Re-evaluation of the market forums split

[Cz]

It's been about a month since we split the Atlantean and Rimor market forums into Offers and Requests, and it's time for a re-evaluation to see what you people think about it.

Please vote on the poll and discuss in this thread. The poll is open for a week.

[-Barg-]

I dont think the requests forum has taken off. I think it was better as one.

[Sergyevich]

Pretty much no on reads the WTB forum, and people are breaking the rules by posting in the WTS forums with their WTB requests, I liked it how it was, easier to skim over everything being sold/bought/traded under a single section, never really had any complaints myself about overcrowding.

[Jellobiafra]

As much as I like the 'idea' of splitting them, it doesn't seem to working. I voted to merge them back again.

[geal]

Well, the wtb forums is useful for blitzers and such if they are low on creds.

[Zerpentor]

merge to 1, havent gotten any replies to any of my WTB posts

[Eclipce]

I like them split. Makes it easier to read. And as for people breaking the rules. Well, that just means the mods need to get on the stick about it

[Loser222]

Personally I have to admit that I have never once looked at the WTB thread. If I don't see someone selling what I want on the WTS forums, I have no real hopes of getting it until someone posts.
I voted for recombining the forums....it was a good idea at the time, but rarely is the WTB forums looked on.

[cleveland]

merge them plz

[Firelle]

As good of an idea as it was (the split), the Requests forum just isn't taking off like it should. It's pretty dead in there, with most thread replies being bumps made by the poster. I like it the way it is, but voted that it should be merged back, because most other people don't take the time to look at the WTB threads in a separate forum.

On a side note, maybe things will be different when AI comes out, what with the player shops and stuff. Still, though, I don't know exactly *how* that would help out the Requests forums.

[Switchah]

Originally posted by Zerpentor
merge to 1, havent gotten any replies to any of my WTB posts

heh, that could be for... "other" reasons...

[Vdpmeat]

Slice em, dice em, mush em all together, whatever...

What would be nice is that whatever you end up doing with them, make it so they don't show up when you hit the "View New Posts" button.

Maybe it's limitation of the bbs... or my ability to work it.

I just want to see what's new when I hit that button... not 500 trading post bumps.

[Sjonkel]

I guess it was worth a shot, even if I voted against splitting them in the first place. Very few people bother reading the WTB forum. Voted to merge them back again.

[Trilis]

People never used to read the WTB posts even when they were merged, because AO is a seller's market.

Keeping them separate makes the forums more useable. And, if the market for some items changes so that it becomes a buyers market, it will be useful to have a separate request thread.

I voted to separate them before because when I was searching for stuff, it was really irritating to have to skip past a lot of WTB threads - particularly when they were the most recent thread because the poster kept bumping himself.

Having a separate service thread is also a great idea. When you do want a service, it takes a while to wade through all the other posts.

Speak up guys - have many of you have ever sold to someone as a result of a WTB thread?

/Trilis

[Norrmejerier]

Keep them separate.

The low efficieny at WTB forum does not justify lowering effiency at WTS forum as well. 2 wrongs doesn't make 1 right..or something.

I check WTB alot when I got special items to sell.
The low effiency of WTB forum, IMHO, is partly cause of people:

1. Seldom post what they offer, but instead ask to negotiate ingame, a timesink alot of people try to avoid.
2. When offering, often offer less than "going rate" for items.
3. Some posts are wishful thinking, or based on hope, I.E requested item doesnt exist, or got abnormally rare droprate.

Threads on WTS forums end up on page 3 fast enough as it is.

As for people posting in wrong forum, that is really a job for the moderators, if they can't handle it, add more moderators.
Sometimes I think some people just fake-mispost tho...


Having more than 2 forums is to much tho, I admit having two might be complicated, but I really think people should try to adjust. How long have the forums been split? c'mon.

EDIT: Having an oppinion is great! but it should be based on knowledge also, not just experience, having a bad experience might be your own fault just as much as the design of the service.

[Jesharet]

The WTB forum has worked for me at least once, personally I think keeping them seperate is the way to go

[Forceful]

Well like I posted on the previous poll before splitting the forums,
I didn't think anyone would bother to read the WTB forums -
and I still don't.
I'm all for them being merged

[Glarawyn]

Merged. Easir to figure out what buyers are willing to pay and what sellers are getting when you can search just one forum.

[______________Meiyen]

I'd rather the WTB and WTS are merged back into one forum, but have each server's forums broken into a couple different level ranges. There are several options for how to do the split:

2 forums: if you only have two forums it would probably make the most sense to do under QL 125 and over QL 125, with that level chosen as the divider because its the QL where you can no longer purchase items in a store.

3 forums: here I'd split it as under QL 125, 125 to 200, and over 200. Here the division is the same as the above (for the same reason) but adds in a category for items for the uberest characters

4 forums: here I'd split it the same as the in game supermarkets - basic, advanced, superior, and add an ultimate shop for the items that are over level 125 that couldn't be purchased in a shop because of their level. The benefit to this one is that it closely matches what new players encounter in the game and may make their transition to using the market forums much easier. This could also be 5 categories by adding in an over 200 level shop, but that's probably overkill.

My personal preference would be either the 2-forum or 4-forum idea.

[Elciny]

Keep them as now, searching for what you want to buy or sell works much better with WTB/WTS in different forums.

Oh, and add that exact phrase search. It would reduce load on servers propably quite a bit, as people wouldnt have to refine their searches several times to actually find something.