Alright we have been discussing wether getting an auction house or stores since beta, its time to end that discussion and come out with a solution. In the last poll I saw on forums people were more inclined to have an auction house system, but there were some people that wanted stores too. So after burning some neurones and thinking critically I came up with a hybrid system, yes it does look like an auction house, but in encourages player interaction, works in a similar way to Ebay.
NOTICE: What I want to end up here is with a solution in which we can agree in a system that works for both the auction house likers and the store likers. Lets not continue the Auction House or stores are better discussion.
This is just a Suggestion.
Heres my crappy visual aid example: (Yes it was done in Paint! you are free to laugh)
Now here is how it is divided, there are 5 tabs as you can see.
The Search Tab: Here you can browse the item that you are looking for, it shows all the results from every store out there. The search tab has a drop down menu for the item type, where you can choose wether if its armour cloth armour, ranged weapons, crafting materials, what ever youa re looking for. Theres anotehr drop down menu for the item rarity or quality. And a seller drop down menu (which might not actually work that well) So you can browse in the store that you prefer.
As you can see I didnt put a buyout button, thats a small detail to increase player interaction. Instead theres a Visit Seller's Store button, after pressing that button, you can browse the seller's store, and leave a message or a offer to the seller if the item is on auction, or buyout if the item has a buyout price. The Contact button is shortcut, so instead of entering the seller's store you can directly send a message.
The Bids Tab: Here you can see the items that you are biding now, and the current bid, you can also rebid here and contact the seller.
The Store Tab: Here is your personal Store Space, you can put a Name on it to difference it from other players, Theres a space where you can place up your items, and purchase more storage space. You cna put the items in different ways such as Accepting offers, Auction, and Buyout. Accepting offers is basically, you put the items with no price and you wait for someone to offer you. Auction, you put a set starting price, and when the auction time runs out, the highest offer gets the item. And buyout, you put a set price to the item that can be bought at any moment.
The Contact Tab: Here is the main player interaction of this system, in this tab you can post messages to the other sellers, in one of its sections. In the other section, you can manage the messages that people send to your store and respond them. Works as a messenger.
The Records Tab: Here you can see the record of your items sold and bought, and the money you have made in certain perods of time.
To access this system I elieve you would have to talk to a certain npc, the items bought using this system are delivered by mail, unless the buyer and the seller prefer a face to face trade. The only thing that you can access without being close to the npc is the Contacts tab, which you can acces from everywhere and manage your communication.
Remember it looks like an auction house, but its a different system that might work as both auction hosue and personal store. So Please lets keep the auction house and store discussions somewhere else.
Edited by Kaendor, 08 December 2013 - 00:54.
