Hello \o/
I am here to talk about the new trade system again. XL Games did a horrendous job removing the old trade system and in fact, the developers killed the whole system for everyone. Archeage is a sandbox game and the changes in the trade system removed a big portion of the emergent, sandbox gameplay that we all love in AA.
I know that with the new client, we had to say farewell to the old trade system, but, I think that even the new -less fun- system has a margin to make some improvements. Before my suggestions, I would like to first talk about what i think will happen in the next few weeks/months.
With 5.0 we will only be able to sell cargo packs overseas to get Chargoal. As I see it, noone will ever run packs to Diamond Shores as it is the same risk of getting robbed and the time it takes you to reach DS from Nuia/Haranya is also marginally higher than TC/Solis. That leads to a situation where everyone will try to move Cargo to Two Crowns and Solis.
This is one of the biggest problems. Having only one viable destination means that said destination (Two Crowns-Solis) will be heavily camped. As a result, only the big guilds or the strongest players will have access to charcoal. They will control the market, thus controlling a farely big portion of the economy of the server. Gear gap will widen.
Camping Two Crowns/Solis means that eventually players will stop running cargo as the earnings will be small and the risk will be too high. I am doing overseas runs with my lovely Merchant Schooner for fun. It is one of my favourite things to do in AR and talking with other people, they feel the same. Furthermore, being able to only run Cargo packs means that not only the destinations (Two Crown/Solis) will be camped, but the Trade Outlets where you buy Cargo will be camped as well.
Everyone will know that you are about to run Cargo. They will just wait outside the peace area and then attack you. The risk to get robbed is too damn high and the rewards too damn small. In a few weeks or months, noone except big guilds will be running cargo. The price of Charcoal will skyrocket. Crafting will be problematic. Everyone will have to grind more to get the extra gold for their crafting. Players will no longer craft so much. Removing the sand from the box is not the answer. This is a serious change that will affect the whole game, not only its economy aspect, but the aspect of having more fun as well.
My suggestions:
1) If it is possible from development standpoint, add new custom NPCs or machines to Villanelle, Ynystere, Cinderstone and Solzreed so we can sell Cargo there too.
2) Increase the rewards for each Cargo Pack. Double will be ok, as Larders are cheaper to run than the new Cargo but get you more Charcoals right now.
3) Another idea would be to add a machine in Solis, Villanelle, Ynystere, Two Crowns, Cinderstone and Solzreed Trade Outlets, where you can sell Aged Packs to get an untradable Coin. Then we can exchange that said Coins in Mirage for Charcoal.
And please, pay attention to the situation in the next weeks and make the needed changes.
Kisses from Qisna of the Adorable family \o/
Keep up the great work you do all these years and Happy 3rd Anniversary <3