The Market Ward Search has Arrived!

Today's update finally brings us the market ward search!

Ever since the Alpha stages of the game, players have been protesting about the lack of a search system for the Market Wards.  Today, that system is upon us!  The first implementation is looking nice, as SE has said there are more changes to come over time and with player feedback.

Lodestone Link

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yay no AH!
# Jan 04 2011 at 8:39 PM Rating: Decent
I am LOVING the search function. Its so much more of what I want. the ability to browse if I want to, or just grab something and leave. I really didnt want the AH implimented and im so glad they havent gone there
just wanna sell my stuff
# Dec 28 2010 at 4:52 PM Rating: Decent
i wanna sell different type of items, am i suppost to put up bazzar in each different wards for each item? im so tired already, i wanna stop thinkin so much, could SE help me relax myself for playing video game? i just wanna make some gil get some armor and fight the stupid monster with my friends!

just make it simple then harder after we have more people in game.
Basics
# Dec 26 2010 at 4:51 AM Rating: Good
24 posts
Basic fundamentals of game creation. Expand upon what has been proven to work, and not on things which obviously do not.

That is the huge flaw with this game and why I think the mass restructuring took place. You can wave your fanboy fan around, but fact is fact.

Yes, they are working diligently to address the major issues, but until some sort of better economy exists, what people who are left in the game will have little or nothing to do. I mean, there isn't any end-game that I've found yet, and it would appear that leveling crafts is the thing to do. However, the search function is a very small step in the right direction.

I think SE's refusal, or attempts to avoid an auction house will only damage the game more. I mean, what if instead of department stores we only had thousands of people in the parking lot, and went to look for goods with only the aid of names such as; IHAVEWEPS, POTIONSRUS, etc. Only to insert a search menu that now allows the user to identify which general location the guy or gal selling the goods is located in the big, expansive parking lot. Doesn't make much sense right?

I'm just saying don't try to reinvent the wheel, and help folks to enjoy the game. No one wants anything handed to them, but having things organized in a department store makes it easy for me to locate and procure the good that I am looking for, is asking for that in a game too much?

Edited, Dec 26th 2010 5:55am by Mathias2k
no problems
# Dec 25 2010 at 1:20 PM Rating: Decent
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108 posts
I've had no problems getting exactly what I want even before search function. There are AH websites... use them.

Plus, I find everything to be extremely cheap. I used to want an ah but I don't want an AH now on second thought. I don't want people to know their things are valuable or rare. I want people to sell what they make or don't need anymore at cheap prices, like I do.

Money and gear seem to be no problem. For me, the time sink is .... leveling up to a point where I actually need new gear.

Edited, Dec 25th 2010 2:29pm by klooste8
Time Sink
# Dec 24 2010 at 7:45 AM Rating: Decent
34 posts
All this complaining about time sinks, what is the game in itself but a time sink. Your running around doing stuff that is essentially a waste of time to begin with. You are accomplishing nothing worthwhile. Your just ment to have fun, personally I love the new search feature, its a lot better than the old way. I found the items I needed in 3 minutes instead of wandering around for 3 hours. They made crafting a LOT easier, and leveling all the jobs really isn't that big a deal, what else do you have to do. If you want a game you can sit back, click a few buttons now and then and have things handed to you, go play WoW. If your time is so damn important do something with it instead of sitting in front of a computer.
My 2 cents...
# Dec 23 2010 at 6:03 PM Rating: Decent
Just my 2 cents... It seems people that scream we want an auction house don't actually read the lodestone posts to see the direction the devs are taking. quote directly from them

"We will continue to improve this system with further enhancements such as keyword-based searches, the ability to show the retainers selling an item at the lowest prices for searches returning numerous hits as with synthesis materials, and more. Concrete details regarding such information will be released in future Topics posts here on the Lodestone as they become available."

Isn't that what an auction house does? Except you just have to go fetch the item from the vendor instead of running to your mailbox...
Oops:o
# Dec 23 2010 at 5:47 PM Rating: Decent


Odd..posted in the wrong section :o

Edited, Dec 23rd 2010 7:02pm by Raiff
A system that i would like to have
# Dec 23 2010 at 1:05 PM Rating: Decent
Get rid of Market Wards, Bazaar and AH. They should just have "Buy/Sell Item" menu listing that is available at all times.

To Buy an item, select "Buy/Sell Item". 2 options to find items, Search or by Category hierarchy. Once you find the item, buy it and get instant delivery.

To Sell an item: pick the item from inventory and sell it. It will immediately be available to all for instant delivery.

Also, give us a "Send/Receive Item" function on the menu while they're at it.

We have enough restrictions on the time we have to play and anima to travel. Let us use them wisely for adventures instead of banging our heads on a broken system so we can enjoy the game!
Yet another response!
# Dec 23 2010 at 6:07 AM Rating: Good
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52 posts
How odd, these market wards are getting closer and closer to being the Auction House we all seem to desire. Biggest difference right now is the fact that the player base now seems to be punished for selling several different items at the same time.

I would like to know why SE continues to fight the flow. Bazaar system + AH is a phenomenal way to go. IMO FFXI proved this.

Slam that AH in, and add some items that can't be tossed up on the AH. Ward lovers are happy, AH wishers are happy, and SE can finally direct their attention to other aspects of the game that need fixing/changing.

Oh well.

Edited, Dec 23rd 2010 7:09am by RustyMcDaggers
Just hurry with the PS3 version
# Dec 23 2010 at 2:30 AM Rating: Decent
I'm following this game intently and really want to play, So far I'm very impressed with the changes. Hopefully they hurry up and release the PS3 version. But at this point I'm thinking its going to be released with an Expansion
One more tweak
# Dec 22 2010 at 9:41 PM Rating: Decent
Regardless of the fact that the search returns items only which are in the correct ward, retainers which sell these items in other wards, still pop up with the star above their head. Established fact. Running through every other ward hoping to see a red dot or star takes too much time, even though its much better then before. Personally agreed. If a star would appear in the list of wards, when you are choosing which ward to move to, right next to the name of the ward which contains one or more retainers selling the specified item, I would be completely happy. People dont stick to selling 10 slots of the same item group ; so you do have items scattered all over and especially in this case; if a retainer sells every item for the item group associated with it's current ward, it will seem to be in the wrong ward when you see the remaining items in it's bazaar. As long as you can dive for any ward containing your search though, this won't matter.
It may require some time to learn exactly what goes where when searching and it may be that some rearranging of either just the search function or the ward item layout may be useful/necessary, but that isn't a big deal. I rather like the feel of buying from a market. With my suggestion, the time expended would be minimal and enjoyable.
I think that the tax reductions for properly associated items should continue as it encourages people to spread out some. Currently many people ignore this and over populate the battlecraft area as they expect people to only want to try to browse one ward. This makes it difficult to walk, easy to overlook retainers, and sometimes hard to even read their names even on 50" tv. If people know that they can sell whatever, wherever, they will likely gravitate towards the area where they will take the lowest tax hit for items they sell the most of (still allowing that they would likely sell other things also)

Edited, Dec 22nd 2010 10:55pm by firefreet

Edited, Dec 22nd 2010 11:06pm by firefreet
yep
# Dec 22 2010 at 7:47 PM Rating: Default
Exactly what i was thinking!

btw. over the month to come the feedback will get more and more positiv because those players who dont play anymore (which is the majority) dont comment (give feedback) anymore because they feel constantly ignored - by putting in those micro steps...

If they really want me and many others back ingame they should start listening to the majority and not to some foolish idealists who think these features are cool ...they are in fact not cool nor useful!

So, after the last updates and even the stupid (really!!) christmas event i rather do the laundry than spending 10 mins. in this game anymore.
I logged in with 2 friends and ..well, we had nothing to do! So we logged off just 5 mins later - **** game is (still) ****.

At least put in some more content or stuff to do for lvl 10~20 ...is just extremly boring doing the same guildleve over and over and over and over and over again...


anyway -> Back to wow ... or FFXI in my case.

Time for some thoughtful conversation.
# Dec 22 2010 at 2:49 PM Rating: Decent
This post is not directed at anyone, and is an honest attempt at rational, constructive discussion.

The search feature does make looking for specific items more quick now, but only compared to the previous model, which was abysmal. However, it is still an inferior design to an AH.

If this is a crafter focused game, SE will have to give us the most cutting edge tools for conducting commerce, which is the whole point of crafting. It does not make sense to create a craftcentric game with substandard means of conducting commerce. Imagine if New York City sent all its mail by steam powered trains because its Mayor liked trains and steampunk.

Not only the most cutting edge tools, but also a variety of them. As players we should be spending time making high level business and strategic decisions, not clicking through retainers.

If they want to experiment with their ward system, by all means. However, an AH as an alternative for the Ward system to measure up to should be a given. They can continue to tweak their ward system alongside the AH model and let the players with the business savvy decide which is better. SE can then use that to gauge the maturity of their Ward system.

If more players are getting rich off the Ward system then the AH system, then SE will know for sure it has a winner, and does not even have to listen to player feedback.

However, to anyone with any knowledge of economics, the Ward system even with its search feature simply cannot measure up to an AH in terms of convenience and speed. If SE released AH tomorrow I promise you, even the most vehement opposers will use them.

Wards also do not guarantee against exploitation and monopoly, it is already happening with the ward system: http://ffxiv.zam.com/forum.html?forum=173&mid=1291687327287436226&page=1


Solution: Major cities have AHs, move wards to camps. They can charge rent or tax for the retainers to set up shop.

There is already demand for this, it's just not obvious.

Camps are major centres of crafting at the current time, and crafters will definitely want to save on anima and travel time by searching through the wards in the camp they are living in. The prices will definitely be more stable in the city, and the camp retainers will likely be imposing mark ups, but the city is a long way away.

This is the sort of tactical decision we as players should be making. In this case, it is completely permissible to favour wards over AHs for camps, since players have an alternative to conduct trade in the city, where they have their AH. (It's also a mirror of real life to have better trade infrastructure in cities)

We can even use chocobos to give our retainers a means to travel between camps. In real life, this is called a caravan, and mirrors actual travelling merchants.

It would be so awesome if SE gave us travelling commerce.

It would also be trivial for SE to create extra demand for conducting commerce in camps by having quests where camp NPCs order items from players. This would then CREATE TURNOVER FOR EQUIPMENT.

If SE is serious about creating a game for crafters, then they really need to hire an economist.

They could also have beastmen raid camps and steal retainer assets. That would be simply magnificent, since it would give DoW/DoM some more direct effect on the crafter world.
LOL!
# Dec 22 2010 at 2:24 PM Rating: Decent
It's great that they continue to update and improve on this game, but seriously this pathetic attempt at trying to circumvent an Auction House is just sad. I've been playing 14 since beta and as much of a fanboy as I am, I'm not stupid. Even with all these "updates" and "new content" the game is still NOT up to par with what a new MMO should be. All of you can flame contrarians and defend this game but the truth is the truth. Without the complaints, harsh feedbacks, and poor reviews, these updates wouldn't happen at the pace that they are happening now.

If this game didn't bear the Final Fantasy name attached to it, I'm sure most of these so called defendants and fanboys wouldn't even bother with playing it anymore. Most of the people playing are like starved masses. They're so hungry that when SE tosses out a piece of bread, they gobble it up like it was the best meal ever given to them. Wisen up and voice your opinions. Saying that the game is "OK" won't get it fixed or improved. The more negativity SE hears, the better it is for the improvement of the game.
You could just hire a personal shopper you princess...
# Dec 22 2010 at 10:36 AM Rating: Decent
17 posts
I don't understand this 'need for an auction house'. And here is why.
1. Yesterday was the first day of the new set-up. It's going to take 24-36 hours just for everyone to log their retainers back in and put them in wards, so you weren't even searching for items with full wards yet.
2. As people put new items up for sale in the wards they will get added to the search inventory list...so those of you who liked the old Auction House system for it's ability to compare similiar items quickly will soon have just that.
3. The search feature will mark the retainers with the requested item on any floor of the ward it happens to be on (I personally only buy from people on the correct floors but each to their own). Also lets say you searched for gloves in Ul'dah. Then went to LL...the markets would still remember you were searching for these gloves and mark all the retainers with them there as well.
4. We have 2 retainers for free now...that means you can have 20 items up for sale at any one time...really how can that not be good enough when with the Auction House System (FFXI) I believe you could only have seven. (I don't want to hear yeah but the stuff I have to sell belongs on 6 different wards...stack and sell people. Again 2 free retainers plus your character equals 330 inventory slots including your bazaars.)

Now the truely flame worthy part...I think these new changes are awesome. I can find anything I want in 1-2 minutes if it is in fact for sale. And now with the search feature, I can even quickly compare stats on gears. But even with the old system (once they switched to item-specific wards) I was able to find what I wanted in usually under 5 minutes.

Give up on an auction house, it doesn't fit this game. They WANT you to get to know the crafters on your server...they want you to ask 'so and so' in you linkshell who's a dedicated weaver to make your gears. I am in a close-knit linkshell and between our crafters,gathers, and battle classes, we all have the gears,supplies and items we need/want...sometimes we even have too many. Oh and also, if you liked the Auction House for the 'bidding aspect' (Wow, I just got this 200K item for 20K because someone screwed up) again, I get my gears and repairs for free/cheap from linkshell mates. Granted, that happens because I'm nice to them and help farm/craft/search for the items they need to level their crafts and make items.

So yes, to those of you who 'Want an Auction House' I don't understand why you see the current system as 'broken' or a 'time-sync'. If you can't stand using the Wards or find it too time-consuming and troubling may I suggest what rich lazy princesses do in real life? --Hire a personal shopper...heck it can be the next Gathering Class Job.
You could just hire a personal shopper you princess...
# Dec 22 2010 at 1:54 PM Rating: Decent
I agree, we dont need an AH in this game in fact i like it like it is now, yo can wander trough marked retainers and buy the things you need cheap or expensive, depending only if you are the type of people who likes to look for more price options, if you're lazy you'll end up over paying, so i guess im fine with this new system.

In real life i ussually go to several stores that sells the same product just to check where can i get it at better price, theres no AH that tells you this is the only price we have everywhere!

They wanted to do a more realistic game in several aspects like crafting, repairs, etc. For me its an improvement they want to do everything more entertaining, this isnt a game for months.

You could just hire a personal shopper you princess...
# Dec 22 2010 at 11:20 AM Rating: Decent
Gonna go with the Contrarian view and say an auction house is not the way to go. Not saying the current system is great or even that the new system is better.
We should give it a chance and from the limited searches i did it works good only not a lot of retainers were up. and frankly i dont want to see an AH cuse people that want AH's seem to just whine and b**ch like little children..
Better than nothing
# Dec 22 2010 at 8:41 AM Rating: Decent
So now that I've spent a few minutes trying the new "search" feature all I can say is definitely better than nothing.

I was gonna post, "how I am supposed to know what item (mats specifically) should be listed in what ward?", but I will make it easier on people who really don't know as I just figured it out myself.

You you will need a reference guide: Access to the description of what items falls into each ward. The Lodestone page has this, I have linked it below. FYI, printing this out if you play in full screen is recommended :)

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/topics/detail?id=e9e976fd34cacd564cb8e9d862b2c75c9b8d356f

Gear: When in Inventory, when you highlight the item you get your item description. You get the icon of item & off to the right you get the "Name of Item", next "slot/type" <-- Ward, next "Suits/Favors", finally "Optimal Rank"

Example: Canvas Coif says "Headwear" falls into Tailors Ward, Bronze Sallet says "Helm" falls into Armor Fitters ward, Garlon Goggles says "Eyewear" falls into Jewelers Ward even though it is head slot.

Items/Mats: This is easier. Highlight item, off to right of Icon you get "Name of Item", next you get Qty and "type" <-- Ward

Example: Copper Ore.. you will get the icon of it.. the Name: Copper Ore & below you get the, 6/12 (Qty) & finally "Type" Ore

Copper Ore falls into Masons Ward (Ores), Bronze Nugget in Iron Mongers Ward (Unrefined Metals), Bronze Nails & Bronze Rivets in Iron Mongers Ward (Metals), Flax in Clothiers Ward (Fiber), Bone Chip in Tanners Ward (Bone)

All this again, you need to cross reference w/ Ward Descriptions.. a pain?.. or just learning curve? :)

I hope this helps, took me a bit to write this, but link this somewhere else if you on a LS or copy/paste, whatev and don't forget to bump this! :)

Edited, Dec 22nd 2010 9:47am by Dethspawn
Search glitch?
# Dec 22 2010 at 8:38 AM Rating: Decent
I've found that I can use the search feature for almost any object in any ward, not just the ward associated with that object.

When you do a search for, say, a blue coif in the middle tailor's ward, it brings up the number of blue coifs for sale there and allows you to put a star above each of the sellers and the sellers appear as pink spots on your minimap. This is, I believe how the system was designed to work.

However, you don't have to stop looking for them before going to a different ward. Just pop into, say, another tailor's ward and start looking for pink spots/stars in there and you'll find any of the item you're looking for in the unassociated ward. You can even look for your coif in the iron mongers ward in this way if you think you'll have any luck there.

Not only that, but the retainers selling your item appear before any others so you can just run through the entire ward before the other retainers show up to find any pink stars/spots.

I'm not sure if this non associated wards business was intended to work this way or not but I'm finding it very handy. Many tend to sell related but not ward associated items together (like clothes of different levels in my example above) so if I can't find the right priced pink star/spot in the right ward I just run through similar wards and find the best deals quite easily.

Yes, there are far less cumbersome ways SE could have dealt with this whole shopping experience issue, and there are many improvements they could make even for this search function they've just added (such as not associating the items in the search with wards at all - it can be hard to remember if something is in, say, the ironmonger's ward or the masonry ward so I want to look for the item type rather than the ward it's in first - but just have it tell you what ward it's associated with after you've found the item type you want and give you the option to go there straight away) and there are other unrelated issues I'm not too happy about either, but this is still a GREAT improvement over what we had before.
Wards
# Dec 22 2010 at 8:00 AM Rating: Good
people need to stop acting like little Princess and B*tching so much.. They are working on a Game they decided not to charge us for and improvements come yet people keep acting like little girls. I think the Wards are a great add to the game. What else do you want SE to allow Welfare checks for the accounts.
Wards
# Dec 24 2010 at 10:40 AM Rating: Decent
Ahem I don't know about you but I paid $50 for a game I didn't play more than 2 weeks and now really would rather have my $50 back.

I work for a living and not on welfare. Tell me again that this is worth the $50 for regular copy of ffxiv or more for collector's edition
excitement postponed
# Dec 22 2010 at 6:31 AM Rating: Decent
yay search! oh crap i failed my levequest because of d/c due to my system overheating from playing the game :(
excitement postponed
# Dec 24 2010 at 7:30 PM Rating: Decent
34 posts
yay search! oh crap i failed my levequest because of d/c due to my system overheating from playing the game :(

The game does tend to run hot, but you can download a program called msi afterburner that allows you to monitor and regulate fan speeds and temps. I have found it to be very usefull.
No AH
# Dec 22 2010 at 6:21 AM Rating: Decent
Yes like everyone else it seems I walk into a ward and think "God I hate this." BUT, at the same time I do understand why it may be this way and have to date taken advantage of the ward system the way I think it was meant to be used. Firstly, if people don't use the correct ward to move their wares its both cumbersome and aggravating to the rest of community trolling through mule after mule of crafting materials while looking for a sword. Forum doomsayers like to complain alot about SE but don't seem to say much for the ignorance of the inhabitants of the 14 world. Why in the world would SE make it easy for you to be found if your in the wrong ward and can you even imagine how long the search options would have to be to find each and every little item regardless of where you were. Secondly, as for no AH. I for one have seen time and time again over the years of FFXI the market of a single item being controlled by a single person or group of ppl (RMTs). This system of checks and balances not only allows for more freedom of pricing but also a greater opportunity for the seller to capitalize on their wares. Since the buyer can't see every single transaction for the item in the entire world no one seller can control the market. Lastly, its an MMO. One of those M's stands for massive if I'm not mistaken and what about massive even sounds fast. Everyone please stop with the gimmy gimmy now now now of this generation and realize if you want to be in a hurry your playing the wrong type of game.
sheesh
# Dec 22 2010 at 4:28 AM Rating: Decent
Quote:
...its F2P so why complain?

The developers want feedback - complaints are a valid form of feedback. You may not agree with them (and I find them annoying as well), but they do fuel the fire behind all the changes that are happening.

Quote:
This right here is why this system is useless. Do you know how long it takes to jump around wards looking for a simple item?

I'm pretty sure the point of limiting the search in this way is to further encourage people to sell their stuff in the right ward. A big part of the time sink for me is looking for items in wards they weren't supposed to be sold in.

Quote:
Even with a new team assembled they are already damaging their new found trust from the player base with these pathetic little tidbits.

It takes much longer than a few weeks for a new team to have actionable results. What we're seeing now is the work done under previous management.

There will be no auction house. Move along, please.
You can yell all you want, but I think it's pretty safe to say there will never be an auction house. SE has said on several occasions that they want something different. Through major changes in management, many updates, and statements of future commitments, they continue to work with what they have rather than implement an entirely new system. If an AH is a requirement for your future enjoyment of the game, then I suggest you get out now before you waste any more of your time.

Edited, Dec 22nd 2010 5:30am by timothyjoelwright
Auction House
# Dec 22 2010 at 2:57 AM Rating: Default
I agree we want a Auction house!
Complaining..
# Dec 22 2010 at 2:25 AM Rating: Decent
Not sure why these people come on here and complain, with the search it does speed up time, not by much but it does. It's better than what we had, plus, its F2P so why complain? IMO it's a great MMO for a F2P. When it's done and they start charging, I'll be glad to say i stuck by SE through it all and be glad to pay for FFXIV. So stop complaining, and enjoy the improvments....jackasses
Complaining..
# Dec 22 2010 at 8:47 AM Rating: Good
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148 posts
UnboundExodus wrote:
It's better than what we had,


This.

They have started with what they did, so that people will come to this conclusion and accept the massive timesink that it is.
Here we go....
# Dec 22 2010 at 1:54 AM Rating: Decent
Auction house......even if they wanted to give it to you tomorrow it takes time for Designers, Art teams and programmers to start getting those systems up. This right now is what they can do easily (its just data in databases) to give us something that is functional. They know they messed up bad...they know it sucks and its not selling and SE prolly got humbed along the way..These Designers Artists and programmers are people and they are passionate about their jobs. You have no idea on the hours from home and friends will be gone to make this product as good. They could have just told you to deal with it...They took a risk to be different and it failed...now they have to fix it...I am a Combat Designer (not from SE), I do know that now and days your game has to be a hit from day one or the fans and media will destroy your IP. Forums are the brutal truth and most designers read them...A lot. I would say most of you are disapointed....its free to play...what else do you want. Give it time and if you can't then just go...WOW has a great product right now....But me...I want to watch this process, grow with it...even the most horrible times....It teaches me what not to do lol...but a few times a month they give you everything they have...give em time...Designers of games care what you think..it just takes more time then most like...and a complete fix like this....its going to be work..and time So cheer up..help is otw..its just going to be a long ride. Just try and remember that they are people and people make mistakes...even in making games. No one or any cocompany is perfect..At least this one is doing its best to fix it...most don't.
Here we go....
# Dec 26 2010 at 11:30 AM Rating: Decent
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88 posts
joshjoneswol wrote:
These Designers Artists and programmers are people and they are passionate about their jobs. You have no idea on the hours from home and friends will be gone to make this product as good. They could have just told you to deal with it...


Haha...yes, and if they'd said that, they'd have a lot more time to spend with their friends and family, because they'd rapidly find themselves unemployed. :P

joshjoneswol wrote:

Designers of games care what you think..it just takes more time then most like...and a complete fix like this....its going to be work..and time So cheer up..help is otw..its just going to be a long ride. Just try and remember that they are people and people make mistakes...even in making games. No one or any cocompany is perfect..At least this one is doing its best to fix it...most don't.


Let's not kid ourselves with any sententious pieties here. SE is a big, soulless corporation, and like all big, soulless corporations, there is one and only one thing they care about: making money.

If they didn't spend time and money to fix this game, given how much they have riding on it, they'd be ludicrously incompetent -- not just at making games, but also at managing their business.

Edited, Dec 26th 2010 12:31pm by LifegiverOfXegony
this is just dumb i quit too
# Dec 21 2010 at 10:54 PM Rating: Default
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92 posts
SE wants us to lvl multiple jobs and crafts. then gives us this crap. plus only give us 1 and soon 2 npcs to sell the stuff we sell they are soo goign the wrong way.
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