This is a long post so there's a tl;dr at the end
Personally I'm in favour of trading. I play another fan-revived game, FusionFall Retro, that has always had trading implemented as a huge aspect of the game. The game thrives largely because of its trading community. Some items have an in-game sell value of, say, 150 Taros (FFR's currency), but since they're rare, players will sell/buy them for upwards of 2,5 million Taros. And as expected, when some items are no longer rare, like when Halloween-specific items were released into normal enemy drop pools, their prices dropped back down to only a couple hundred Taros. However, this only encourages players to continue grinding for the rarest items, whether that be to make some serious cash or for just the prestige of having a no-longer-obtainable item. Some super dedicated members of the community have even made huge guides to what enemies drop what items and how much certain items cost within the trading community. But I digress.
There are some very clear restrictions in place with their trading system that could possibly be implemented in TLOPO:
- Most quest items (usually Guide items*, items with some of the best stats per level)
are not tradeable, nor are they combinable with other items (FFR has an item combining system to change a particular item's stats or style)
.
- Code items are not tradeable.
- Most event items (FFR has anniversary and holiday celebration events, similar to TLOPO)
are not tradeable.
- Combined items are not tradeable.
- There is a maximum amount of Taros allowed to be given to a player through in-game player emails.
* FFR has a set of four "Guides" that give out a different set of quests and item sets that are special to that Guide, and if you switch Guides, any other Guide items previously earned cannot be equipped. Basically, select Guide A and you can only equip Guide A's items, but if you switch to Guide B, you will still
have Guide A's items but only be allowed to equip Guide B's items.
I feel like trading in TLOPO could be an alright feature if:
- Legendaries are definitely not tradeable.
This seems to be a major point people have been making. I also agree that Legendaries should not be traded since it would most definitely take away the value of said items.
- Code items are not tradeable.
Personally, this is self-explanatory so I'm not sure what to say about this point.
Keep in mind that in my following points, when I mention any items that can be traded, I am still excluding code items.
- There is a limit on how much gold and/or mats can be traded at a time.
I understand that some people are worried about mat runs being totally useless if we can just trade mats. So, I personally think there should be a limit. What that limit would be exactly, I can't quite say. But I would understand the frustration of someone spending hours or days or even weeks grinding mats, just to have someone else do no work and instantly get just as much.
- There are quest requirements for certain items or sets of items.
I mean... yeah. I also think you should only be allowed to trade Cursed Blades after completing the Raven's Cove questline. It makes a lot of sense to me.
- Quest items/items required for quests are not tradeable.
This is pretty self-explanatory. I think this might go in hand with the previous bullet point. You should still do the work to get a certain quest item, and now, since we have the quest reward vendors, if you want a quest item, you can just buy it from them. Being able to trade them would probably make that feature a little obsolete. And if there is an item needed to complete a quest, like needing to brew a Staff Enchant I potion to complete Madame Zigana's quest (and a Staff Enchant II for the bonus item), you definitely shouldn't be allowed to trade or receive that item until that quest has been completed.
- Clothing is tradeable.
I'm not quite sure about peddler clothing sets, but I do feel that all other clothes should definitely be tradeable.
- Anti-scam/anti-exploit measures are in place.
This feels a little unnecessary to say, but it's a given with really any feature. And obviously this is what quality assurance is for, but security measures should always be in place.
Now, I understand TLOPO and FFR are not quite the same game. TLOPO and FFR both have huge looting aspects and they both have subcommunities with their own needs. In fact, they are very different games. I merely feel that at least
similar kinds of FFR trading rules and restrictions could be implemented into the TLOPO trading system. Sorry if this post was long. I'm also not an expert about anything nor am I as hardcore of a looter as other people, this is all just what I think could be done for better trading. Please feel free to point out anything I may have missed or politely critique any of my suggestions
tl;dr I don't mind trading, here are some suggestions to make it a little better:
- Legendaries are definitely not tradeable.
- Code items are not tradeable.
- There is a limit on how much gold and/or mats can be traded at a time.
- There are quest requirements for certain items or sets of items.
- Quest items/items required for quests are not tradeable.
- Clothing is tradeable.
- Anti-scam/anti-exploit measures are in place.
] So it pains my heart to say this but. . .
