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I’m searching for some documentation/training/resource on MMORPG trading UIs (marketplace, auctions, changing items etc.). Is there any detailed documentation in this topic somewhere?

ps. Google is not an option, I’ve tried it. I have no experience in this field, ’ve never tried online RPGs.

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  • You mention you have never tried them. I HIGHLY suggest downloading a few (free ones if you must) and poke around the world and UI of each. Even play up to a certain point. Thats like designing a hospital with out ever having been to a hospital. – jonshariat Aug 5 '11 at 16:10
  • I don't have to design an MMORPG interface, but just something that has some similar parts with this trading UI. I don't think that I'll ever have enough time to try those time-eaters out (it's sad that I have never tried it, but it's too late already :)) – Csongor Fabian Aug 5 '11 at 18:04
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    Well then you should download them and look at the UI, you dont have to play them. or better yet, find someone who plays and watch them use it. – jonshariat Aug 5 '11 at 19:48
  • I might note that WoW is free to play these days so you could easily try it out to verify the assertions in my answer. – Rahul Aug 6 '11 at 12:46
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Wowpedia has a page about the Auction House with a section dedicated to describing its UI.

If you know the name of what you wish to find, simply enter all or part of it in the Name field, and click the Search button on the upper right, and the UI will return all the items that match the string you entered. Otherwise, you can search by category: on the left, there are some blue buttons that are preset to search specific categories of items. Click on the category of item you wish the find (i.e., weapon, armor, spell, recipe, etc.). Some category items will then display sub-categories. After choosing the category and sub-category, if applicable, click Search. A listing of the items you requested, if there are any available in that category, will be displayed in the right pane of the dialog.

Many World of Warcraft players who engage in auction more frequently use the Auctioneer addon, which is kind of a "power user" extension to the auction house UI, allowing you to automatically place items for auction and track market trends and prices. It's worth looking into if you want to know how advanced players are interacting with the economy of a major MMO.

Blizzard announced this week that its upcoming non-MMO title Diablo 3 would include an auction house very similar to WoW, but that it would allow players to trade items for real money. It might be worth looking into the UI they're using there to see if there are any significant differences. Gameloft's iOS MMO, Order & Chaos Online, also does this but there's significantly less documentation available - it might be worth it to get it and try it out to see if they differed significantly from WoW's model (given that O&C copies most of WoW's UI in detail), and, of course, since they've created the first high budget iOS MMO and will therefore have had to adapt many principles to a touch-based UI.

I could tell you more about WoW's UI specifically but I think you should ask a separate question for that.

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  • Wow. Thank You! I’ll try to specify the question after reviewing your recommendations. – Csongor Fabian Aug 5 '11 at 7:54
  • Great find! I'd never have thought to look there. – jonshariat Aug 5 '11 at 16:08

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