Posted by Lethality in Blue Milk & Cereal | 8 Comments
Blue Milk & Cereal: What Do You Think Of The GTN Auction Cap?
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Now that the game is out and more players are pushing the fringe of what’s possible or allowable, we’ll likely start to see some things that need some adjustment. One of these things is the apparent 50-sale limit on the Galactic Trade Network.
I don’t think anyone expected Star Wars: The Old Republic to inherit the crown as king of MMO crafting from it’s predecessor, and for the most part the Crew Skills system is innovative enough and engaging. But by having a limit on the number of sales 1 player can have active, it most certainly dampens the spirit of players who like to the idea of merchant character, even in a game where it isn’t a true sandbox/player economy.
On the other hand, it’s pretty easy to understand what BioWare is trying to do. They want to head off any potential market domination by any one player, essentially causing grief for other players. It can be frustrating for the average player to face a GTN market where they can’t reasonably compete, or afford to buy what’s there.
It’s possible this is a temporary thing during the launch phase, but where do all of you aspiring crafters and economists sit on this? I know that Zlatto and Momus will be chiming in on it soon. Do you think this is a good thing, or a bad thing?
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I don’t like it, but I’m cognizant enough to realize that my reasons for not liking it are somewhat selfish and there are other reasons for it be there.
Namely, of course, to prevent credit farmers and sellers from selling too many things at once. One of the common practices was to flood the auction house in WOW with cheap materials (something else I liked!)to make a massive amount on the intake. This prevents that from happening, at least in some respect (though stack sizes at 99 for crafting materials somewhat defeats that purpose).
It will also force interesting decisions on whether to sell single-item stacks or multi-item, how much in those multi-item stacks, and how it affects prices.
For those who are peddling gear and crafted items, I don’t think this is nearly as bad for you. I think it hurts people planning to sell crafting material quite a bit more. Remember, diversify!
How does it prevent gold farmers from posting tons of cheap items?
Can’t they just make more toons?
BUYcreds1 sells 50 items.
BUYcreds2 sells 50 items.
BUYcreds3 sells 50 items.
etc…
Right, but you can’t up, say, more than 400 auctions at a time. It’s limited, instead of unlimited, or with high limits. And each auction has to be placed individually, which takes time from someone farming, etc.
It’s not something you can prevent. I’m saying that’s a justification for limiting the amount of auctions. If you’ve never seen a page for some of those hardcore farmer sellers, in WoW’s heyday it could be pretty crazy.
Again, I know it can’t prevent a credit seller from creating auctions. This strikes me as an attempt to find a happy medium.
Quick off-topic: how you split a stack in your inventory? Also, can you buy bulk from a vendor? I tried shift-clicking and still only bought one at a time..
Hold shift, click+hold+drag. Also how you buy multiple of something.
Hmm, could’ve sworn I tried that, will have to try again.
50 item maximum has to be in, since deposits are refunded in full if auctions fail.
If there was no limit, you could use the AH as an extra storage space by posting items at abnormally high prices (i.e. posting with no intention of selling).
If they increase or remove the maximum limit, they’d have to remove the full refund of deposit too.
Anything that encourages people to stop selling crafting materials in stacks of 1 to confuse the price and make it horribly tedious to buy larger amounts without being fleeced is good in my book.
The career traders will also need to specialize their markets which should do good things for having a dynamic economy rather than stable plateaus. And 50 is high enough that the casual traders will not be inconvenienced.
A limit is good and 50 is a good limit.