Vendor Search Discussion

[Petra Fyde]

What do you see as the pros?
What do you see as the cons?
Where are the problems and how would you solve them?

Without attacking those who don't share your viewpoint please.

 

[Hunters' Moon]

Pro: Instantly find what you are looking for w/o wasting time on empty vendors.

Con: Will all vendors be included in the search? If the program only shows Luna/Tokuno vendors,that would be unfair.

I do not see any problems popping up unless the program does not refresh often to show real time items that are available.

 

[Winker]

Problem:
If its not better than the one we already have no one will use it. So if the dev team don't make an effort it will be wasted time that could have been spent on something productive.
We all ready have a wheel as such. Now they just got to either improve it, or at the very least match it.

 

[Hunters' Moon]

Problem:
If its not better than the one we already have no one will use it. So if the dev team don't make an effort it will be wasted time that could have been spent on something productive.
We all ready have a wheel as such. Now they just got to either improve it, or at the very least match it.

There is one way to make it better. In the window that opens to search what you are looking for,there would be a blue gem beside each vendor that can be clicked so you may be able to recall to that specific vendor house. It would look somewhat like the spell book.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

Pro: No need to use 3rd Party Sites to find what you need quick
Pro: Quick in-game possibility to find anything offered asap and no searching by running around every vendor that might be somewhere
Pro: EVERY Vendor placed ANYWERE that has been set in OK MODE by the owner to list his items, would be shown and not only Vendors in prefered (by who ever) locations

Con: Its easier to find and buyout a specific item and dominate the market and price as single offering possibility - but than, this is nothing new...and i think its OK like this - would create a new profession: "The Trader" (i know its still out there but than, for sure..like the IDOC-Hunters...)

Not to forget: There should be a "rune to shop - recall to shop - gate to shop" possibilty on the context menu of the Vendor Search that might be implemented - even a possibility, a non magical char can teleport there if he wish - and to return might get a "teleport to next Moongate" option - which, of course, could only work if he first used the teleport to shop option (otherwise i see problems coming up with abuse of teleport to Moongate option i fear..)

 

[Petra Fyde]

One 'con' that concerns a particular type of vendor owner is the accessibility of their items for re-sellers.
These are the kind of vendor owner who doesn't have vendors to make gold, more to supply the needs of players. These are mostly crafters who put hours of work into creating the goods to be sold and include items such as rune books, filled spell books, potions etc.
I can see two possible, viable, solutions
1. allow vendor owners to opt out of the listing
2. adapt the Steward coding and apply it to vendors to limit the number of items of a particular type that can be bought by each character. Example, if the vendor sells recall scrolls in piles of 10 and has a stock of 30 piles, no one can come along and buy all 30 piles, emptying the vendor. Suggested limit would be 5.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

Yup Petra, thats why i wrote the OWNER needs the possibility to decide, if its Vendor will be listed or not - but honestly, that wouldnt stop bulk buyers - you just need to ask in General Chat to get runes to those vendors and after you have collected enough, you just buy them all out....i have ssen this yet

 

[DJAd]

What do you see as the pros?
What do you see as the cons?
Where are the problems and how would you solve them?

Pros - The ability to find stuff in game without having to use a 3rd party website.

Cons - Not really

Problems - None I can think of.

Idea - Maybe next to each vendor in the search should also have a rune to that particular vendor, or the ability to recall to the spot. Also there should definitely be option to opt out of search.

 

[DJAd]

One 'con' that concerns a particular type of vendor owner is the accessibility of their items for re-sellers. These are the kind of vendor owner who doesn't have vendors to make gold, more to supply the needs of players. These are mostly crafters who put hours of work into creating the goods to be sold and include items such as rune books, filled spell books, potions etc.

They could allow certain vendors to be locked to friends, guild etc, a bit like security on containers. They really do also need to add a "buddy" list while there at it.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

I know alot of people are afraid of an auction house - most important thing why is, they fear the lost of community that gathered or gather around a vendor house AND that vendors might go useless one day (because of an auction house WoW Style..) And i mostly agree to this BUT, you might (and with you i mean the Dev's ) consider the following option:

Chosen Cities will get an Auction house - WoW Style - you can easy implement it at the bank (kinda cool is the CASINO bank - might be usefull for that auction house option)
Vendorowners can go there and add their Vendor to the list - and mod it there too if they want (kinda like the vendor gump) - you can add yourselfe a vendor recall option, might even think about the house charg you to fill your recalls up (charge 20 gp for a recall scroll, or bring your own scrolls and drop them in (use a kind of "mark scroll in your pack" option, kinda like quest item mark) - you can even sort your vendor there maybe, and change prices on the menu (not have to be at the vendor to stock it) well might be a problem with vendor charges than (vendor penatly fees off?) - the auction house should NOT AT ALL be a external browser thingy, maybe ADD this some day as an app (why not) BUT charge for the app...

The main goal of ading a vendor search should be, people who are doing vendoring should have a new way to meet at this auction-house style thingy - you can discuss things their, meet friends ("Hey, were do we meet to go hunt? No worries, just meet at Monnglow Auction House!") have parties, etc...(wet t-shirt parties ftw)

In the end it should add more fun to the game and something new, than something to complain for - ya know...

 

[FrejaSP]

Cons -
I don't like it to be a webside, I would like an ingame tools.
Instead of traveling in the game, players will surfe a webside

Idea - Ingame seach for vendors on the sub server you are on, could be like a list of vendors selling the item you seach for.
You should then be able to open the vendor backpack but not not to buy without going there.
Then add an options to mark a rune in your backpack and coordinales for the vendor. Maybe an option to make a map on a scroll in your backpack if you don't want to recall/gate.

 

[Daelomin]

Pros:
- More time to do some actual gaming rather than go through loads of vendors with stuff I dont want.
- If I need a specific item it would make things much easier
- This could definiatly improve vendors in areas such as Felucca (where thay are almost non-existant).

Cons:
- The game would loose some realism if implemented as a standard gump.
- Shopping will be predictable as you will no longer do a "bargain" deal because you found a lone vendor....

Suggestions:
I suggest making the Vendor search a new Bulletin board at each bank. This would create some kind of gathering point for trade (and not just a gump that can be opened from anywhere).
I also suggest this vendor search to be optional and at a cost (seller pays). Your vendor "may" be included in the "global" vendor search engine, but if you choose not to, the cost to run the vendor will be effected (gold sink).
I do not want a cost in order to use the search engine - I would like to point that out!

 

[DJAd]

Also the ability to add items to a "wish list" so when they become available you could get a notification or something.

 

[swroberts]

\

I know alot of people are afraid of an auction house - most important thing why is, they fear the lost of community that gathered or gather around a vendor house AND that vendors might go useless one day (because of an auction house WoW Style..) And i mostly agree to this BUT, you might (and with you i mean the Dev's ) consider the following option:

Chosen Cities will get an Auction house - WoW Style - you can easy implement it at the bank (kinda cool is the CASINO bank - might be usefull for that auction house option)
Vendorowners can go there and add their Vendor to the list - and mod it there too if they want (kinda like the vendor gump) - you can add yourselfe a vendor recall option, might even think about the house charg you to fill your recalls up (charge 20 gp for a recall scroll, or bring your own scrolls and drop them in (use a kind of "mark scroll in your pack" option, kinda like quest item mark) - you can even sort your vendor there maybe, and change prices on the menu (not have to be at the vendor to stock it) well might be a problem with vendor charges than (vendor penatly fees off?) - the auction house should NOT AT ALL be a external browser thingy, maybe ADD this some day as an app (why not) BUT charge for the app...

The main goal of ading a vendor search should be, people who are doing vendoring should have a new way to meet at this auction-house style thingy - you can discuss things their, meet friends ("Hey, were do we meet to go hunt? No worries, just meet at Monnglow Auction House!") have parties, etc...(wet t-shirt parties ftw)

In the end it should add more fun to the game and something new, than something to complain for - ya know...

PROs:
-Puts all housing on an equal basis (won't mattter where ur house is located with a auto recall)
-Stabilizes the economy, by having more competition available
-Saves hours of manual vender searching

Cons:
-Kills Luna's/New Magincias real estate value
-Lowers community interaction (seeing other players whilst shopping)
-Auto-recall can result in a new PK-phishing scheme (putting a Conjurer's Garb on ur vender in Fel for 1 mil and then waiting for victims to recall in)...the recall should deliver you to the nearest town.

I myself use the external web search programs, then travel ingame to buy them. I just don't have the time to waste walking around Luna clicking venders. I don't spend hours off site clicking, only a few minutes. UO should use an web based search, and make some money off it with banners....good for them...good for us.

You really want to get crazy, make the vendor search across all shards and allow a player, on any shard, to search, and the item without having to travel. That would really load up the competition, equalize prices across all the lands, and make a much more interesting economy.

 

[cazador]

Pros:
it should help with competitive pricing..more than that other site..based on the assumption that they implement it shardwide and you can see all vendors rather than just luna and

Based on wether or not it's an in game system or website it should be more reliable and faster live updates

Cons:
Let's be real this is UO it most likely will be extremely buggy (hopefully fixed rapidly)

Wants:
- in game system
- you can search down to the single MOD if desired (ie: scroll down menus for each slot resists and specific mods)..and be accurate
-an option next to item to teleport to vendor for a nominal fee (gold sink)
-the ability to omit yourself from the system if you choose
- Fel,Tram,Malas,Tokuno,Ter Mur be included with a warning for fel
- a main vendor stone in Luna and one in bucs to remotely check the sales of your vendors (wishful thinking)

 

[Tzadkiel]

What do you see as the pros?
What do you see as the cons?
Where are the problems and how would you solve them?

Without attacking those who don't share your viewpoint please.

Anything that will bolster the dwindling population is good. Anything that advertises things that give an unfair advantage from one player to the next or items, bad. If a site is allowed to do this, obviously the envelope will be pushed and I bet you my foolish salary that the ToS will be violated in some fashion. If the team can do this, problem is solved (vendor search). I can hear the hanky wringing begging now, but the problem will be solved. Why patronize a third party site when the feature is already in place? Just don't forget to include it to EC as well as CC. Petra the overall concept of the devs right now I am guessing is.."How can we centralize things...how can we bring the community back to common ground?" That question has a variety of answers. The vendor search is a good start, Rome wasn't built in a day, but it has taken over 15 years to build UO, might as well keep on building.

 

[silent]

I don't see any downside, especially if you give vendor owners the ability to "opt out" for whatever thier reasons may be. I also like the idea of an auction house.

 

[Assia Penryn]

Thumbs up for both an auction house and a vendor search.

 

[Gorbs]

It's all about the interface. If the interface we get is similar to the one used by the magincia vendors, clean up reward gump, or library collections reward gump then the illegal search sites will still be heavily utilized. The search needs to be clean and minimize the time the player spends trying to find an item.

 

[Phoenix_Mythic]

What are others' thoughts on an Auction House? What if it was completely separate from in-house vendors?

 

[Tanivar]

1. allow vendor owners to opt out of the listing

Petra, Resellers would love this opt out system. Players would use the new search system and only find the price gouging vendors listed, they wouldn't find the decent priced ones listed. It would be like the illegal search system, only showing the high priced vendors for the most part.

There needs to be a way to let those who want to give customers a source of low priced goods do so without Resellers being able to clean the vendors out and preventing it as they Resell the goods on their vendors at what they $$Ka-ching!!$$ consider appropriate prices.

 

[Borric]

What are others' thoughts on an Auction House? What if it was completely separate from in-house vendors?

I, for one, am all for both a Auction House and a vendor search with the ability to transport to the vendor.

 

[phantus]

What are others' thoughts on an Auction House? What if it was completely separate from in-house vendors?

My opinion is the in-house vendors would become obsolete as most vendors will move to the AH. One of the biggest opposition arguments against this system is the loss of a unique UO system and less player interaction(although I'll be honest and say I don't talk to vendor owners because I rarely, if ever, see any when shoping.) If you don't incorporate the existing vendors it will get much less acceptance. Your goal needs to be to have both as one system BUT( and that is a big BUT) if you can't do it because it will take too much resources then split it knowing of the consequences to the existing vendor system.

 

[NuSair]

One 'con' that concerns a particular type of vendor owner is the accessibility of their items for re-sellers.
These are the kind of vendor owner who doesn't have vendors to make gold, more to supply the needs of players. These are mostly crafters who put hours of work into creating the goods to be sold and include items such as rune books, filled spell books, potions etc.
I can see two possible, viable, solutions
1. allow vendor owners to opt out of the listing
2. adapt the Steward coding and apply it to vendors to limit the number of items of a particular type that can be bought by each character. Example, if the vendor sells recall scrolls in piles of 10 and has a stock of 30 piles, no one can come along and buy all 30 piles, emptying the vendor. Suggested limit would be 5.

1. I guess... really doesn't make that much sense.
2. Near useless, anyone who would buy up all your stock would just switch characters and finish buying it out.

 

[Frarc]

Just a question for the community on this topic:

Would limiting the amount you can buy/sell trough a vendor search or auction house daily/weekly be a good idea ?

 

[phantus]

Just a question for the community on this topic:

Would limiting the amount you can buy/sell trough a vendor search or auction house daily/weekly be a good idea ?

Compared to the no-limit web search we already have? Therin lies the rub. Anything made has to be equal(actually exceed) to what is current offered by the illegal sites. In short no.

 

[NuSair]

What are others' thoughts on an Auction House? What if it was completely separate from in-house vendors?

To be rather blunt, to have it separate from in house vendors would be another epic failure.

I mean sure, if you want a few people to feel good because they still have their vendors that are 'off the grid' that they believe that they are serving the community somehow, then go for it.

But really, any new players are not going to take the time or make the effort to vendor shop walking around looking for those vendors who are not in the vendor search, regardless of how it is done. And really, most of the population isn't going to either. Given the traffic the website searches get, even setting something up like that seems to me to be a waste of time. AND just because there is a vendor search (if it included in house vendors) doesn't stop people who want to vendor shop from doing so.

The only way I'd consider an auction house separate from in house vendors is if it would be easier to set up, which I have a fair idea that it would be.

I find it funny how people are complaining about how people buy and resell with a vendor search, like it doesn't happen now. Here's a couple of clues for you. It's been happening since vendors were introduced in UO. It's called a free market. You don't like it? Raise your prices. People buy and resell everyday it is one of the BEST things about UO. I swear it feels like people are waiting a Socialist Government to step in and regulate things so that they will feel better about themselves.

As far as less player interaction... just what player interaction are you losing? It's not like Everquest where your character is the vendor and you have to be online for your vendor to be on so you can sell stuff.

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

Im for ingame vendor search as long as there is a way to choose if you want to be on the list or not. If the vendor ownwer or the shop owner should make the desision I dont know. It needs to be a better one than the illegal with some more features as people here suggested.

Its far between good shops nowdays and hard for people with limited gametime to find what they need. This might be a good thing.

 

[Borric]

To be rather blunt, to have it separate from in house vendors would be another epic failure.

I mean sure, if you want a few people to feel good because they still have their vendors that are 'off the grid' that they believe that they are serving the community somehow, then go for it.

But really, any new players are not going to take the time or make the effort to vendor shop walking around looking for those vendors who are not in the vendor search, regardless of how it is done. And really, most of the population isn't going to either. Given the traffic the website searches get, even setting something up like that seems to me to be a waste of time. AND just because there is a vendor search (if it included in house vendors) doesn't stop people who want to vendor shop from doing so.

The only way I'd consider an auction house separate from in house vendors is if it would be easier to set up, which I have a fair idea that it would be.

I find it funny how people are complaining about how people buy and resell with a vendor search, like it doesn't happen now. Here's a couple of clues for you. It's been happening since vendors were introduced in UO. It's called a free market. You don't like it? Raise your prices. People buy and resell everyday it is one of the BEST things about UO. I swear it feels like people are waiting a Socialist Government to step in and regulate things so that they will feel better about themselves.

As far as less player interaction... just what player interaction are you losing? It's not like Everquest where your character is the vendor and you have to be online for your vendor to be on so you can sell stuff.

How could they NOT be separate? An auction would hold items for a limited time, but vendors can hold item indefinitely.

 

[NuSair]

Just a question for the community on this topic:

Would limiting the amount you can buy/sell trough a vendor search or auction house daily/weekly be a good idea ?

No. It is a horrible idea. Because there is no way you can regulate how much people buy, because they will just get another character, account, friend, ect to buy whatever they want.

All something like that would be is a false sense of self righteousness for people who feel they are serving the community by underselling the market.

People pay the higher prices in Luna because it's convenient. Why spend 30 minutes to an hour or more looking for something to save a couple of hundred or thousand gold, when you can make 5x, 10x, 20x times that in that time. Pay more in Luna and make more in the time you would have been searching. In the end, you end up with more gold- plus the item you wanted. Because even if you paid a more, in the same amount of time, you end up with more gold in the end.

 

[NuSair]

How could they NOT be separate? An auction would hold items for a limited time, but vendors can hold item indefinitely.

Having something like an auction house that does not at the same time include a way to search vendors would be a failure.

And honestly, if it were implemented as such, would see like an unofficial approval of the outside web search sites.

 

[Borric]

Having something like an auction house that does not at the same time include a way to search vendors would be a failure.

And honestly, if it were implemented as such, would see like an unofficial approval of the outside web search sites.

I think a vendor search is coming. How and in what way, I don't know. I would also like to see an auction house. Maybe have access to the vendor search in the auction house. All in game. But since vendors offer items for sale, and auctions go to bidders, I don't see how browsing what is for auction can include what is on a vendor. How to you bid on something that is for sale is what I'm trying to ask.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

A Vendor Search system needs to be as basic as possible. Aside from an Opt In/Out, the only thing a vendor search needs to do is allow players to search the database for the item(s) they are looking for and provide the location of said items. If the system provide a method of transportation, all well and good, if not, then it needs to be disclaimered that anything listed is subject to prior sale.

Everything else should simply happen as the Free Market happens. There's no need to put any other limits beyond the Opt In/Out into the system because the limits I have seen proposed either completely ruin the concept of a market in the first place, or have loopholes big enough to drive a semi through so as to be pointless. Players who run vendors pricing their items (specifically continuously spawning items) at well above "market price" will see their goods undercut by competition and will either sit on overpriced goods or lower their prices to move them. Players who want to run vendors outside of Luna will find themselves now able to do so more effectively.

Secondly, some posters worry me even greater because unless you are doing background checks, watching your vendor every hour of the day, or stalking the people who are buying the stuff from your vendor, yo have NO IDEA what the person buying that item will be doing with it. If you are so "community centric" maybe what you need is NOT a vendor, but to interact with that community hand give over the stuff you are "selling" in person.

As it should be well known, UO ALREADY has a Vendor Search, it's just done by an external site and favors only specific areas of the game. That is why one done internally that covers the entire game is necessary. There is simply no reason to make it overly complicated in an attempt to protect people from other players even further.

Edit to add: I don't think UO needs an Auction House. I think the Vendor Search will be enough and retain the "UO Feel" that people claim to be so important. An AH would lessen that IMO.

 

[Frarc]

Here is another wild idea

How about keep vendor search for the shard only and use a auction house to sell/buy items across all shards? (With some limits maybe)
Would that (If thats technical be possible) work or be a good idea?

Just to see what people think about all this stuff.

 

[Petra Fyde]

...
If you are so "community centric" maybe what you need is NOT a vendor, but to interact with that community hand give over the stuff you are "selling" in person.

I think that's the conclusion I'm reaching. I will continue as I am now, occasionally answering appeals in chat from people needing items I'm able to supply. I'll stick with only having vendors on Siege

 

[Picus at the office]

Could those people who stopped running vendors please list which items it was that they thought people were/are buying to sell for inflated values? Could those people also restart a vendor and do the trade again for a few weeks to confirm that thier belief is still true? I doubt it very much that a active buy and flip market still is active in this game in 2012.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

My opinion is the in-house vendors would become obsolete as most vendors will move to the AH. One of the biggest opposition arguments against this system is the loss of a unique UO system and less player interaction(although I'll be honest and say I don't talk to vendor owners because I rarely, if ever, see any when shoping.) If you don't incorporate the existing vendors it will get much less acceptance. Your goal needs to be to have both as one system BUT( and that is a big BUT) if you can't do it because it will take too much resources then split it knowing of the consequences to the existing vendor system.

Your vendors would stay were they are, you just get an in game search system listing what your vendors offers, which price, and how to reach it - people would gather at this auction house to browse the stuff and than go to your vendor and buy there - so no fear the current vendor system would be obsolet - it would just get more transparent..

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

There is a clue behind why this search sites that are most frequented only have Luna and Zento houses on their searchbase - not only because they are a bit limited to this towns - may think about who owns the houses there and might get the clue hehe

 

[claudia-fjp]

1) Auction house, this is what the Magincia Commodity Traders should have been. There's obviously a need for them since it's a gap players currently have fill and there is a reason every major MMO since has included one.

2) Most people who buy low and sell high tend to do it with things they can have a good profit margin. I don't see runebooks and spellbooks or anything that sells for under 10k being bought out at 1000g and relisted at 100k now, so why would they in the future. There is page after page of 500g spellbooks showing up in luna now , I think the mom and pop shops who provide the basics will be safe.

 

[Specialshoes]

Providing that the search isnt limited to certain areas

Pro: Luna Prices will no longer have a stranglehold. Players can find what they want. Players that like to play craftspeople will be able to open up their shops a little better. A more consistent balance in the value of items will be found
Cons: Some prices might raise but again I believe a balance will come about.

Potential Problems: Having enough resources to keep a consistent update to all the vendors.

Auction House: I dont want to wait four days for that really cool exquisite something of something undead slayer. I want it now while I have the money!

 

[NBG]

Vendor search should only provide location of the vendor (on a map with coordinates) so players have to hunt down the vendor.

Auction House need to have higher fees as trade off to higher item exposure and act somewhat as gold sink at the same time. Maybe provide a buy it now option hehe where higher % is charged based on item price.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

Whatever search and/or auction house solution you bring up, PLS do enough beta testing - i would be happy if i can help and i guess tons of other people too before this going gold - imo this is going to be a game changing milestone and cannot be only TC tested...it is forbidden to mess up something here!
But i know you allready know that hehe

 

[Lord Frodo]

Pro All vendors listed.
Con NONE
Concerns

• Resellers NONE Just keep your vendor stocked and do not restock at the same time everyday. If you think someone is buying you out and you want them to stop then just camp your vendor and when they start, just ban them. Problem solved. Do this until all thier accounts are banned.
• Price Gougers NONE If you see something that you think is over priced then DO NOT BUY IT. You do not have to keep up with the Jones and have all the new shinies.
• Someone trying to corner the market NONE Watch prices and if you see an Item / Resource that is being bought out and then Priced Gouged #1 DO NOT BUY IT and #2 guess what Item / Resource I will be Farming and selling below the Price Gougers price, esp if it is a resource that can be mined/chopped/bought from a NPC/skinned. There are so many ways to beat Price Gougers.

 

[Specialshoes]

I just dont get the anger at resellers. It equates to folgers being mad at costco for making a little profit off a pallet of coffee.

 

[Tanivar]

I just dont get the anger at resellers. It equates to folgers being mad at costco for making a little profit off a pallet of coffee.

The profit doesn't tend to be little. If you know where to search for the info, compare the high and low prices on items. Note items where only one vendor is selling an item. Barbed hides tend to be one of these. The Resellers up the price to where those who don't play much, or just want to adventure and have fun playing UO, not farm gold, can't afford items. Probably tends to be fairly discouraging. But what the heck, we can lose those players to other games if they won't bust rump farming gold topay the Reseller prices and insist on just playing a game to have fun.

 

[LetheGL]

Vendor search:
The item you search for should pop up in a separate backpack/gump to purchase.

The better vendor owners currently take care to keep their stock organized and easy to locate. Often they sacrifice stocked inventory items to achieve this.​

With a search feature I can see people simply tossing 125 items on a vendor completely unorganized.​

Items need to be displayed uniformly between the two clients!

As a classic client user it's incredibly tedious to shop vendors that have been stocked with the enhanced client.​

Personally, I simply skip over these vendors. We shouldn't have to Load up the EC and wait (at times a considerable) amount of time to patch a client we might not use or keep updated to purchase an item.​

The vendor itself needs to be made easily reachable. Uo's land mass has grown immensely (compounded if you account for fel/tram).

Many of us simply accept much higher prices on the Luna vendors because of the convenience. If all vendors can be easily accessed it will help bring items back to more uniform levels.​

As others have suggested:​

Allow us to be ported to said vendor.​

Provide designated locations/buildings to purchase from vendors. Long ago I spent a lot time at The Cove Merchant Guild (Great Lakes) talking with customers to determine items/services to provide on my vendors. Give us reasons to gather together again.​

Allow us to buy the item from a gump no matter your location (abused easily I imagine)​

​

Auction House:
Keep the search and house as separate systems

Vendor owners who still enjoy simply supplying supplies/goods without maximum profit can continue to do so.​

Would allow items to be sold more inline with players opinions as to an actual going rate.​

No selling/buying fees.

Using fees as a gold sink really isn't viable. We have had too many to years of unchecked gold generation (illegal and legitimately) to allow players to amass insane amounts of gold. The auction fees required to even hope to affect this simply aren't viable.​

​

As long as a commodity requires a cost to be obtained the re-seller argument in is irrelevant. In UO or RL those with the ambition and/or knowledge of said commodity will take steps to secure the supply to decrease/increase their cost/profit.

 

[Vessel the Humakti]

What do you see as the pros?
What do you see as the cons?
Where are the problems and how would you solve them?

Without attacking those who don't share your viewpoint please.

Sorry, my post is not for your question, but I'm very interested in "How to install this function".
Maybe our great engineer will install this vendor search functions to game, Please talk about "functions" here.

It is very useful function, no doubt. It will be convenient if the function is the systematic menu called from the Help window.
There is no feeling of a life there completely.
For example, I will be glad if it is a system which I go to the merchant guild in a town, and ask to a guild master.
I wonder the other player welcome this or not.
Although it is good to become convenient, I want a convenient and impressive system.

 

[Pawain]

The only auction house I have seen is with Diablo 3. It is awsome, you can search for item properties. Will UO be able to do that?

The drawback from a seller side is that basic items that cant be sold to NPCs will drop to a very low price. Things like plants, natural dyes, shipwreck items, daily rares, etc. The things like this on D3 are priced at really low prices. Maybe because there are hundreds of bot accounts there.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

The only auction house I have seen is with Diablo 3. It is awsome, you can search for item properties. Will UO be able to do that?

The drawback from a seller side is that basic items that cant be sold to NPCs will drop to a very low price. Things like plants, natural dyes, shipwreck items, daily rares, etc. The things like this on D3 are priced at really low prices. Maybe because there are hundreds of bot accounts there.

I don't think it's an issue (in regards to UO that is) of bot accounts farming items in terms of them losing value... instead I think it has more to do with the utility of said item and whether or not it is consumable. Most shipwreck items are decorative only and since they've been ingame since PRIOR to UO:R, the market has since been well overrun with them. The only value they've been given recently is for Cleanup points. By contrast, Zoogi Fungus, Powder of Trans and PoF all retain (or increase) value because they are consumable and have significant use even though they have been ingame for years as well.

The D3 AH is an interesting beast because it's so vastly different in nature than ones in WoW and LotRO. Even then it has its own dynamics. Gems are dirt cheap because they drop so frequently and thus far... well... suck compared to gems in D2, and the socket system in 3 isn't yet fully realized IMO. The Designs for the 3 highest level gems have FINALLY started to come down in price. I think the problem with the Artisan items is that you only have to level your artisans ONCE per account rather than for each character, so that part of building/sinking is done. Plus the lack of quality for the Smith and Gems has harmed them as well. This contrasts with WoW and LotRO in that in those games, the resources seemed to be more valuable than finished products. Playing a resource gatherer/AH gamer netted me quite a LOT of money in both games even at lowbie levels.

On the Equipment side it's a LOT more interesting due to the fact that the same item can have such a wide range of mods. Sure you have the people listing in the 10s to 100s of millions (Even when they first opened the AH) of gold, but if you know how to work the filter and sort systems you can find much better items under 1,000,000 gold consistently.

However, you're right, the filter and sort feature of the D3 AH is a good comparison of the quality a good Vendor Search should have.

 

[DJAd]

Would limiting the amount you can buy/sell trough a vendor search or auction house daily/weekly be a good idea ?

No, I don't think limiting is a good idea.