Community Council Live Chat - The Trading Post - Feb. 8, 2023

Community WoW Community Council
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Today, several members of the WoW Community Council met with the World of Warcraft Trading Post developers Jeremy Feasel, Jen Hauer, Crystal Tam, Tyler Neuhaus, and Kenny McBride.

The discussion covered details on the development of the Trading Post as a new WoW feature as well as thoughts and suggestions about what items and cosmetics could be included in future updates.

Feel free to use this thread for any follow-up questions, thoughts on the Trading Post so far, or any other related discussion.

Thanks!

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Regarding farming stuff like “Invincible”. Bosses with drops like these should see skip access across the board since almost every run of those raids beyond Number10 or so is only about that 1% drop. Also: Is it kinda getting out of hand when you have to/can farm 1% drops in 20+ individual weekly lockouts on 1 char. Some bosses also already seem to have drop chances around ~3% (Horridon, Ji-Kun, Archimonde mythic) for no particular reason and that definitely feels better these days.

Druid forms: In BFA you can find the model of “Kimbul”, awesome looking tiger, would make a perfect feral cat skin (maybe as a lore related quest reward).

Regarding stuff I’d like to see on the post:
A set that isn’t really a set by now: The armor that Hymdall in Halls of Valor is “wearing” would be perfect for warriors or plate wearers in general. I know you’d have to turn those model parts into armor assets first though.

Also: RP sets/items representing life & travel in different bioms would be nice, for example: desert, jungle, snow, windy barren wasteland, etc.

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One thing I wanna say is thank you for adding some pink armor to the game, even if it’s (so far) locked behind the trading post.

As a lover of pink, it saddens me how little pink has existed in WoW for almost 2 decades now. To see multiple pink-adjacent (only one truly pink thing has been added - the iridescent cloak that has a gradient) things added makes me happy.

I’m hoping one of the Dragonflight raid tiers y’all give a truly pink recolor of each class set (as LFR/Normal so it’s more easily attainable by more people) to help cement the idea pink isn’t being frowned away from anymore. But only time will tell.

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Hi, I went through the video and took a few notes of key questions, answers, comments, and requests for feedback. So, that is what I will list below:

Goals for the Trading Post

  1. Offer players a method to earn unique, high-quality rewards that are not epic, currently endgame level of rewards.
  2. Present a way to reward players for playing the game in their own preferred method.

Problems to Solve with the Trading Post

  1. There is more to WoW outside of traditional endgame gameplay
  2. There are a ton of uncategorized content not in WoW currently

Questions
Obviously, this will be a paraphrasing of the question and answer. However, I think it is important to list out the questions and points of concern for review.

Q1: Will Trading Post offer things like hairstyles, tattoos, and other character customizations?
A1: Yes, but we need to make sure this doesn’t take from something that should just be core content.

Q2: Can we see old things removed from the game on the Trading Post?
A2a: Yes, but not skill-based items like the Gladiator mount.
A2b: As far as things like Invincible, what do you guys think?

Q3: What about class sets (like Wardens / Dark Ranger / Mountaineer)?
A3: Maybe. Not a part of original design. Focus design is for universal fit.

Q4: Can Warden set be used by any race?
A4: Yes. It is a Cosmetic Set by category.

Q5: Is there a ‘sneak-peak’ for what is coming next month?
A5a: Maybe.
A5b: Do you think there should be?

Q6: Will there be anything that costs more than what you can make in a month?
A6: Probably not.

Q7: Can we choose color variations?
A7: Maybe. Not in original design scope.

Q8: Is there anything to reduce FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)?
A8a: Yes. But we don’t know how, and we don’t know when.
A8b: Looking a player data, but interested in feedback.

Q9: Can we have NPC sets?
A9a: Yes, but with restrictions.
A9b: What would you like to see?

Q10: What separates the difference of BMAH items and Trading Post items?
A10: BMAH items are more geared toward difficult to earn items that are removed.

Q11: Can we get Cosmetic sets that look more plate-like and more cloth-like?
A11: Soon!

Q12: Will monthly rewards be available later?
A12: Yes.

Q13: Will there be ‘secrets’ later?
A13: Maybe.

Q14: Is there FOMO protection?
A14: There should be a continuous rotation of items.

Q15: Can you perpetually reserve an item?
A15: Yes.

Q16: What is the goal of the Trading Post?
A16: Universal rewards for various gameplay that allow for player expression.

Here is my understanding of developer points of interest:

  1. Developers have A LOT of items already created that do not have a home in the game yet.
  2. Developers are very interested what players specifically want.
  3. Developers want to start with little-to-no class or race specific items.
  4. Developers want to reward non-endgame gameplay.
  5. Developers concerned with player being overwhelmed.

Here is my understanding of player points of interest:

  1. Players are concerned about FOMO.
  2. Players are concerned about FOMO.
  3. Players are concerned about FOMO.
  4. Players are concerned with currency management.
  5. Players want to look like NPCs.
  6. Players want things that have been removed from the game.
  7. Players want more variety with color.
  8. Players want class-specific items.
  9. Players want race-specific items.

Throughout the course of the conversation, it seems like developers are in the position of, “Hey, guys, we have this massive treasure trove of items that never made it’s way into the game. Out of that, which 15 items do you want? We can also make additional things if you like!” while the player is stating, “Awesome! We really like this, but I can’t earn enough to buy everything. And I want everything!” In other words, it feels like the best of intentions from everyone, but it’s a fist-bump going into a handshake.

And I blame the UI. It doesn’t feel worse to have more options. It feels worse to sort more options with a UI designed to sort very few options. Scrolling through 100+ items is a chore, and nobody enjoys that.

What if we categorized things – similar to the Auction House? This way, players can quickly navigate to the category of things they are interested in. This would allow you to have a ‘New This Month’ feature and sub-category for previous month’s items - without entirely removing everything that was there last month. Everyone wins. This kills the FOMO, and this allows older items to be looked up via category.

Also, the entire screen can be utilized for this UI panel – if we are interacting with a stationary NPC, then this should give us a lot of screen utilization over a small window. Meaning, the Trading Post panel could allow for quick and easy navigation.

Answering Requests for Feedback

Q2: Can we see old things removed from the game on the Trading Post?
A2a: Yes, but not skill-based items like the Gladiator mount.
A2b: As far as things like Invincible, what do you guys think?

I completely understand the restriction of things that are skill-based and required significant effort to earn. Also, I think things that are already available in the game – should not be included in the Trading Post. It defeats half the reason to have the Trading Post – to present uncategorized items outside of the game with a place in the game. Also, many of those things can be found on the BMAH, so players have an additional avenue to acquire that stuff. Stick with completely new items, maybe revisit the topic TCG stuff in a few months.

Q5: Is there a ‘sneak-peak’ for what is coming next month?
A5a: Maybe.
A5b: Do you think there should be?

With the currency system as it is, I don’t really think it matters. Especially, if everything isn’t listed. And, especially, if it is only a few days before they are implemented. This is only going to encouraged delayed interaction and gameplay with the Trading Post.
Players are paralyzed from spending currency out of the fear that they may like want something next month. A decision made from fear or FOMO isn’t a fun decision.

Q9: Can we have NPC sets?
A9a: Yes, but with restrictions.
A9b: What would you like to see?

Personally, I don’t have too much of a preference one way or the other here. There are a lot of neat things in the game, there are a lot of neat things that would be ever neater in a different color, and there are a lot of neat things not in the game.

What I Considered Done Well

Options

I really, really like that objective to “/love” 2 of the 4 dragons. That way, if you hated doing the Spine of Deathwing, then you didn’t have to go there. Likewise, if you had all the transmogs in ICC or EoE, then you could choose to do the other dragons.

I think sticking with this type of freedom in gameplay is the way to go for this type of content. There are already rewards for doing specific things in specific raids, so having a bit of freedom here is a very nice touch.

Variety

The variety of things to do to earn this currency is really nice, too! Me and my wife took had a picnic in Ohn’ahran Plains, and then we took some screenshots together. And it just made for a nice experience. Since we were out there, I think that lead us into knocking out a few other things while we were there – which is what you want. Once done, she took off to work on the pet battles, and I did something else. One of the goals for the Trading Post was to illustrate their there was additional gameplay outside of endgame content and to reward players for that. This captured that really well.

There is definitely a lot more that was well done, but I don’t want to drone on for too long. In short, I think this is a very clever way of expanding the gameplay of WoW, and I hope it continues to grow!

Suggestions
For me personally, I would drop the whole currency shortage thing. Almost half the concerns from an hour long discussion revolved around saving an item, how long can you save it, can you save more than one, can you see into the future so you don’t waste currency now, FOMO of monthly items, and FOMO of items in general. FOMO was such a concern that nobody picked up on the fact that a developer said they have THOUSANDS of things that do not have a home in WoW! Save the “player decision” stuff for endgame. Remember, the design goal of Trading Post is supposed to be easy-going I-want-to-collect-‘em-all content inspiring and rewarding non-endgame gameplay.

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Since there is a rotation planned for all items but also players returning after breaks or joining this progression cycle months and months later:
Are there plans to reduce the price when items return? People picked them on first spawn because they are highly interested in them or discarded them for higher priority items. Once they show up again they might still not be valued as much by those that didn’t pick them the first time. And returning players that missed out have a lot more to pick from over time.

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I had a question but had to teach at that time for the QnA was wondering if they are considering weapon poses such as the brewmaster shoulder holding weapon style that could drop from the trading post

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I could have missed it, but I didn’t hear anything like that mentioned. There were conversation surrounding hairstyles and tattoos, but I think they consider stuff like that best to be a part of core options (which I agree with).

I think poses are a neat concept though. Games like PokemonGo does that and people seem to like it.

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WoWhead recently published a good highlite of the important topics from the live chat, for those who would like to reference.

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