I like this idea. The only issue with it is it still wont stop people from spamming chat trying to sell stuff. In fact, it would probably make it worse.

Its this reason why I think ultimately the auction house system should be implemented.


Several ideas I have to regulate the auction house
1) Make all auction houses independent from each other (1 per faction and only in their capital city). One universal auction house totally tanks an economy because bots and hackers flood the market with items slightly above vendor value.
2) No cancelling auctions early. Once its for sale, its there for the duration.
3) Add a hefty listing fee to discourage flooding of the market, but lower the selling fee post purchase.
4) Possibly add a restriction on how many items each account can list per day. (25 per day?) That way people arent selling 1000 iron ore in stacks of 1 for slightly above the vendor value of the item. Again, prevent flooding of the market, bots, and in some small part the hackers too. Make auctions more meaningful. Also prevents people with a lot of money from cornering the market.

Let the rage responses begin!

My experience as well. Gave a whole "community trading in real time like we were all really there" feel to the game. Never had better player interaction while buying and selling.

I get the chat spam problem..I do. It's annoying, but it's an MMO and if people aren't spamming trade goods then it will be about something else. Chat can be toggled on/off, but the economy is more intrinsic to the game itself. I do see your points, but I don't see how even a restricted Auction House would work. I still prefer something more personal, which I think would benefit the community at large. It's essentially taking your first point about having an auction house per faction and saying, "Hey instead of Wal-Mart, why not a bunch of little mom-n-pop shops?"