Remove listing fee

[Master]

If you turn AH into a Free Market, then new players will never understand what's the real value of an item because there will be a bunch of Hardened Metals listed for 20k , so he/she will put up their items according to those values, everything will be a huge mess. The best part of AH fee is that it prevents extremely overvalued purchases , if you want to put a HM for 60k , you have to pay the big fee.

As opposed to the already overpriced HM going for 8-9k each? Or opposed to the ability of players who post forum trades to overprice items?

It's still suggested that players talk to thier friends before buying anything from anywhere - experienced players know values and going prices. Or, a simply post of "WTKrices" in the proper place in the forums does the trick. The AH is a joke. Rarely does anything 'big' go on the market, hell some categories simply never have anything listed. As it sits, the AH is mats, marketplace items, and the occasional mid tier thing.

If you want to put up an HM on the market for 60k, feel free. Doesn't mean anyone will actually buy it. Prices are already determined by what people are willing to pay, not based on the AH fee. I've seen rough cloth on the auction hall for 5k lol.

The problem isn't overpricing alone, it's the huge price gap between items. I'm a warden class for example - I could, after buying my warbow and some bodkin arrows, simply go no farther without dropping 400K into the sink for the next bow in the line. I was bloody amazed to find War arrows on the AH for that matter - let alone anything beyond low tier crafted items.

The forums are not used nearly as much as they should be in terms of trading - and even when new players, such as myself, do check the forums - a cryout of "Wow. This is expensive as hell" goes out. I mean step from T4, drop 750K for hero, and then you've gotta grind out another 1-2m for some boots?

The economy is already in shambles. I like the idea of at least trying what Madjosh suggests - refund the auction price afterwards. Perhaps then, players will see bigger ticket items on the AH, rather than "PM me" offers listed in the forums.

Or perhaps anything that is listed over a certain price not carrying an AH listing fee. Something to put more items into AH circulation.

~M