In the past, I have enjoyed having a trade district and spending my days buying and selling wares. However, the global market is so much faster, easier, and accessible than shopping around through the varying trade districts of the past, and there are definitely some pros and cons to both.
If the trade district was brought back,
I like the idea of having it similar to a noble plot at spawn, where the person can build it from the ground up in any way, shape, or form he or she wants. This will stimulate both the creative juices as well as the demand for items (thus helping buying and selling). It also reduces the burden on architects to create a whole new market area; instead, a well designed space of empty plots can be made (there could be a contest for layout ideas).
I would extend the duration of a trade shop rental to 2 weeks and keep the cost the same as it was for 1 week, so as to promote longevity of the trade district being occupied.
I would keep the chest shops the same price, with half of it refunded when breaking it.
All this being said, I still think the focus should still be on empowering PVP on the server, and the developers' time, energy, and effort should stay there. The global market is sort of an easy way to allow commerce to have a pulse on the server. I do agree that the Merchant profession has taken a significant hit to its value as a result of the global market.
If we kept the global market, I would like to see this for the Merchant profession:
The ability to track sales of items sold on the auction house (their price/quantity/date sold), not only the merchant's, but other people's buy/sell habits as well;
The ability to make remote purchases from the global market, increasing in range up to the full map distance based on level;
A % reduction in the posting fee, based on level;
Extended duration of the merchant's posted items, based on level; and
Remote mailbox to collect expired postings and purchases.
Thank you for posting the poll and the suggestion!
-yav
