Over the years, I've seen forms of this discussion pop up in-game and among friends. Many players are and have been craving a strong economic system to replace some of the archaic features of the Bazaar. MMORPG games are typically just as good as their economic system. Games such as EVE Online and Star Wars The Old Republic have well-established economies that allow players to not only benefit from the availability of items, but profit off of their own wares. As the player base for this game begins to collectively grow older and more mature, I believe a market/auction system would be quite appropriate and necessary to improve Q.O.L in the game.
Items Sold In the Market
This market/auction system would include but not be limited to the transfer of reagents and items between players. Certain items would have suggested values, such as Crown Shop items or items that are harder to acquire, such as the Level 130 Dragoon's set. Eventually, players would establish understood values of items and be able to fairly compete with other members. Reagents such as Amber or Vine, which are only acquired through drops or using Arena Tickets would also carry a more significant price, especially in bulk. This should also open up the ability to trade items & reagents among friends. Perhaps a system similar to that of gifting could be used for this, so that players must voluntarily elect to take part in these trades.
The Gold Predicament Naturally, for this system to run smoothly, a heavily requested update would be necessary. Personally, I'd love to see the Gold limit be completely removed, so that players can reach any potential level of wealth that they aspire to reach, but a gradual increase in the gold limit would be acceptable as well. For players who have completed the main storyline, the markets could easily provide an additional activity to take part in.
Kingsisle's Involvement in the Markets While there are plenty of benefits of offering a free market system to every player, there are downsides. The possibility of Monopolies and unfair business practices exists, which means that Kingsisle would need to implement systems that would limit those possibilities. While it is important that players run the markets, Kingsisle would need to initially set price standards for certain items, so that as an item's availability or rarity increases, the prices would appropriately fluctuate.
Badges Naturally, players will aspire to reach high levels of wealth through the use of the market system. Badges accompany certain milestones in players' achievements, so there should be badges that commemorate a player's achievement of becoming a Millionaire, Billionaire, and above! This would provide an additional incentive for players to contribute to the markets, as they can proudly flaunt their success among their peers.
Conclusion All in all, I believe a player-run market/auction system would increase the quality-of-life for every player in the game, provide an incentive for many players to join/come back to the game, and provide an additional reason for players who don't participate in PvP to continue playing the game. This would be an expansive update, but the long-term benefits of it would easily overshadow any difficulties of implementation. It's time that Wizard101 truly surpasses the other iconic MMORPG games, and an in-game player-run market system would greatly contribute to that. If any of you have suggestions or additions to my proposal, please feel free to comment them below. The elements of this feature that I have mentioned are simply ideas that my peers and I have come up with, but in order for it to truly reach its potential, everyone's input is necessary. That being said, I hope this sparks plenty of conversation and debate revolving around this idea. Thank you for reading!
Over the years, I've seen forms of this discussion pop up in-game and among friends. Many players are and have been craving a strong economic system to replace some of the archaic features of the Bazaar. MMORPG games are typically just as good as their economic system. Games such as EVE Online and Star Wars The Old Republic have well-established economies that allow players to not only benefit from the availability of items, but profit off of their own wares. As the player base for this game begins to collectively grow older and more mature, I believe a market/auction system would be quite appropriate and necessary to improve Q.O.L in the game.
Items Sold In the Market
This market/auction system would include but not be limited to the transfer of reagents and items between players. Certain items would have suggested values, such as Crown Shop items or items that are harder to acquire, such as the Level 130 Dragoon's set. Eventually, players would establish understood values of items and be able to fairly compete with other members. Reagents such as Amber or Vine, which are only acquired through drops or using Arena Tickets would also carry a more significant price, especially in bulk. This should also open up the ability to trade items & reagents among friends. Perhaps a system similar to that of gifting could be used for this, so that players must voluntarily elect to take part in these trades.
The Gold Predicament Naturally, for this system to run smoothly, a heavily requested update would be necessary. Personally, I'd love to see the Gold limit be completely removed, so that players can reach any potential level of wealth that they aspire to reach, but a gradual increase in the gold limit would be acceptable as well. For players who have completed the main storyline, the markets could easily provide an additional activity to take part in.
Kingsisle's Involvement in the Markets While there are plenty of benefits of offering a free market system to every player, there are downsides. The possibility of Monopolies and unfair business practices exists, which means that Kingsisle would need to implement systems that would limit those possibilities. While it is important that players run the markets, Kingsisle would need to initially set price standards for certain items, so that as an item's availability or rarity increases, the prices would appropriately fluctuate.
Badges Naturally, players will aspire to reach high levels of wealth through the use of the market system. Badges accompany certain milestones in players' achievements, so there should be badges that commemorate a player's achievement of becoming a Millionaire, Billionaire, and above! This would provide an additional incentive for players to contribute to the markets, as they can proudly flaunt their success among their peers.
Conclusion All in all, I believe a player-run market/auction system would increase the quality-of-life for every player in the game, provide an incentive for many players to join/come back to the game, and provide an additional reason for players who don't participate in PvP to continue playing the game. This would be an expansive update, but the long-term benefits of it would easily overshadow any difficulties of implementation. It's time that Wizard101 truly surpasses the other iconic MMORPG games, and an in-game player-run market system would greatly contribute to that. If any of you have suggestions or additions to my proposal, please feel free to comment them below. The elements of this feature that I have mentioned are simply ideas that my peers and I have come up with, but in order for it to truly reach its potential, everyone's input is necessary. That being said, I hope this sparks plenty of conversation and debate revolving around this idea. Thank you for reading!
-Talon Dawn/Shard
Ive seen the idea for a player store type of idea for selling reagents to others heck ive even asked kingsisle in a tweet like their monthly #AskKi asking if we will be able to trade reagents like we could with tc in a way even got 20 likes for even asking that but keeps getting ignored (not surprised honestly i bet its too hard for kingsisle to implement such a thing) but i hope your post at least will appeal to them in some way
