Originally posted by madazz

To me, I personally prefer the auction house to just fit with the overall world. Makes no sense to me to be in a medieval type world where a single auction house is instantly connected to everything. Again, back to UO, the auctions held were only accessible by those who were actually there.

I used UO as an example, but I am open to other similar ideas in a game that I would enjoy. Again, for me its all about it fitting into the world and encouraging interaction and discovery, not hindering interaction with other players because the auction house is a faceless entity like in WoW.

What medieval type world? Most MMOs are FANTASY world. If there are magic portal that zap me across the entire world, i am sure there is magic that will run a AH.

Auction Houses tend to make games more fun for one type of player, and less fun for another.   Know your target audience, and prepare accordingly.

Originally posted by maplestone

Originally posted by Caliburn101

What the MMO genre needs is a player driven economy which is nevertheless forced to deal with basic supply and demand.

I don't want a realistic economy in my games - the real economy is what I'm trying to escape from when I load up a game.  I want something that's actually fun.

Thanks for not bothering to read past the first line of my post and then commenting on it.

A well run economic model runs in the background, provides opportunity for conflict and solves a number of persistent problems with crafting etc.

I.e. - adding to the fun - not detracting from it.

Plus of course some people like crafting, trading etc. and they should be catered for much better.

Originally posted by Onomas
Auction houses do nothing but make the players ignore the other 90% of a town or city ;) They mass on to one area to do all their trading instead of allowing player merchants set up in homes or other areas (like SWG) which helped move people around and look at things. Auction houses with 100's of people standing in the same area make lag and is just a bad trading system in general.

No its not. If players can choose which one they use, and they choose AH, then it is better. And if you want to avoid congestion, you can have the AH available at all times only players need to pick up the items at varying locations (Eve, GW2...).

I realy liked SWG system with player run vendors and a central bizzar. You could look at the bizzar and see who and where they was selling waypoint the location and travel there. You also had the auction house at the bizzar as well if people wanted a quick sale or if they were new players that could not afford a house to place a vendor at.

Eve Online has a solid market place and fits in well with the game. Each station is independant but you can buy or sell from any where within the region if you have the skills.

Ultima Online only had player vendors and I loved the exploration and danager value of this as you would be out in the wilderness buying new equipment only to find yourself surrounded by PK'ers and then have to fight a way clear.

As for Auction Houses like WoW I hate them, I would prefer to sit in the Commons in EQ than search through the AH's of MMO's.

The sooner we can get rid of AH's in games the better.

Originally posted by Arglebargle

Auction Houses tend to make games more fun for one type of player, and less fun for another.   Know your target audience, and prepare accordingly.

Quoted for truth.

Originally posted by Onomas
Auction houses do nothing but make the players ignore the other 90% of a town or city ;) They mass on to one area to do all their trading instead of allowing player merchants set up in homes or other areas (like SWG) which helped move people around and look at things. Auction houses with 100's of people standing in the same area make lag and is just a bad trading system in general.

You can access the WOW AH on the web or using your phone. There is no reason to stand in the same area. Plus, it seldom lags for me.

I don't really see a huge gameplay value to run around a city to do something you can do at one place. And the city is fun to look at .. for may be 5 min ... it does not add anything for me, if i have to run around it day in and day out.

Originally posted by Arglebargle

Auction Houses tend to make games more fun for one type of player, and less fun for another.   Know your target audience, and prepare accordingly.

 

 

But their target audience is all of us lol

It looks like people are making the favorable comments about things that were hybrid so that they either weren't forced to wander and compare or had it all in one place.

It does make sense since none of us can agree with what we like doing at end game anyway.

Originally posted by Arglebargle

Auction Houses tend to make games more fun for one type of player, and less fun for another.   Know your target audience, and prepare accordingly.

 

 

This.

Originally posted by fenistil

Originally posted by Arglebargle

Auction Houses tend to make games more fun for one type of player, and less fun for another.   Know your target audience, and prepare accordingly.

 

 

This.

Yup.

/thread

Lock it.

AH's themselves should be 100% player driven economies with as close to a true free-market economy as possible. After experiencing several styles, my favorite AH belongs to WoW. Server only, not gamewide. This allows for the player to find an economy suited to him in a server style also suited. Double happy is always good.  There are many players who enjoy trying to dominate an economy and just as many who enjoy thwarting those "Donald Trumps".  Its economic PvP and a fun addition to any MMO that wishes to remain vibrant. Competition in that manner benefits all.

Gamewide AH's claim to be immune to takeover tactics, but in reality that is untrue. It takes a larger commitment to be done but once in place  it becomes nigh impossible to unseat that consortium. The other 98% actually suffer inflated prices while being given an illusion of stability.

Not a fan of merchant stations that require you to sit and sell, but no problem overall if thats how someone wants to do it. I would prefer a merchant board with an escrow based trade screen. The sale is complete only after both parties have release their end of the deal and then reviewed and accepted the others offer.

Ultima Online's system is clearly the best.

Originally posted by Helleri
lol...that made me realize that after a while all a city is to me is an area I cut through to get to NPC's.

Or a lobby to do AH and wait for the dungeon to pop.