We need a way to obtain preservation wards outside of the auction house and Zen market.
Problem: people would rather spend Zen on preservation wards instead of selling it on the exchange because you get 950,000 astral diamonds per 1000 Zen from wards compared to 750,000 astral diamonds from selling it on the exchange.
Problem #2: the high demand placed on preservation wards is making them very expensive. Making it harder and harder for newer players to "catch up". The slower progressing is also discouraging.
Solution: Add preservation wards to the wondrous bazzar at a price equal to the Zen exchange cost + 10% (8250 ad/ea).
Please consider this idea, feel free to add improvements or voice concerns.
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Comments
Put Coals and Pres Wards back in the Trade Bar Store - encourages more VIP spend = more cash into the game = a better game.
You cannot farm unbound wards. I personally do not need to buy any ward. I just farmed them. However, the ward you farmed or gifted are character bound or account bound. You cannot trade those. If you farm them, well, that will take a long while and many people can't wait although I am not one of them.
Somebody can trade wards only because those wards were purchased from Zen store. OP complains people got around Zax to convert Zen to more AD through buying ward from Zen store and sell that in AH. What it implies is: buying Zen in Zax will take longer. His point was not about buying wards himself but the long queue in Zax.
As as side note, Zax seems to be broken last week as people reported they could not sell Zen in Zax (note: sell zen, not buy zen).
If people cannot sell Zen, it means the buy Zen queue will just stall.
This "broken" is not what OP means though.
Those who sells Zen in Zax wants AD. If there is another way to get more AD from the same amount of Zen and if it is easy, they will go that route. That route right now is to use their Zen to buy wards to sell in AH. However, this way depends on the demand of unbound wards and have some risk. One change of the game can mess you up and that happened in the past.
If Wards is sold in WB and not in Zen store, that makes wards irrelevant in Zax.
For the cash player who wants wards and can't wait, they will use money to buy Zen. Use Zen to buy AD in Zax. Use AD to buy wards in WB. This will shorten the Zax queue. For those who used get Zen to buy wards from Zen store will not need to do so. The Zax queue will be shortened further.
This creates DEMAND of AD (to buy stuff in WB). Better demand of AD, better Zax, shorter Zax queue.
This lower demand of Zen (that used to be spent in Zen store to buy wards). Lower demand of Zen, better Zax, shorter Zax queue.
If you are hoarding unbound ward for selling, sure, it will mess you up.
If you are hoarding high level enchantment/runestone for selling, sure, it will mess you up.
On the other hand, as I mentioned above, if wards are taken out from Zen store, players will find another Zen store item to do the same trick.
When you buy it from WB (for discounts), 100% AD is destroyed.
When you sell it in AH (use discount as profit margin), another 10% of the AD is destroyed.
There is no AD destroyed in a pure Zax transaction.
That will be good for players, but crpytic cash inflow would be worst than it is now, with no longer any immediate need to get zen with what they are currently selling there.
The demand of Zen in Zax will be less but the demand of AD will be more. Cash player will need to get AD. Hence, supply of Zen in Zax will be increased.
Zen is purchased by cash player for 2 reasons:
1. buy stuff from Zen store.
2. Use Zax to buy AD.
Zax is moving (slowly) because #2 exists. Giving cash player more incentive to buy AD (such as buy ward from WB or AH), the demand of AD will be increased and the queue moves faster.
I'm sure Cryptic does not want to move wards to WB or T-Bar store.