Official Last Epoch Multiplayer FAQ - Developer Blog - Last Epoch Forums
" 1. What will the trade system be like?
Our current plans regarding the trade system are still a work in progress and will require scale testing, but are centralized around having an area for players to congregate called The Bazaar. In the Bazaar you can visit other player’s shops and purchase items for in-game gold. The player shops that appear are random so the act of finding gear that you are interested in feels like browsing an active bazaar instead of finding players on third party websites to trade with directly. We want the main item hunt to remain outside of trade so making this an enjoyable experience but not the clear best way to obtain better items is our goal. Players in a party will also be able to gift items to each other, as long as the item dropped after both players joined the party."
" 1. Are you changing loot drop rates or crafting because of multiplayer?
Perhaps. But if so, not drastically. We want the drop rates to be mainly balanced around self-found and feel we are doing a decent job of this right now. Because of the way the trade system is planned to work we don’t believe this will throw off the balance of the item hunt drastically."
So I missed this few weeks ago, but it seems they’ve become a bit more concrete about the current plans. Namely, it sounds like it is indeed going more or less in the direction I was hoping for - largely balanced around SSF, with the opportunity to trade, but in a very non-deterministic way. You can’t just type stats in a search bar and convert gold to upgrades in an ingame UI (or even a site outside of the game), and loot sounds like it will not be changed much.
Basically, no AH, no real barter, but you can browse a Bazaar and hunt for worthwhile stuff? Seems like a good “hybrid” approach, i’m curious how it will play out and how much it will change after implementation, if at all.