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[DrakoWolf]

Trading between players is currently limited by a few things... Currently you have to reach an agreement on the forum, then making the trade... Which is difficult in a lot of cases. First off it comes with the danger of losing your stuff, then there is the location problem (sometimes you have to travel all across the worldmap with the stuff you want to sell), the third problem is the difference between timezones (one have to be online to make the trade.

The answer would be a Auctioneer in every city, with shared stock (think of it as a modified trader)

Now I have read something similar suggested, but that discussion was mainly about creating the perfect trading location (http://fodev.net/forum/index.php/topic,17827.0.html)
However that also lacks the offline trading option.

What I would suggest is:

 Put an auctioneer in every city (or every Guarded town).
It should work something like this: Players go to the NPC, he has three options listed, view my auctions, put up auction, or look at auctions.
Put up auction: The NPC opens up the barter menu, on one side the player puts the item he wants to sell. On the other side the trader would have Caps (preferably some insane amount). The player sets up the amount he wants to sell his item, then he hits trade, the barter menu closes, and the dialogue menu opens up:
- "How long the auction should last" : Player types in to say a number of hours.
- "Auction set up, your account numer is: (generated number), set code please" Player types a code in Say menu
- "Finished"
(The min raise would always be 10% of the price, Or could be set in a different dialogue option)

After this the item disappears from the inventory of the player (as if he sold it) but he doesn't receive the caps yet.
At this point the NPC remembers the player as a bank would.


In the Look at auctions option:
-"What is your account" Player writes his number and code or
-"Set up account" ->
- "Auction set up, your account numer is: (generated number), set code please" Player types a code in Say menu ->
Barter screen comes up, on the NPCs side are the items up for auction (same as normal barter) when dragged to buy it shows its current price (always the current minimum bid amount) Player then puts up cash, hits trade, caps disappear, item price raises.
NPC remembers Player as a bank would.


In the My auctions option:
-"What is your account" Player writes his number and code
Then the NPC would show in dialogue
-"Current auctions" (something like this: - 1x Light support Weapon, Time left: 22 Hours, Current bids: 5600 Caps)
-"Collect items"
This gives other dialogues:
-> -"Here are your items" (If auction is over, the one who sold it would collect the caps, the one who won collects the item)
-> -"The auction is not over yet"
-> -"You have no active auctions"

Players would have to set up account only once and after that they could use it to bid or put up auctions later on.

I should also mention that the bidding part could work outside the barter menu, (like with banks, you would type in the amount of caps you want to bid on the item) however in this case the dialogue should show the deterioration of the item.
 
This all could be made by modifying a trader script so all auctioneer NPCs would have the same stock, and would also work like a bank.

I know this would only work with trading items for Caps (Trading items for items would require the NPC to set a price for the items you would offer and I don't think everybody would be happy with the price) but it would still be a nice thing to have in-game.

Suggestions, modifications, ideas?

[Roachor]

People hate on wow so much it blinds them to the aspects they got right, auction system is one of them.

+1

[JovankaB]

I think such auctioneer, if implemented, should take like 40% of the money.
So you could risk for better price or go to auctioneer to sell for less but safely.

[davrot]

I think such auctioneer, if implemented, should take like 40% of the money.

Or make the percentage depend on the barter skill.

[DrakoWolf]

I think such auctioneer, if implemented, should take like 40% of the money.
So you could risk for better price or go to auctioneer to sell for less but safely.

It should cost something to use the auctioneer, yes. However if the price is too high nobody will use the service.

Or make the percentage depend on the barter skill.

This would be a better idea. The percentage should not be bigger than 15 percent, otherwise nobody would use these auctioneers, or would put their items up for something way above than what they are actually worth. (and nobody would buy them)

[Cyber Jesus]

Or make the percentage depend on the barter skill.

That would be unfair towards new players, i say it should be 30-35% like irl.

[Tomowolf]

Making another alt to sell items by NPC, no thanks - the way it is now is way better.

[DrakoWolf]

Making another alt to sell items by NPC, no thanks - the way it is now is way better.

You could still sell items the same way you sell them now. This would only create an opportunity to sell stuff safely and when your offline. As for alts, that is why Ive said that the percentage should not be that big. New players wont sell lots of expensive stuff so the money they will lose wont be that much, even if the barter skill sets the percentage.

[Sarakin]

As with every game auction, there should be fee for creating an auction (~5-10%) and transaction fee (<5%). If the item(s) wont sell in the given period of time, fee for creating auction wont be refunded, otherwise it will.
Dont forget about buyout function as well.

[naossano]

I think an immersive aspect of trading would almost disapear with this feature, but it remains practical, for traders who spend so much time planning a trading operation without ever meeting the buyer.

It would be even better if :
- You could cancel your auction and take back the item.
- You could tack back your item if nobody raise the auction.
- You could Use various currency instead of just caps (Redding Money, Ressources, Junk...)
- There would be new status in the pipboy like better auctioner, the one who bought with the higher price or sold with the higher.

[Brujah]

Nowadays, with such small community, you have to be pretty stupid to get scammed unless you're an particular target.


The player is either a low speecher whom shouldn't be trusted in the first place and be forced to give his part of bargain first or a known player who most likely did business with others.


Plus the idea of an auctioneer in the middle of a wasteland if just ugh...

[falloutdude]

I think such auctioneer, if implemented, should take like 40% of the money.
So you could risk for better price or go to auctioneer to sell for less but safely.

players could just go back to forum then. If i lose 40% of my profit I would rather take the risk. Most people have a gang or friends with can watch their back. I would agree with 10% but 40 is over the top.

[Vindict]

good suggestion, as long as it won't be equally profitable. Doing the trading yourself should be rewarded with more profit.

[chocolate_chip_cookies]

I don't think players should have to go on forum to play the game. And forum traders are always the same small bunch of people. So yeah I think there should be in-game solution like dat

[Giftless]

Another way might be to have trade goods attached to your account, similar to the system gaia online uses. Gaia essentially has a "persistent" barter window where each side can add items or come to an agreement whenever they log in.

To translate it into fonline terms, perhaps the thing to do would be to have a special trading box. The items you put into it would disappear and spawn in the other player's box, and vice-versa, once the deal was agreed upon.

Though something like this is mainly a boon to players trying to take trades from the forum to in-game, if players are already in-game the benefits are fairly minimal (I gotta chuckle at Jovanka's suggestion to make the auctions "harsh," because it's easy as it stands to break large deals into multiple transactions and therefore minimize the risk.)

Now another interesting point is would an auctioneer or trading box have a carry weight restriction? Some people might be willing to pay 15% if there was a convenience factor, such as being able to transfer massive amounts of junk without having to make multiple trips. Just imagine that you're renting a U-haul truck from NCR with armed guards and how much that would cost. There could even be different rates based on the amount of goods traded.