AH quick search

burnabybuildings · August 2014

The filter function is generally used for two reasons:

1. Filter down to the items specific to a particular category. I think this is the original purpose.
2. Search a particular item to see current market prices.

The second option, I realize, isn't essential. But it makes the AH cumbersome to use, particularly because PWI requires exact wording including capitalization in order to locate an item. It makes the AH an awkward system just because of this one single but essential function.

In other games, if you were doing a price-check, all you needed to do was rightclick the item in your bag and the name would come up in the search function. For an example of this, look at your own offered game, Forsaken World. This is a great option for sellers who quickly want to check prices to list competitively, and for buyers who are looking for additional items they already have like, for example, additional TT mats or shards.

If this could be possible, it would save a lot of time and frustration typing out the name of the item (even partial), and reduce the time it would take to both type and to delete the previous entry to type a new one. The only time you would have to type is if you didn't already have the item in your possession.

One simple click of the item in your bag, and the search would be on its way in a matter of a second rather than the 10-15 seconds it takes to type, scroll down (sometimes) and select the item you want to see.

LuckingFoco - Raging Tide · August 2014

Yes because 10 to 15 seconds is an eternity

/end sarcasm

burnabybuildings · August 2014

LuckingFoco - Raging Tide wrote: »

Yes because 10 to 15 seconds is an eternity

/end sarcasm

the differeence between 1 second and 10 seconds... when you have a string of items to search, IS an eternity. Don't you know anything about busniess and marketing? clearly not.

I didnt realize that you enjoy fumbling around typing these ridiculously weird names CORRECTLY in the filter search, and embrace the frustration when you have one letter wrong or forgot to capitalize. There goes another 10-20-30seconds of your time plus a little bit of your peace of mind.

Your sarcasm is very uninformed. Go check out the AH in FOrsaken World, and I promise you, you will see what I mean immediately. Markets/AHs in other mmos are all better than the one in PWI. This one is just so cumbersome, that if you've tried a good system, the one in PWI drives you crazy after a while.

By teh way, this is a suggestion, not a complaint. And I think its legit. b:surrender
Thus the title of the forum.

opkossy · August 2014

... Nah I kinda agree with him.

In most cases you can get the item you're looking for within 4 letters and that... takes no real time at all. If this were for browsing all the catshops selling stuff without needing to physically run around checking them all, sure.

For the AH, though? I don't find it as necessary and don't really care much for this one either way.

burnabybuildings · August 2014

OPKossy wrote: »

... Nah I kinda agree with him.

In most cases you can get the item you're looking for within 4 letters and that... takes no real time at all. If this were for browsing all the catshops selling stuff without needing to physically run around checking them all, sure.

For the AH, though? I don't find it as necessary and don't really care much for this one either way.

Go try marketplaces and auction houses in other games. PWI is the worst of them all. Check it out first, and then reply. I swear, you will see what I mean. Everywhere else, its so easy and you will wonder why PWI didn't do their research first.

Honestly, I'm just suggesting one of many changes I think that could make the AH work better.

I mean i didnt even get into the option of USING A SCROLL BAR instead of flipping pages. New listings show up? try putting a refresh button? Want to see the list sorted by, say, price or listing date? Put a sort drop down option.

The suggestion I have in my original post is one of many things that can improve this awkward system. PWI needs to look at their AH system way more carefully.

(Instead, they introduce the commission shop system which, hello, if you just made the AH visible everywhere, it would be used more and sellers would use it more... and more commission and listing fees would be paid... omg i can't believe you got me started. LOL)

burnabybuildings · August 2014

Sorry to come across so defensive but I've had this improvement in mind for years -- almost since the first day I fumbled around in the AH as a new player. Now as a veteran player and veteran farmer in the game (i even full farmed my R9RRR gear), I've only now decided to write it. So it's not pleasant for people to quickly dismiss it without taking the time to imagine how much better it could be.

I gave it a little more thought, and my original post is not so clear. So let me re-try it from a different angle.

So here's a revamped version of my suggestion:

SUGGESTED CHANGES TO THE AUCTION HOUSE SEARCH FEATURE

1. Search box on the main window of AH (not a separate filter window)
The filter box is simply an over-elaborate search function. Why not simply just put the search box in the main window like every other mmo game market does (can't think of one i've played that doesn't do this).

2. Make items in your bag right-clickable to search item in the AH
It is a very popular approach in other mmo games to conduct a search in the market/AH by simply right clicking the item in your bag. When I say popular, it means preferable. PWI has the system in place already! The sell window in the AH lets you do this. You right click, and the system automatically identifies it. If it's not available in the AH, it won't be clickable.

3. Scroll bar for search results that do not all fit in the window
Clicking ">>" to see the next page is very VERY cumbersome. With the lag in PWI, sometimes it takes a while for the next page to open, which in "waiting time" can sometimes feel like an eternity. (take a moment now and wait through 5 seconds without doing anything... it's a long time to wait for something that should be almost instantaneous)

4. Sort feature for search results by name, price, or listing date.
This is especially helpful if you are browsing in a category like, for example, legendary molds, or one level of TT mats. Imagine all of the items listed in that category are all in the same window. Click "sort by name" and scroll down to the item in the list. Every listing of that item is there in front of you. Then scroll to the next item without typing in a new search. Or sort by price and only deal with the first few listings instead of having to look at every single entry for that listing until you find the one that's the lowest.

5. Ability to list ALL of one of your items and type price of individual items
This is good for BOTH buyers and sellers. At the moment, if sellers have more than one item to sell, they have to package them into quantities that they think a buyer would buy them in and then list a full price for the set. Great that buyers don't have to do math in their heads (god forbid), but not so great when the buyer only needs a specific quanity of a certain item (3 or 4 of a TT mat) and they are restricted to whether or not people have listed their items individually or in the quantity they need.

Let buyers list ALL of their items of one kind in ONE listing, and mark down the individual price like what you can do in the catshops. It makes it easier for sellers to list their items competitively if all the listings show individual prices, and it makes it easier for buyers to choose the lowest price and select the quantity that they need. Again, the system already exists in the game with catshops. (The AH can learn a lot from the catshop system.)

FINAL COMMENT
For those of us that have an expertise in data management, there are three important aspects of a good database: the captured data, the chosen categories to organize that data, and the search interface that displays the data in an organized format.

For the USER: the only thing that matters to them is the search function. You can have great data captured, and have the right categories assigned, but your end user needs to be able to use your database with some relative ease. The AH in PWI is honestly -- the worst of all the games I've played. And being a veteran seller, this is very disconcerting. I do think PWI needs to consider looking at marketplaces and auction houses in a few of the most successful games out there to see just how inferior their AH system is.

AH quick search

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