A few enterprising “The Elder Scrolls Online” players have added a feature to the new MMO: a player auction house.
ESO breaks from typical MMO tradition by not featuring a global marketplace for players to exchange goods, so tesoelite.com created a makeshift auction house within the sites forums.
Players choose from six forum categories: Weapons, Armor, Materials, Consumables, Miscellaneous and Services. Each category contains multiple threads, each of which is a player offering to buy, sell or trade something.
The forum categories (image credit: tesoelite.com)
The prefixes WTB (want to buy), WTS (want to sell) and WTT (want to trade) automatically post before the item listing.
A screenshot of the Weapons Forum (image credit: tesoelite.com)
Players must include their server, platform, a character name or other means of identification, a starting bid and a buyout price for each listing. The forums only host in-game currency listings. Any listings involving Elite Gold or actual cash will be deleted immediately, and habitual infractions will result in a permanent ban from the forum.
As with any unofficial means of trade, scams are a possibility. The site plans to add mediators that will broker each deal. It also asks that any scams or trade disputes be reported to @TEdisputes via a private message on the site. Scamming will result in an immediate ban from the site and an in-game report to moderators.
It is important to stress that this forum is a means of facilitating personal transactions. Players are basically agreeing to meet up in-game and exchange items. ZeniMax Online Studios will not accept any responsibility for items that are lost or stolen.
However, the developer did offer a public endorsement of the auction house via Twitter:
Looking to buy, sell, and trade in-game goods and services in #ESO? Then @TesoElite's new marketplace is for you: http://t.co/ufnKNCTBMV
— The Elder Scrolls Online (@TESOnline) April 10, 2014