PlayerA finds a item they think someone else would want (i.e. not junk), but can’t use, or is willing to part with to get an item they’d rather have now. They post the item up to the Barter system.
When adding the item to the Barter system, a new UI (i.e. window or screen) appears. This UI looks nearly identical to the Filter window. PlayerA can create 1 or MORE filters for the listed item. The filters work just like they do in the Filter window. i.e. can be really specific (Glaive with Tier 4+ Melee damage and Tier 5+ melee flat damage) or really general (Any Armor with Tier 5+ Mana Regen). These Filters are the types of items PlayerA will accept in Trade for their listed item.
PlayerB browses the Barter system, and can search it in a detailed way, and comes across the item PlayerA listed, and wants it.
PlayerB clicks on the item, and sees a button: “View Matches”.
Clicking this button pulls up every item in PlayerB’s Stash and inventory which match any of the Filters PlayerA created for their item.
PlayerB can select one of their items, and a new button appears: “Execute Barter”.
A standard confirmation dialog opens, showing PlayerA’s item, and PlayerB’s item side by side, with a “Are you sure you want to execute this barter?” PlayerB hits “Yes”.
PlayerB’s item disappears into the Barter system, and PlayerA’s item appears in their inventory.
PlayerA opens the Barter system, and see’s a list of the items they offered. On a 2nd “tab” called “Completed Trades” or something like that, PlayerA see’s PlayerB’s item sitting there, hopefully with a little info on the completed trade. They take it into their inventory.
Trade complete.
This is profit-proof.
This is bot-proof.
This is RMT proof.
Players needing an item can instantly find and trade for it if they have something the other person wants.
All with no economy, no currency, and in a completely asynchronous way (doesn’t require the two players to be online at the same time).
This is certainly interesting. I like the idea of it. But it also sounds like a lot of work for all players.
For instance, lets say I want to put up 10 items for barter, then I have to make 10 filters – one for each item I’d be willing to accept in trade automatically. I probably wouldn’t want to reuse the same filters for each item, because ideally I’d only want to get one item that matches that filter, not 10. This would be slow and arduous for players. It would also favor those who play more, because they’re more likely to have an item that another player would accept for a trade of any especially good item (at least, I think so?). What I’m envisioning here is that PlayerA would put up some ridiculously good item for some build, but would expect only a ridiculously good item in return.
Also, finally, I don’t think the following statement is true.
A bot can easily do all of the tasks you’ve specified, at least to my knowledge they can.
There was a dude kicking around the forums a while back who had 32 years experience in a Fortune 100 company leading software development teams. He’ll post a long rebuttal listing the puerile and tiresome ways this system can be gamed and abused with impunity, and he’ll probably list off all the real-world examples where people thought they were super smart inventing a perfect market in their heads only to see it fall to pieces the moment real people get their hands on it and decide to exploit it.
If you are really into this kind of philosophic belly-gazing, you might want to spend time reading on Market Theory. Its fun stuff. My favourite is when the great and the wise who contribute (absolutely essential) understanding of markets and trading (like black-Scholes for a random example), then try to use that amazing theory in the real world and lose the shirts off their backs. Actually, they lose their clients shirts, not their own. Pretty much the basic principle to make money in finance with zero risk (mathematically).
Getting tired of trade discussions now, the game needs real feedback in regards to ingame balance, skills, monolith progression, bugs etc tangible feedback the devs can use
Constantly pondering a trade system doesnt really achieve anything at this point, infact I already dont want to trade with anyone now as I have PTSD from all the trade topics
What I mean is that bots are used by RMT traders to obtain valuable in-game items to then sell for real-world cash. Since you can’t profit from this system, there is no reason to “Bot” it. That’s what I mean by “bot-proof.”
As far as time investment, it’s irrelevant, because:
a) this system is designed for you to trade off some valuable items you find for ones you need for each character’s build you’re trying to complete. The idea of “mass listings” don’t exist, because an economy doesn’t exist. This is a trading system, not a profit system. Each of your characters will only need to list a few items for trade to complete its build.
b) Filters are actually pretty easy to set up, and I hope the devs will implement the “Copy Filter” ability soon, so we can copy existing filters, which will help a bit.
But it does, “economy” is the name we use for many people trading with each other, whether they can see each other or not.
Besides, you can personally profit if you’re swapping/bartering/whatever an item that is of little to no value to you for an item that’s of greater value to you.
I guess it’s more accurate to say there is no currency, and no way to “amass” large quantities of some “currency” with a barter system. But yeah, if you don’t value that Exalted Sword you just got but highly value the Exalted Ring you swap it for, you “profitted” from the trade. Just, not in the form of currency. And that is the thing that kills bots and RMTs - no currency.
so hypothetical… A bot farms items. Trades for valuable items. The bot collects a whole account with the perfect gear for a build or several builds. Account sells on a third party website for $$$
Agreed 100%. This is reminiscent of everything I hated about trading in D2 20 years ago - repeatedly finding items that you want, only to deal with sellers that have an obnoxiously specific/narrow list of what they will accept in trade that is obscured to you. All I can see is the following chat interaction:
“wts cool item”
“wtb your cool item”
“offer?”
“What do you want?”
crickets
repeat
…Except in a UI with buttons instead of PMs. Zero transparency, with all power, control, and convenience in the hands of sellers, and a big middle finger at every step of the way to buyers.
When you click “View Matches” and you get no hits, the UI will show you the Filters.
You can then manually find items close to the requirements of the listed item.
A new button is added: “Make counter-offer”, and you select the pretty close item you own.
Seller gets a message and can accept or decline. (with some sort of spam protection, to prevent over-messaging).
Someone else can buy (barter) the item before you get the chance.
Someone else can buy your item before the RMT seller gets the chance.
All items bartered run through a very quick AI check, and any suspicious trades (level 1 non-magic item for T22 Exalted item) are flagged, and EHG bans accounts. While bans don’t permanently stop the RMTs, this would stop players from buying from RMTs as they lose their account. No buyers, no RMTs.
I’ll just post a bad base type with low rolls of bad affixes, nobody else posts or wants that item, and send the other person a screenshot of it.
Cant be illegal to post a bad item, right?
Dev’s tried these and other things in some games to fight RMT and bots, also making the game harder/more_annoying for normal players, and they always find some ways to bypass
