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Splitting the GtN markets is a poor idea


corkymcgee

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I'm 8 year vet of City of Heroes , and when City of villians first came out, the two sides were seperate andnot able to cross purchase/sale, they merged the markets a while ago (1-2 years), and it made things a lot better for both sides.

 

Just to reinforce your point: I played CoH from launch day too, and it's worth noting that the markets were cross server from the get-go, and even so, the devs finally came to their senses, realizing that splitting the market by faction was senseless. A market needs to pass a certain threshold of participation to function.

 

Granted, CoH had a small fraction of SWTOR's subscriber base, but CoH also had a small fraction of SWTOR's servers. As of right now, SWTOR has what? More than a hundred servers, and three separate markets per server? Kind of insane, from where I'm sitting.

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Just to reinforce your point: I played CoH from launch day too, and it's worth noting that the markets were cross server from the get-go, and even so, the devs finally came to their senses, realizing that splitting the market by faction was senseless. A market needs to pass a certain threshold of participation to function.

 

Granted, CoH had a small fraction of SWTOR's subscriber base, but CoH also had a small fraction of SWTOR's servers. As of right now, SWTOR has what? More than a hundred servers, and three separate markets per server? Kind of insane, from where I'm sitting.

 

The market disparity between just Republic and Imperial on my server is astonishing (very close population according to Dulfy's unofficial tallies). It's as much as a factor of two more expensive on Imperial side for some materials. I barely bother selling stuff on my side any more.

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the problem with nar shadaa GTN is its accessibility. this legacy one wont change that because of the buy in it might as well be on nar shadaa. i used the gtn once on my level 50 to trade credits to an alt in the other faction.

with mail being opened so that you can mail to any of your characters i dont see any need for it at all now.

Its to bad they aren't bringing back the pvp mission terminal on your ship instead.

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This would be helpful. The servers aren't able to handle a large number of players, so there is no need to split the GTNs in the first place. But I do agree that if they are split, I like the idea of the neutral GTN being on the ship.

 

I actually like having the 2 different markets (Imp/Rep). This way, when I have a lot of stuff to sell, I can check out both markets to see where to list to maximize profits. It works the same way with getting items on the cheap in one market and then turning it around on the other, or simply just getting something u need for the cheapest price.

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I wouldn't bet on that.... It might take a while but I'll be aiming for one one every toons ship.... (That's 16 on live, I won't count the toons I currently have on the PTS).... And I'm quite sure I won't be in the minority in 8 months to a years time. The cross-faction aspect combined with the convenience.... and everyone who has this will also have a mailbox on board, even more convenience. I don't think it will have a shortage of clientèle.

 

Sounds like a colossal waste of credits to me. At least on my server the interest in that market is pathetic. If I actually want to sell something, I stick to faction specific markets.

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Yea stimulating the economy of both factions on a server is a terrible idea.

 

/sarcasm

 

That's a nice sentiment, but unfortunately the Hutt Trading Network is completely separate from the other markets. It is a competitor of those markets, not a stimulant thereof.

 

It's certainly possible that after a year or more, the Hutt Trading Network will become a viable alternative to the Republic/Empire markets because lots of people will have the required Legacy and so much money that they'll buy the ship kiosk just out of boredom. But in the nearer term, it's unlikely that informed players are going to bother with the HTN. Market participation is self-reinforcing (or self-depreciating); if the HTN is perceived to be slow in comparison with the GTN, then people don't have any incentive to buy the HTN kiosk, which means that they won't participate in the HTN, which means that the HTN remains slow, and so on and so forth.

 

Per the developers' own statistics, 5 million is still a lot of credits these days. What's more (or what's worse, depending on how you look at it), the 5 million is part of a package deal, because in order to turn one's ship into a anything approaching a self-sufficient crafting/selling hub, you need to buy the repair droid and the mailbox, too. Ideally, you'd also be able to buy a crafting trainer and a crafting material vendor.

 

All of those things are available, for free, at the fleet. It's the main hub for finding teammates, too -- and for that reason alone, the fleet (and the GTN) will remain the most convenient option. On the fleet, you can keep an ear open for any group quests you might be interested in running while you go about your business. On your ship? You can listen to your protocol droid wax pompous about your diet.

 

Anyway, long story short, I don't see the HTN suddenly catching on, and by definition, the HTN cannot "stimulate" activity on the GTN. Then again, the HTN isn't the only feature in the Legacy system, and the Legacy system is far from finished.

Edited by Invictos
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I just think the whole idea of "building your legacy" as the current promo video talks about, if the goal of legacy is really as they promote, then how in the heck can you square being able to "buy" your legacy experience?

 

"Ok, fine, it sucks that Darth Vader is my dad, yes, we've been seeing a therapist over it, him the Dark Lord and all, but the good news is-- with the upcoming patch, I can just buy a new dad and bada bing, Vader is no longer my daddy! "

 

Im Luke Skywalker and I authorized this message.

 

"Yeah, I was bummed when my first mate ended up a transdoshian, scared away all the ladies. But in the good news is, in the upcoming patch- I can buy a switch out kit and trade him out for a wookie. George really wants me to do it and in spite of my issues with dander and seasonal allergies, I think thats path I'll go."

 

Han Solo on the Holonet, file footage on how he met Chewie

 

NO! NO! NO!

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A) Split GTN, under ANY circumstances, is an idiotic idea. As already mentioned in many previous posts, separating out to different places to look for auctions is counter-productve. What is the point? Just combine the market into one unified market, that both empire and rebels can access. Honestly I don't even know what the point of the wow-like separation of factions is, look at EQ, that's the way to do realistic factions. But I digress...

 

B) Putting a GTN kiosk on the ship as a perk is a FANTASTIC idea. HOWEVER, it is still idiotic to split the GTN. People keep saying it won't be used, but do you know that? It is VERY convenient, and it could be the a big group of people will use it just because it IS convenient. So that will split the population and economy again.

 

Best Fix: Make the GTN one thing, cross-faction, at all locations.

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I actually like having the 2 different markets (Imp/Rep). This way, when I have a lot of stuff to sell, I can check out both markets to see where to list to maximize profits. It works the same way with getting items on the cheap in one market and then turning it around on the other, or simply just getting something u need for the cheapest price.

 

This doesn't make sense. You LIKE having to check in two different places? If you combine the two, you get a better market. Things sell faster, and things sell closer to actual 'value.'

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GTN for imp and rep should be seperate, however the hutt GTN should be neutral. This is how it is, but I think they should have integrated the hutt system better. As in, even though the systems are seperate, the hutts are able to use their criminal connections to place imperial/republic goods on opposite markets for a decent markup(tax). Using a hutt controlled kiosk should allow cross faction goods at a lower markup.
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