economic simulator so far is Eve.

Abigail wrote: »

Of course I must be wrong because everything about game delivery and functionality has been so completely flawless to this point.

Compared to every other MMO launch I have seen so far, yeah, it is pretty flawless. Did not see any lag, servers were up most of the time, had no issues logging in, and bugs were few and far between. We are definitely on the same page here.

Shimond · May 2014

Evanis wrote: »

This is a half-measured approach, and for the life of me, I do not understand their trepidation. There are no technical difficulties with a global AH on a megaserver as it has been done successfully before.

You should go back in time and tell that to Arena when they first launched GW2. I'm sure they'd be surprised all the issues they had weren't really issues at all. I guess they were all in their head!

qwertyburnsb16_ESO · May 2014

Don't agree that an elite band of players will dominate the game and basically prevent all others and small guilds from having full access to the game. If this is true then it's absolute BS!

Just please put in way for all players and guilds of all sizes to sell their wares to the wider public. This isn't right as we all pay the same sub every month.

Already suggested one idea:

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/86831/how-about-a-shop-or-stall-mod-instead-of-an-ah#latest

Thesiren · May 2014

This is not even remotely worthwhile compared to a real server-wide or even faction-wide auction house. I see it having no real impact or affecting any real change because it will be so limited in availability (to only one or a couple of the richest megaguilds), and apparently it will be even more costly than current guild sales are. Pffft.

scruffycavetroll · May 2014

SadisticSavior wrote: »

So bascially, how I am interpreting this, is that you have a few privileged guilds (or maybe just one) that are open to everyone on the server. But you need to pay a fee (as a guild) to get the privilege. And the fee has to be higher than what your competitors are paying?

Guild functionality updates: guild store interface updates, customizable guild insignias, tabards, and guild ranks, and Guild Kiosks—guild stores open to everyone that are available to the highest-bidding guild.

http://elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/post/2014/05/01/the-road-ahead---may-1st

If this is how it works, yeah, I can kinda agree with this I think. The guilds will then basically be like Mini Malls, where players can shop even if they are not members.

hopefully all the guild stores will be pointing to a centralized hub that we can browse

Seraseth · May 2014

So essentially all they added was a couple extra buy-only guild stores you can browse. Unless you manage to be part of a rich guild and can actually sell.. in one city... for a week.

myblackbox123 · May 2014

So in other words they are giving the botting guilds an easier way to make money. Gotcha!

wrlifeboil · May 2014

If that is the exact wording, then it's unclear what it really means. When ZOS doesn't spell out an annoucement clearly, recent history has shown that it usually doesn't mean what many players want it to mean.

tl;dr: if you need to parse a ZOS announcement, brace yourself for a letdown

SadisticSavior · May 2014

myblackbox123 wrote: »

So in other words they are giving the botting guilds an easier way to make money. Gotcha!

I don't really see how botting can make any long term profit in this game. ESO is basically rewarding tattletales in the game. And this is not a F2P game...it costs them at least $60 per attempt.

I know I have been reporting every single one I come across, and I'm not the only one.

Greydog · May 2014

I'm very disappointed in this.

Elite guilds with money to spend will be the only ones allowed to participate. While I'm happy to have another place to buy from I'm thinking it will be a sellers market and not at all friendly to the buyer.

The only silver lining I can see here is that these guilds will have to spend oodles of gold every week in order to hold their monopolies.

Jeremy · May 2014

Thesiren wrote: »

This is not even remotely worthwhile compared to a real server-wide or even faction-wide auction house. I see it having no real impact or affecting any real change because it will be so limited in availability (to only one or a couple of the richest megaguilds), and apparently it will be even more costly than current guild sales are. Pffft.

You are probably right.

But I'm so desperate at the moment to have some kind of a working economy I'll try anything at this point.

drakuel1ub17_ESO · May 2014

This is the worst design idea I have heard of.. Just another gold spamming dreamers design.. It is almost like the development team actually have gold botter's on their team to bring in even more money for the game..

All this system drives is competition for kiosks to the highest gold earner.. Guess who that is? Botter's and people with real cash..

I just lost a ton of faith in this team now due to this one simple concept.. So easy to make players traders in cities. Oh well, live and learn... Once the population begins to fade you will see how fast developers react to bad designs...

I am not talking about global auction house either, that is not needed just allow players to open up carts/wagons anything to open a store front..

Jesus, you already have half of the system in place called "player trade".. just enhance it more so I can open up a shop in town, stand there with my sign over my head "Drakuel's cloth and more" and bring life and social bliss to your anti-social cities already..

Shimond · May 2014

eh I might actually see what a guild store looks like with this change, since I refuse to join one :P

wrlifeboil · May 2014

Greydog wrote: »

I'm very disappointed in this.

Elite guilds with money to spend will be the only ones allowed to participate. While I'm happy to have another place to buy from I'm thinking it will be a sellers market and not at all friendly to the buyer.

The only silver lining I can see here is that these guilds will have to spend oodles of gold every week in order to hold their monopolies.

ZOS bet that making the game guild-centric would create loyal, consistent monthly subscribers. The top guilds/pts crowd gets their input heard by the devs first. So it isn't a surprise that efforts like this would be geared toward the top guilds. If and when ZOS ever releases sales and subscriber numbers, we'll see if their strat worked.

Not-so-random thought: Next week, Blizzard will release their WoW subscriber numbers as of 3/31/14. Shouldn't have much eso impact baked in since eso launched after that date on 4/4/14.

Arreyanne · May 2014

Yup it should remain the way it is

Can see it already 5 months from now with a global AH lvl 10 blues 2 million

codyyoungnub18_ESO · May 2014

Bleh, would rather have a system tied more with cyro.. at least it isn't an auction house. AH's are just awful, I'd prefer a game where everything in game can't be done from stormwind ty.

RiXtn · May 2014

I want a public auctions house too :-/

Greydog · May 2014

codyyoungnub18_ESO wrote: »

Bleh, would rather have a system tied more with cyro.. at least it isn't an auction house. AH's are just awful, I'd prefer a game where everything in game can't be done from stormwind ty.

Cyrodiil keeps are alright, but they are still limited to a few elite guilds, leaving the majority of the player base outside looking in.

Why go to Stormwind when Ironforge is so much more convenient