What is Exchange?
Exchange would be a new part of the already existing Player Marketplace, added as a new tab in the UI. Unlike in the Marketplace itself, in Exchange, players are able to make a version of the already existing trades. However, unlike the normal gameplay trades, trades in the Exchange are global, meaning the player is able to trade any items with players across all servers.
How does it function?
Exchange UI is similar to the already existing player-to-player trade mechanics, however, there are several key differences:
- The seller is able to choose any item in existance as ârequested" (with some restrictionsâ. This also includes certain filters that will be explained later one which allow the player to go in detail with items they want.
- The seller is able to choose between the trades they want to accept and reject the offers they donât prefer, or players they donât want to trade with.
- The seller is able to set the amount of trades available, as long as they have enough âofferedâ items to cover it. Each time they accept a trade, the number of trades goes down, until it runs out.
- The buyer can filter through trades in order to find those that suit them. Upon clicking on any trade, their inventory will be opened containing only the items which can be used in the trade.
Trade set-up
When setting up a trade, the seller will get a UI similar to the existing trading UI. By clickling on the âOfferedâ side, they will be able to offer any item from their inventory for sale. They will also be able to set the number of trades they will do which canât be higher than the total amount of the item they have the least of.
The seller can also set an amount of galleons for each side, and decide if they want the buyers to offer any extra items outside the requested ones.
Requesting items
By clicking on slots in the âRequestedâ side, the player will be able to request certain items or their categories. For example, they may request âEnchantmentâ, or specifically âExotic enchantmentâ, or go as far as to request a specific exotic scroll. This goes for all categories in the game.
The player can also choose an empty slot, a kind of âSurprise meâ, in which the buyers can put any item they see fit to complete the trade.
Equipment filters
Upon setting up their trade, for each item the seller asks for, they can set several different criterias, similar to the UI that is in the gear builder. This includes enchantments, jewels and modifiers. Each modifier they add will also reduce the amount of requests they have to go through, but may also block them from trading.
Level
Clear as day, allows the player to set which level of items they want. The player can choose between âAnyâ, the current max level, or set their own values.
Enchantments
The most straightforward criteria. Upon choosing an equipment item, the seller will first be asked about enchantments they want. This UI will list off all the enchantments in the game, alongside an âUnenchantedâ option.
By clicking on each enchantment, the player can decide wether they want to âDemandâ or âBlacklistâ the enchantment. By demanding at least one enchantment, buyers wonât be able to offer items with enchantments other than those demanded. Blacklisting works the opposite way, buyers will be able to offer items with any enchantments other than the blacklisted ones.
Modifiers
Modifier filter works similar to enchantment filter, with a few differences.
First difference is that only those modifiers which can appear on the equipment item can be demanded or blacklisted. For example, items that are exclusively dropped by enemies or sealed chests only have âAtlanteanâ or âUnmodifiedâ filters.
Second difference is that, if the player picks an incompatible enchantment and modifier (virtuous and atlantean), they wonât be able to set the trade. If they attempt to, they will receive a message stating â[enchantment] and [modifier] on [item] are incompatibleâ.
Third, and final difference is that, exclusively on modifiers which can have different stats in different circumstances (currently only atlantean), the player can pick which stats they want that modifier to give.
Jewels
Unlike former three, jewels filter is quite convoluted. It allows the player to pick which gems they want socketed, their tier, secondary effects, and value of secondary effects. The same process also applies when requesting unsocketed jewels.
For the first one, after going through the first three filters, the player will be able to click on the visual jewel sockets and demand or blacklist certain gems, with the addition of âUnsocketedâ option. They will be able to pick between rare gems for each stat (for example, only rare defense gems, not onyx, amethyst or diamond) or specific exotic gems.
For the second one, after picking the gem, the player will be able to demand or blacklist tiers of all gems.
For the final two, the player will be able to demand or blacklist between each secondary effect and its tier, after which, they can choose the values of each effect they want.
Offering
Players wishing to buy can sort through the Exchange in a fashion similar to the set-up a trade, where they can put any item in existance in the âOfferedâ side, which will bring up all trades with that item, and any item they own in the âRequestedâ side, which will bring up all trades that incorporate that item.
Upon clicking on a trade, the player will see a UI similar to the trade window, after which they can input items in the âRequestedâ side. This side will show all the items the seller wants and upon clicking on each slot, the player will have their inventory opened with all the items they have that fit the criteria.
Upon fulfilling all the requests from the buyer, the player can confirm the offer, after which the buyer will receive a notification and be able to see the offer in the Exchange.
Sealing the deal
After the buyer receives an offer, they can inspect it and see if they like it. This has several purposes:
- Declining offers from players you donât want to trade with
- Accepting offers which are better than others
- Declining âjokeâ offers
Upon accepting an offer, the amount of available trades the buyer has will go down by one, and both players will see their items exchanged.
Potential issues
I see how this feature may very well be rejected, and frankly, I donât expect much rating on the reasonability myself.
First issue that comes to mind is the massive amount of memory leaks and the such this could cause, as well as the amount of data necessary.
Second issue is the odds of this system being exploited. I believe that, for a system this complex, it would be nearly impossible to clear it of security risks.
Third issue I can think off is the amount of troll trades that may appear.
Fourth issue, tying partially into the second one, is the fact that this system is still greatly limited, due to the fact sellers canât request one item, or another, with the same trade, and this alone would also probably create a lot more issues.
Regardless, I do believe an implementation of at least a light version of this system into the existing marketplace would greatly benefit the community.