This idea can earn you 1million in gold per month (or more), if you have the skills and the time to make it happen.

Originally, I wanted to implement this myself. But the week is rapidly running away from me, and realistically, I'd rather spend my free time playing the game than coding a website after launch.

So instead of selfishly hanging on to it for 'someday,' I'm going to share it with the world. Because the ESO world is better with this idea in it than without it. And frankly, I want to be a user of it myself

The Realities of the ESO Economy

Without a world auction house, a number of players have noted how this adds a frustrating barrier when one desires to buy or sell goods. A number of people intend to make the best of the situation by reverting back to the "WTS/WTB" days of EQ or the hopelessly limited mechanism of trade guilds.

But I believe that truly successful trade will be built on RELATIONSHIPS. You'll find some blacksmiths or alchemists who can regularly meet your needs, and you'll likely stick with them. This is all well and good for people in elite guilds who have these services in-house but what about the rest of us?

We need a way to CONNECT buyers with SELLERS (NOT with PRODUCTS).

Ideally, the solution is an in-game add-on. If that's not possible, then a website or app easily usable on a mobile device will work.

Here's the general concept:

The buyer or browser goes to the application and enters in their search criteria:
SKill/Craft: Master Blacksmith
Alliance: Ebonhart
Playing Hours: evenings Pacific Time
Traits: Unstoppable
Motif: Bosmer

The database contains a list of registered crafters who have outlined their capabilities in their profile. The search finds a list, sortable by many criteria, and the buyer has now found a number of people who can meet their needs. They reach out to them in-game and find someone who can make what they need.

The buyer gets equipment built to order. The crafter doesn't have to build equipment on spec and hope to make a profit listing it on an auction house. And a lasting connection is made, a relationship, where these two will be able to find each other again with no problem.

EVERYBODY WINS.


The Million Gold Part:
The owner of the website charges crafters an in-game pittance: say, 1000g/month. Get 1000 crafters signed up paying 1000g a month, and you're raking in 1 million gold a month, sustainable, and doing the game a favor in the process. I don't see 1000 members being a problem, because the cost of membership is cheap and the population of this game will measure in the millions.

Alternately, you could just have a donation bar at the top of the website and ask buyers to donate $1 or whatever if they found your service useful (to cover server costs and your time).

Whatever floats your boat.

Personally, I prefer the in-game currency idea because a) you're trading in-game value for in-game currency and forcing that interaction with the crafter within the game enforces a little bit of quality control on who can join your consortium. It will help you filter out gold sellers, griefers, and other untrustworthy folks.


Conditions
So there you have it.... the idea is all yours on only two conditions:
1) I receive SOME sort of credit on the website (we can work out the details, but it would be nice if my character gets a bit of a popularity boost from this site)
2) I can belong to the website as a crafter for no cost

Message me if you're serious about making this happen. I can assist with some other details and maybe provide some testing/code review/whatever you need to make this a reality. I've done a lot of thinking about it and mapped out a lot of the requirements and design details. I just don't have time to put keys to keyboard and build the thing.

Good luck!

The Grand Leaf

Here's the problem: it's already being done for free.

http://esoah.com/

I'm strongly reminded of the guy who word the dollar-sign suit on TV and shouted about how you could get money from the government.

Wah-Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Esoah is providing an online store. I'm talking about a professional networking site. It's like comparing amazon vs Angie's list.

I was trying to think of a way to get people to consider reading through a wall of text . Otherwise id just get a lot of tl;dr and no good discussion

I'd prefer if none of the above sites would actually work, since any one could set one up early to get a name for themselves and then simply sell the gold to gold farmers so they're the only ones taking the blame, or take the risk of selling the gold yourself (stupid though).

Either way, it kinnda invites gold sellers... indirectly..

Cheap snowballsystem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_effect

Please dont get fooled. You pay gold in the hope you see anything back.

Forget it. Its an new kind of RMT.

You get an dejavue if reading the startpost?

I tell you why:

It is the same like this money promising spam mails!

Be warned!

Thank me later for saving your gold/your account.

30 day free trial and now your silly conspiracy theories are destroyed. You pay if you want to stay on because you found it useful.

Look past the tone of the post to the idea. Did you even read it?

Yeah i had read it. sound like an snowballsystem to me.

/edit:

Quote:

Alternately, you could just have a donation bar at the top of the website and ask buyers to donate $1 or whatever if they found your service useful (to cover server costs and your time).

End of Quote

is making it more suspecious.

I suppose there is always that risk that a person might use the gold earned to get real $$. I only know that i wouldn't if it was me.

I don't know a way around that but if the person is providing you a valuable service with the website, then what do you care how that person chooses to use the gold?

I hate gold sellers but I don't know of a way to prevent any massively rich player from potentially selling that gold in one form or another.

Someone else already had this idea to at this site:

http://www.eldersreach.com/forum.php

*although probably not as good for searching like that other one mentioned.