but this gold trading via email system, is it a good cover up for gold farmers? Not the system itself, but they will find a way to assimilate, add a gray/trash item and exchange with 100000 gold.. Who is going to notice that, with so many item/gold trades.

I'd be awfully surprised if there isn't a clause somewhere in the TOS that forbids stuff like that site. They'll be shut down, and probably sued.

A few thoughts, forget my rusty english.

The first thing to understand is that there are no perfect trading systems. The second thing is to define what we are trying to do and what principles are behind:

- For me, the trading system must be based on the principle of freedom, the less restrictive as possible.

Objectives

- Players able to sell their products and get profit

One of the most important ends in mmorpgs is the sense of economy progression. Players don't play mmorpgs to be poor; while the money is a mean to get things, the end is always being better than the starting position. However being rich is also problem because it makes the game too easy.

- Not tedious or restrictive

A system that requires many requirements, forced guild membership, excessive gold sinks will encourage:

a. direct trading: chat spamming, subjective sense of the products value (even scamming)

b. players who won't be trading at all: some people will skip trading if they feel it's not worth the time and hassle.

- Nobody controls the economy

A global AH would makes a few to control the economy by buying low and selling high, creating monopolies of resources. So there it is important that Auction Houses should not be connected. That's why I think local Auction House could satisfy the same guild stores purpose in this matter.

- The system is adapted to the size of the server.

Too many players and the almost infinite supply, generates a fall in prices. Selling wares could not be worthwhile. This, won't be a problem at the begining (see below).

- A system that evolves with the game

At first, the product prices will be high, this is inevitable because there will hundreds of thousands looking to buy materials. However, as the game gets old, the price of the lower level products will be devalued because there will be less demand (the supply will be less too). It is also inevitable.

/edit

P.S.

There are more effective ways to prevent/limit goldselling.

Then by all means, provide the citation that gives ZOS the ability to shut down and sue a non-profit fan site. Heck, I'd LOVE to see ZOS sue a fan site for allowing players to communicate their play style to each other. Every fan site, trade guild site, and forum would be up in arms over ZOS telling them what information about the game they can and can not discuss with other players. Watching that bomb go off would be even more entertaining than playing the game.

I'll leave that for the ZoS lawyers, thanks though. Meantime, have fun giving goldsellers a good place to hide.

Why on earth would basically ESO craigslist be a tos violation? PS: its not, Ive read tos unlike most folks.

I don't see it working and I wouldn't be surprised if ZOS try to improve their system down the track.

In the meantime, I think most people will choose to use the web based AH instead.

I would like to see personal stores at some point, for those of us who enjoy the merchant lifestyle but don't want to join a guild (and don't want to just sell to those in our guild). I used to love my little Alchemist's Shop in UO...

Mega servers aren't new, yet this is the first MMO I've come across that doesn't have an auction house. Whilst it's hard to compare game population numbers, I'd suggest that STO has a healthy population on it's mega server and it's AH works well. I don't understand the thinking in not having one.

I think that a GLOBAL Ah would be a bad idea. But, having a Local AH for each NPC city or large encampment would be a good idea, imo.

There is nothing Zos can do about it, they dont control those sites.

This

Its friggin Craigslist. If theres no rmt they arent going to do a thing.

the only thing i dont like to see with the idea of a personal store, is the "instanse stores" .. But a kind of a huge building with little stores and personal vendors, would be fun (be able to pick our emblem/sign, set it up...) . But is it good to create this stores in a neutral area for all alliances? Because if its not, we may have to run 3 stores?

Yeah I like the idea of "vendor malls". Brings me back to SWG, where I could list my own items on my own vendor. Though I don't think it's going to happen in this game.

I'd like to see an ability, perhaps requiring skill points to unlock. Where you can become a merchant(like the NPCs) and stand or walk around popular areas, letting people come up and hit a button on you to browse the items you have selected to sell.

I really hate the idea of an auction house. It doesn't fit the lore to have ebay in Tamriel. Nor does it make a good game in my opinion.

why not, if they give us unlimeted bank space... or else is a joke. Where all our stuff will be held?

Marketboard listing player vendors and their location in a locale makes sense.

There's a limit on bank space. To me, the bank represents a storage unit rental, I do dislike the fact that you can access it from different locations, but it is just a video game.

That's an interesting idea as well. It would ensure that areas do not become too crowded with them as well since you would have to choose to either a. be out gaming/leveling/etc or b. vendoring your items

Will judge said system once this beast is online .....