GTN Terminals- There aren't enough

[Kaffis]

If you could choose 3 places where to add a GTN for your faction, which would those be?

If I could only choose 3 (and I understand the desire to limit it to something less than "One on every planet," in order to drive traffic to social hubs), I would apply the following factors to my choice:

 

I would choose to put them on planets with required Orbital Stations. Planets with spaceports don't have the extra (annoying, I might add, particularly since I've never seen an airlock add any meaning for the game) loading screens. This is a point against Alderaan, Taris, Coruscant -- which has one already, anyways, if memory serves -- and Nar Shaddaa (which has a Hutt Trade Network; I wouldn't want both present on the same planet).

 

I would choose to put them on planets that are large. This eliminates Quesh. Smaller planets mean that travel back to the Fleet isn't as big a chore in the first place.

 

I would choose planets at a variety of level ranges. Don't bunch them up as successive planets or what not; a big factor of which derives from the following:

 

I would choose planets which provide good crew skill harvesting potential for different tiers of material. A big portion of the GTN users are crafters who want to sell their wares. Harvesting is an activity that often overlaps with the actual production of items, and thus the need to list those produced items. This eliminates planets like Hoth which are grossly dissatisfying sources (understandably, in Hoth's case) of materials.

 

 

Since I'm currently up to questing on Hoth, I can't speak for certain on my exact preferences for all 3 locations, yet. That's why I chose to lay out my criteria, so those with more experience at the final levels and planets can gauge my appreciation of such selections. However, I will point out that the stand-out choice for me thus far is Balmorra. I'm not sure how many planets I've got left, so if there's only really room for 1 additional location beyond Hoth, I'd say I'd add either Taris or Alderaan, despite their failing the "Orbital Station" criteria, which is probably the least important of my criteria, especially in the face of the sprawling nature of both these planets.

[gannonmoss]

If you could choose 3 places where to add a GTN for your faction, which would those be?

 

Cantinas. Equipment hubs.

[Havokk]

If you could choose 3 places where to add a GTN for your faction, which would those be?

 

On my holocommunicator.

 

If Sith Lords can contact me and taunt me about capturing my companions then I should be able to communicate with a service in my own faction.

 

Seriously though, how are these Sith Lords getting my number? Why isn't there a anti-sith feature with the anti-spam filter? How can I get an unlisted number?

[Lomedae]

Seriously though, how are these Sith Lords getting my number? Why isn't there a anti-sith feature with the anti-spam filter? How can I get an unlisted number?

 

Finally some interesting questions around here, we demand answers to these worrying issues!

[Owsley]

If you could choose 3 places where to add a GTN for your faction, which would those be?

 

To use the GTN effectively you also need access to your cargo hold and email. Lots of time you need to check your vault contents before and after trading. For example you see something for sale and you need to compare it to something in storage. Running back and forth at fleet is not fun. Email is a must of course when you are buying aything or removing any for sale items (especially if you post something incorrectly). Bottom line, anywhere there is a bank or email there there should be a GTN terminal next to it. The concept of a physical location for a trading area is outdated, even in real life. London built a new stock exchange and guess what? Nobody shows up because all the trading is electronic.

 

If I am limited to chosing a particular location because of programming constrants, place them in the major space port terminals. They have tons of space, are always empty, and if I need to warp to a planet, it would be very easy to find. Plus it would add to the ambiance to actually see people in a busy space port. Right now they are tombs.

 

Another alternative would be adding more shuttles to fleet in remote lcations (New Feature Suggestion: a map icon would be nice) with a round trip option. Let me get to fleet to conduct my business and get back to my questing location. This would mitigate a need to create an alt that parks at fleet (which can't help server performance).

Edited January 11, 2012 by Owsley

[Ragearo]

I realize I'm a bit late to the party here, but I wanted to give my two cents. The problem with the GTN lies in the fact that the "Central Hub" of this game is actually your ship, and does not contain a GTN terminal. Typically in MMO's, a City/Town (in this case planet or fleet) becomes a central hub when it offers quick and easy travel services to the most common locations - usually end-game content or leveling areas. In this game, the travel between locations is all done by your ship, thus making your ship the place you want to be.

 

The fleet I suppose would be a secondary central hub, but it's too many of it's services are offered elsewhere, typically along your path (If my quest is taking me to Tatooine, why would I stop at the vendors and skill trainers in the fleet when I can find them in the market of the starting city?).

 

Really the only way to "solve" the "GTN Problem" is to do one of three things:

 

• Add a GTN Terminal and Mailbox to the player's ship. (I don't understand the realism complaint's here - how do you know how the mailbox system functions?)
  
• Add a GTN Terminal to every marketplace. (This would be a lot more work I would imagine)
  
• Give more of an incentive to go to the fleet often. I don't do flashpoints, don't even know what they are, and this seems to be a primary incentive to using the fleet.
  

 

[NickM]

On my holocommunicator.

 

If Sith Lords can contact me and taunt me about capturing my companions then I should be able to communicate with a service in my own faction.

 

Seriously though, how are these Sith Lords getting my number? Why isn't there a anti-sith feature with the anti-spam filter? How can I get an unlisted number?

 

I agree with this. (I actually made a post about it back in beta).

 

I have a holocommunicator that can make cross-galaxy calls via hologram, a datapad that can scan anything for any reason, a ship that flies across the galaxy, and companions that do my every bidding as long as I fund their travel fees. You are telling me that my datapad can't get an email (why mailboxes exist in this era of Star Wars I am unsure) and there is no datapad app for me to sell things on the GTN?

 

I have an eBay and Craigslist app on my Droid, right now. (Just saying.)

 

How about this Georg Zoeller: A GTN in every Spaceport or Shuttle hub on all the planets. That way, we don't have to leave the planet to sell our things on the GTN. (Artifacts and Mod items drop all the time, might be nice to sell them right then.)

 

Or what about this suggestion: We can send our companions to sell junk items right? Why not make them able to go list things on the GTN for us, or check our email? I'm sure Vette wouldn't mind, especially if I ask her nicely.

Edited January 11, 2012 by NickM
clarification

[Owsley]

How about this Georg Zoeller: A GTN in every Spaceport or Shuttle hub on all the planets. That way, we don't have to leave the planet to sell our things on the GTN. (Artifacts and Mod items drop all the time, might be nice to sell them right then.)

 

++

I never sell drops on the GTN. Too much of a hassle and too many items in my inventory. They always get dumped at the closest vendor .

Edited January 11, 2012 by Owsley

[El_Gallo_Negro]

How can you expect there to be a GTN kiosk on a rrmote outpost?

 

Belsavis is a prison planet, since when do prisoners use the GTN?

Have you ever seen a major trade hub in a prison?

 

Voss, is not even part of either the republic or Empire.

And the the planet was only discovered very recently, within the last decade I think it is, and the Voss dont really like outsiders, so how can you justify a GTN kiosk there?

 

 

 

A GTN kiosk and mailbox on your ship?

Do you have your own personal post office where you can receive large packages in your home?

 

I fully agree we need more of them its not that, but I have the distinct impression here that some people want everything at their fingertips or handed to them on a silver platter.

 

Cant we at least try to be a little more realistic instead of this instant gratification need many of the players here seem to have?

 

My 3 choices would be the follwing:

 

Corellia

Alderaan

Tatooine or Hoth

Pardon me, but have you ever heard of UPS?

Edited January 11, 2012 by El_Gallo_Negro

[Celebrochan]

Why have terminals at all? This is the future... you should be able to access the markets via the holonet from any location or if that is too realistic... then allow us to send our companion off to do some shopping for us.

[Kithalt]

How about somewhere on the starting planets? After I got my main character to level 20 I just said screw it and rolled an alt that I played until it could get to Coruscant. Then I parked it there to always have a character that can access to the GTN easily. It would have saved me a few hours of gameplay if there was an easier way to get a bank alt.

[ColdenBlood]

I'd really enjoy all the trade terminals be linked and allow cross-faction trading.

 

As far as the three locations go, I'd have'ta say I haven't had much issues with the system because I only do my trading on Cours, Fleet, and occasionally Shaddaa. I do believe, though, if anything is to be added, banks and mailing should be accompanied close by.

[xyeik]

So, then, your view is that everyone else should be inconvenienced and irritated with a useless time sink and load screens so that you can see more digital bodies in the area? What if BW added a bunch more NPCs milling about the GTN area on fleet, would that work?

 

My above snarkiness aside (I get irritated when people want to dictate the inclusion or removal of system or concepts that dictate what I do to make them feel better. My character is my character. What I do with it is my choice, just like what you do with yours is your choice so long as we are not impeding the freedom of each other. . . which is what those type of suggestions do.), I don't disagree about the lifelessness of the worlds, the other night I was on Tat and there were 20 split into two separate shards. It's sad. But this is not the way to combat that; dare I say, this only makes it worse, since people are having to leave the planets where they quest in order to go to the GTN.

 

I also believe that things such as looping music, "critters", and mobile NPCs would go a long way toward fixing that "feel". But I'm straying form the point of this thread.

 

Give people a reason to be at fleet, not a reason to go to fleet.

 

Having to travel back to a Capitol City to use the AH (GTN in our case) is not a new concept, I remind you. I have never thought of going back to the original pre-expansion content Capitol Cities to use the AH was an inconvenience.

 

However, I do agree, there should be a reason to be at the fleet, other than the GTN. Maybe the solution should be easier travel between the planets and the Fleet?

 

None the less... you have made some good points.

[Sildroni]

GTN needs to be cross faction and EVERYWHERE.

 

10% - 20% surcharge for buying an item from your faction.

20% - 40% surcharge for buying an item from the opposite faction.

 

The Hutts would be all over this - they'd actually be killing people to corner the GTN kiosk market.

 

Money coming in from people posting items - and money coming in from people buying those items.

 

From a 'Lore' perspective - Imps and Reps are both trying to get the Hutts on their side - what better way to show good faith then allowing them to place kiosks everywhere and make profits from it. It wouldn't cost the governments anything - Hutts absorb all the startup costs and the governments may get a kickback from profits, but definately believe they are building good will with a potential ally.

 

We are in a total Cold War situation - all of the non criminal fighting is done behind the scenes with covert strike teams and all that jazz. Cross faction purchasing should fit in without a problem since we have a 'neutral' 3rd party in the Hutts.

 

Add sending a companion to pick up an item you want to buy from the GTN (I can do that from an iPhone right now - order a pizza for pickup and send a minion to go get it) AND post items for sale on the GTN from your personal HoloComm (same as eBay). If I have to send a companion to deliver the item to the buyer (whoever won the bid) then so be it.

 

BW needs another money sink - this will work.

BW needs to simplify the GTN and remove their system requirements for maintaining multiple versions (Republic, Empire and Hutt)

We need better access to resources, items, services.

 

We have tools built in that have the capability to do things far beyond pickup and delivery, but they can't be tasked with doing it? No reason that a droid that will do anything I ask it to, regardless of its skill set, won't go pickup an item from a delivery spot and bring it back to me where ever I am - I send it to the outer rim constantly.

 

I'd challenge BW to come up with arguments against from a Lore perspective. Unifying the various GTNs could possibly free up some system resources too.

[Vodalus]

Having to travel back to a Capitol City to use the AH (GTN in our case) is not a new concept, I remind you. I have never thought of going back to the original pre-expansion content Capitol Cities to use the AH was an inconvenience.

 

However, I do agree, there should be a reason to be at the fleet, other than the GTN. Maybe the solution should be easier travel between the planets and the Fleet?

 

None the less... you have made some good points.

 

Well, pardon the bluntness of this reply, but: "that's the way it has always been in other games" isn't a very sound reason.

 

Additionally, those other games were much easier to travel in. At most, there was 1 load screen in each direction (going to AH, returning to questing area). In this game, you have 2 load screens. . . just to get on your ship (yes, the one to load the hangar is very short). So, even if you use a fleet pass to get to fleet, you still have double the load screens (minimum, depending on planet) to return to your questing area that you had the entire trip in other games. 2 load screens, max, for a round-trip to the AH in other games; 5 load screens minimum (by using a fleet pass) for a round-trip to use the GTN in this game (load fleet after using fleet pass, load class hangar, load ship, load planet on ship exit, load area outside hangar.

 

And that's just the load screen part of it. There is no AFK travel in this game. You have to be present for all of it because it's broken into so many little pieces that all require you to run or click on a map.

[Skuldar]

If you could choose 3 places where to add a GTN for your faction, which would those be?

 

Not to be too disrespectful, but is this really all we get from you? This kind of response comes off as treating us like children instead of mostly adult paying customers.

 

That you offer up 3 more GTN locations per faction implies you want to have a pretty limited number of them. You could maybe explain why you only want a few per faction, what the intent is that overwhelms the argument from convenience that would put many more GTN locations in the game. Why do you presume we do not deserve or could not digest such an explanation and instead must be spoon-fed or placated?

[Partizan_Cholek]

If you could choose 3 places where to add a GTN for your faction, which would those be?

 

1. My ship

2. Ilum (I don't even have a 50 yet, but since it's an endgame planet, that makes sense)

3. Abstain - instead, conjoin the neutral GTN into the standard GTN, and then make it cross-platform. That would give us Nar Shaddaa then also.

 

If #3 isn't an option, I dunno... what's the big deal w/every planet, loadscreening 5 screens to get to a GTN terminal is a moderate PITA, what's the beef?

[SlimsPicken]

Removing GTN from all planets was a huge mistake. All planets should have trainers/crew trainers/ and GTN.

 

Or, they could just do the logical thing and give us a GTN outlet and mail box on our ships.

[Garrum]

GTNs on our ships. GTNs 100% cross faction. GTNs at all taxi posts. Make it so.

[Magathemis]

#1 = GTN on our ships. Also, a mailbox. Please-please-please. Also to add a holo-vendor for crafting materials.

 

#2 = Tatooine.

 

#3 = Alderaan

 

(Actually, seriously: Any planet that's not a total mess, such as Taris or Balmorra, ought to be civilized enough to be hooked into the galactice trade network.)

 

#4-10 = On our ships, please. Along with a mailbox and holo-vendor.

[DocSigma]

Basically.. everywhere you can put on. put one.

[Dartan]

If you could choose 3 places where to add a GTN for your faction, which would those be?

 

Ilum, my ship, all 4 quarters of the Imperial Fleet. Basically, I would like it to be convenient and not have to wait 5 minutes to get to one due to the zones taking forever to load.

[DigitalPigeon]

Not to be too disrespectful, but is this really all we get from you? This kind of response comes off as treating us like children instead of mostly adult paying customers.

 

That you offer up 3 more GTN locations per faction implies you want...

 

Second time someone has responded like this. Just to be clear, he didn't say "where should we add 3 more GTN locations" He asked each of us "where would you add 3 more locations".

 

Now, lets says we get 300 replies from people interested in contributing. That will be 900 (if everyone provides 3) locations. Lets say that most of us feel kind of the same, so we overlap 80% of our answers. That would still provide them as many as 180 unique ideas for locations (not 3).

 

This also helps them gleen what the most important places might be, due to where the highest overlap is. In this group of responders at least, it is very clear that those who replied to this thread, in general, really want GTNs on our ships, GTNs in markets, easier access to cross faction GTNs, always mail and bank access near the GTN, and GTN access from Illum for end game access.

 

There has also been good discussion about the lore ramifications of companion / datapad access to GTN and mail (both pros and cons). And there are also a lot of great, unique answers with specific planets / locations listed for specific GTN locations.

 

 

So its really important to understand that when gathering feedback, the question asked (what are the three locations YOU would like) does not necisarrily indicate WHY they are asking (they are not trying to find three more locations, they are trying to get a small sample set from each individual to combine to answer a bigger question).

 

Hope that helps clear that up...

Edited January 12, 2012 by DigitalPigeon

[Deewe]

Was thinking about the following lately.

 

If you are using the GTN & mailboxes to promote socialization or make the world feel alive, you are either delusional or your expectations are very low.

 

It's not because players see many others gathered around such pillars that it will make them communicate more to each others nor have the feeling of a living world.

 

 

Thing is when players are browsing either the mail box of the GTN, they aren't doing anything else and certainly not focusing on looking at their surroundings or the players around, nor chatting with others gathered around.

 

 

While it's a good idea to enforce grouping of players in social hubs, you have to do so in a way that promotes interactions with each others. In SWG, (because it has to be named), while the time sinks were a bit too long, players were required to go into cantina's and med center and that's it. They were social hubs in a way apart chatting with others players, there was nothing else to do. Also did you ever heard about players camps? They helped a lot socialization.

 

Now we all know the death related money and time sinks in TOR doesn't work. So why not get back to the basics?

You die, you loose either some heal max pool or some power efficiency. At start very few like 1% then more and much much more.

 

Thing is to recover your combat capacity you now have to pay yourself a visit to one of the very few social hubs and, depending on your status, spend no max than 10-15 minutes there, being entertained by (for now) NPCs. Add minigames in theses (cantinas?), add slot machines, usable tables and chairs, private rooms you can rent, and sooner than else players will socialize and you'll start having a tue MMO.

 

Some players are really against such time sinks. As such let them "buy" their healing with a way bigger money fee, trading "wasted" time for active time (killing mobs or crafting) to gather the money to pay the fees.

 

 

That being said all the above totally works with emails sent to our datapads and packages delivered to our space ships and managed by our companions.

[Vodalus]

@Deewe: While I often agree with a lot of what you post, I am wholly against your above proposal and my reasoning can be explained in 3 letters- Why?

 

Why do people feel they need to force players to NOT play the game, but rather stand around participating in some sort of graphically enhanced AIM/ICQ/mIRC?

 

If people want to socialize in this way, they will. What purpose is served by artificially herding them into an area to do this? I have a guild. I have friends. I have (a couple of) other people on the planet that I am questing on. That is where I want to socialize. That is an MMO to me: doing content with other people or chatting with them while I do the content. Standing around doing nothing while chatting is just that, chat. It is not playing the game. It is not accomplishing anything other than to, what, keep lonely people company?

 

As I've said numerous times in this thread: Give people a reason to BE there, not a reason to GO there. Your healing suggestion is just another reason to go there, removing you from actually playing the game, not a reason to be there. Make fleet the central hub for mini-games. It already is, of a sort, being the central hub for FPs (after all, FPs are a small subset of games within the larger game). Add sabaac, pazzak, speeder racing, pit fighting type dueling ring.

 

Don't add grindy heal requirements, or isolate game mechanics there (such as GTN).

Edited January 12, 2012 by Vodalus