The economic system of the fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online (TESO) currently operates without a server-wide auction house. Now, player guilds are to have the opportunity to hire an NPC to sell their goods.
Guild Shop: Too Unorganized and too Difficult to Use
The economic system of The Elder Scrolls Online is based on trading in public chat or exchanging goods within a player guild. Up to 500 heroes or traders can fit in there. Trading works like in an internal auction house.
However, the guild store brings some difficulties in usability: Players cannot specifically search for items. And they have trouble keeping track of which item is the cheapest. Especially when they are in more than one guild and want to compare which item is cheapest where, there are enormous difficulties.
Add-Ons and External Sites as a Solution?
With player-created add-ons some of the problems have been solved, but the system still faces some criticism. In the meantime, some virtual marketplaces have emerged on the internet, where players can look for items and prices outside of the game.
ZeniMax has also identified problems in the system, acknowledged them, and compiled an improved usability list of the long list of changes that the game will receive in the coming months.
New guild features: Changes to the user interface of the guild store.
Marketplace to be moved to the City: The Guild Kiosk as an Auction House through the Back Door?
As reiterated in the official Facebook group of The Elder Scrolls Online, there are plans for further interventions in the trading system beyond improving the usability of the guild shop.
So far, guilds can offer their goods at a castle they conquer in the PvP zone Cyrodiil. However, this has apparently not achieved the intended success. It seems counter-intuitive to go shopping in a constantly raging war. After all, one must look around amidst the murders to see which guild of their alliance holds which keep, find out if they have great items there, and then make their way.
Instead, guilds are now to be able to hire a trader. Players outside the guild can then access the not-so-exclusive guild store through this trader, the so-called guild kiosk.
Guild kiosks – guild stores that are accessible to everyone and are available to the highest bidding guild.
The Rule of Money: Only One Guild Kiosk for the Richest Guild on the Server?
How exactly the “highest bidder” will be defined is currently unknown. It could mean that only one guild on the mega server can rent the guild kiosk for a certain time, or it could mean that several of these kiosks are positioned next to each other.
The Missing Auction House Remains a Hot Topic
Regular heated discussions among players take place regarding the trading system of The Elder Scrolls Online. While some do not understand why there is no auction house that enables a quick overview of goods and finding the lowest price with one click, others counter with their experience in MMOs: A mega server simply cannot be connected with a cross-server auction house. This would ruin the prices, and no item would then be special. This view is apparently also shared by Paul Sage, who in an interview holds this exact position.
Our goal is to make the economy more player-driven and not just to offer some system where you can find everything you want because so many players are on the mega server. In extremely large communities, even very rare items can become excessively available through an auction house. In the end, it only harms the “hunt for better gear” in the game.
