The Daily Grind: Should MMO servers use affiliated or independent auction halls?

I am of two minds.

I really like server based auction halls! I like it when there’s just one common economy for everyone, so you know you’re not being ripped off for ending up on the biggest server (or the smallest server) and you can always see the best price. It also needs to be easier for developers to balance and monitor.

But I also hate server-based auction halls! There’s no way to engage in creative market arbitrage, there’s always a race to the bottom for most selling products, and when there are multiple servers the taps are usually still so different that smaller servers end up pricing big ones anyway pay servers.

I mean, I’m a total fan of player vendors, but I also like auction halls, and I’ve rarely seen one that does everything right. What do you think – should MMO servers use affiliated or independent auction halls? Which MMO has a particularly fair one?

Each morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online role-playing game genre. Grab a mug of your favorite drink and try to answer the question asked in today’s Daily Grind!

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