Now that Path of Exile has settled into a comfortable place following the release of the 3.0.0 Fall of Oriath update, I believe it's time that we speak about some quality of life changes that PoE desperately needs. An auction house or a market place has been a source of debate within Path of Exiles player base for years. Perhaps now that PoE is settling back into a firm location developmentally, we can hope for a future release of some form of a marketplace. 

 

 

Trade is undoubtedly a massive part within Path of Exile, the player driven economy is expansive and has far reaching benefits for participation. Additionally, PoE offers an extremely unique range of market goods for trade, Rather than simply just trading cash for end game loot, it's a lot more complicated in its exchange rates.  However there are massive draw backs to the current system and its limitations. I can't tell you the number of times I've had trades go sour from a simple lack of organization, ease of access, or simply just not being worth the effort for people to go out of their way for the trade. 

 

Opposition to PoE adding an auction house or marketplace has describable as fierce. While people against adding additional systems of trade cite Diablo 3 and its auction houses failure as a large reason against PoE adding them. These reasons are far reaching an include: 

 

- Shifting players away from playing the game itself and focusing on trade.

- Collapsing the economy as is becomes easier for the masses to trade commodities.

- Undermining the end game grind for gear, as it would be easier to simply buy the items you were looking for.

- In game drop rates may be effected to account for a flood of items up for trade.

- Many claim that PoE simply doesn't need any additional methods of trade.

 

Arguments for implementing an auction house are just as varied and fleshed out, but I believe most of them would be self explaining and I have decided to omit them. After all I'm not attempting to argue one way or the other merely bring to light the reason why people would be against adding a market facilities. Personally I believe adding a market to PoE would only help facilitate trade and revitalize the economy. While I agree that the initial influx of commodities may cause the market to dip, eventually it will level out to a far more manageable system. 

 

I also think it's time to be honest with each other, people trade to make profit, others flip commodities buying low and selling high, others trade to simply to sell extra equipment. It's worth bring up this point, as it's used most often as a reason against adding an auction house. Market exploitation happens, but it is not as insidious as many claim it is. More often than not both parties are getting exactly what they want. I'm more than happy to sell my items at half market value if only to get them out of my hair, I'm not adversely affected if the person who bought my items sells them for a gain. People like myself more often than not will sell low to sell something quickly, rather than waiting a prolonged period to get the full value of an item. 

 

Maybe one day soon we'll get an official answer to the question of whether or not we'll be getting trade system reforms. For now however, we have to contend ourselves with arguing with one another about if it would be a good idea or not. We all seem to be quite adept at it by now.