Concerns with lack of auction house

[Cariyaga 2]

It's been mentioned that Crowfall is not planned to have an auction house. While if done well, this can work out perfectly fine, it is, I think, worth comparing this to another game that I play that does not have an auction house.

 

Path of Exile is a very interesting game as far as its economy and crafting go -- there is no gold, nor an auction house. Trade is done with other players directly, and with currency which is used to craft items. However... because of its nature, third-party indexing tools have become a necessity in order to find the items you need, and to be quite honest, their necessity comes off as somewhat... unprofessional. I worry that if there is no way to search for items in game (even if it's not exactly a click-and-purchase auction house), this will become an unsavory necessity in Crowfall as well.

 

This is a major concern for me to the point that I purchased as supporter pack (admittedly, just the $5 one) just to make this post. I hope that the Crowfall team will take this into consideration when designing their in-game item transfer system.

[Arkade 4,155]

There will be ways to search for EKs and supposedly the biggest, most successful EKs, will be at the top of the list. So while you won't be able to search for the specific items you want, you should be able to find the EKs most likely to sell what you want, then travel to them and browse around. SWG had an auction house for the common, inexpensive stuff, but everything else was word of mouth. It was great.

 

Auction houses reduce buying and selling to lowest price wins. If I'm a better salesman and advertise more, I should do more business even if my prices are slightly higher for the same thing. You can't do that with an auction house. 

[Cariyaga 2]

There will be ways to search for EKs and supposedly the biggest, most successful EKs, will be at the top of the list. So while you won't be able to search for the specific items you want, you should be able to find the EKs most likely to sell what you want, then travel to them and browse around. SWG had an auction house for the common, inexpensive stuff, but everything else was word of mouth. It was great.

 

Auction houses reduce buying and selling to lowest price wins. If I'm a better salesman and advertise more, I should do more business even if my prices are slightly higher for the same thing. You can't do that with an auction house. 

 

Oh, I absolutely agree. And if there were a way to search for, perhaps, the location of prolific crafters, that would be fine too! However, it needs to be convenient enough that players don't simply create a third party program or website to list their items for sale and reduce it to an auction house any way.

Edited February 11, 2016 by Cariyaga

[GaMiNgHaVoC 15]

There will be ways to search for EKs and supposedly the biggest, most successful EKs, will be at the top of the list. So while you won't be able to search for the specific items you want, you should be able to find the EKs most likely to sell what you want, then travel to them and browse around. SWG had an auction house for the common, inexpensive stuff, but everything else was word of mouth. It was great.

 

Auction houses reduce buying and selling to lowest price wins. If I'm a better salesman and advertise more, I should do more business even if my prices are slightly higher for the same thing. You can't do that with an auction house. 

As he said it will be by word of mouth those who make the better gear and advertise more will.  Even with SWG there were websites to check there will always be those sites even with auction houses.

[IdeaMatrix 1,174]

Part of the fun of an open market system is finding the good deals. You find a shop that sells what you need for cheap and try to keep it secret for as long as you can! I have no doubt that some sort of trading website will become available but, bringing business to your shop is your job as a merchant. It's all part of the fun and the experience. This also drives alliances and rivalries.

[Frykka 1,732]

I agree with having NO auction house...  we don't need easy mode to find gear...   develop relationships with crafters and their vending outlets.  Auction houses reduce the value of goods to a common denominator...   prices become supply side controlled rather than by demand.  Finding the good gear available (that you do not make yourself) is an explorer skill perhaps...  maybe even reveals vendor NPCs on an EK minimap that a mouseover will show the tier range of available goods.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Frykka

[chancellor 1,805]

No NPC shops either.

Player-owned shops only!

[IdeaMatrix 1,174]

No NPC shops either.

Player-owned shops only!

I believe, outside of trading by hand, the only NPCs that sell goods are vendor Thralls.

[GaMiNgHaVoC 15]

I believe, outside of trading by hand, the only NPCs that sell goods are vendor Thralls.

You are correct as far as the information given to us by ACE.

[NexlerNero 6]

I'll be honest the idea of the open market Is one of the best I have seen since the earlier days of Runescape where towns and banks were FILLED with people trying to sell their hard earned materials or crafted goods. Still using Runescape as an example (sorry to everyone who hates runescape, but it's a great comparison) When they introduced the Grand Exchange or Auction House, the Market crashed to bottom prices. people spent more time dropping prices than selling goods. What I am saying is why work hard for something if you get beat out by someone who walks next to you and says they will beat you by 1% no matter what.

[billybowl 31]

best I have seen since the earlier days of Runescape where towns and banks were FILLED with people trying to sell their hard earned materials or crafted goods.

@rand@ Selling ruby ammy 15K each!

 

I also enjoyed haggling with customers to give up their uncut gems to me that helped power level me to diamond amulets. Otherwise i had to go into the back of the wilderness to snatch some spawning sapphires, which 80% of the time were being camped by marauders.

Edited February 29, 2016 by billybowl

[Keaggan 1,480]

Funny how many MMOs took the MM out. MMO are supposed to be social based more than any other type of game and for more than a decade they have been turned into solo adventures where some people can help you level from time to time. 

[Tobran 53]

I remember playing Guild Wars 1 where there is no AH, but you could buy materials for armour from vendors and everything else was sold among players. It was crazy to see people constantly buying and selling. 3rd party websites helped but half the fun was interacting with another player to make the trade. Met some crazy people through trades. I want the same to happen in Crowfall.

[Herithius 161]

Having no auction house adds to the social interactions and immerssion so I'd be glad to have it in a game such as this. I'm sure AH's offer a lot of benefits which are why it's so heavily used in the industry but even so, I'm happy to see it's exclusion here and hopefully it works well.

[capntastic 208]

No auction house means having connections that can get you what you need becomes valuable rather than turning the entire playerbase's wares into an NPC store you can access whenever

Edited March 5, 2016 by capntastic

[DybbuK 40]

The more casual side of me hates the idea that there may not be a centralized location for me to seek out materials and upgrades. The hardcore side of me hates the idea that I can't work to completely corner a section of the market at a centralized location. Player ran shops can be interesting, especially when they stay activ if you're offline. The problem for me is what you all are excited about, needing contacts to find and/or hook you up with vendors. Regardless of what they choose to do, the game will still be new and exciting, however, a lack of auction houses could end up being off putting to a section of the market.

[MyloLothian 20]

This is where the guilds come into play, where some guilds may be trader-centric, or perhaps a series of guilds that become publicized for a particular material/craft style can leverage their specialties. Knowing which cities had which traders and trainers was alwaysof import..

[Lephys 698]

It seems as though once you stroll into a market somewhere, being able to search through a shop's inventory via the UI and/or get estimates for custom orders woukf not be a problem at all. Searchable lists aren't the problem with a typical MMO auction house. Thr problem is monopoly. The auction house is the only disributor, so you only go there, search one list, and buy the cheapest thing you can from who-even-cares-who. The name could change every day, so long as the price is lowest.

 

Besides, Crowfall's crafting system foundation is aiming for a lot more custom-order type interaction, in which everyone's not all selling 7300 Rods of Gramzael that all drop off a boss somewhere and fetch the same price. So, if they had an auction house, there'd be so many distinct entries you'd go mad.