We Need In-Game Instant Buyout Trading — Not Just the Trade Site

Let’s be real: the current trade site is miserable. Every day I whisper dozens of sellers. Half don’t respond. Others delist immediately or tell me “price changed” even though it’s been listed for hours or days. And for what? A single item upgrade that shouldn’t be this hard to get. This isn’t “player interaction.” It’s just wasting time.

And I’m not alone. The forums, Reddit, and Discords are full of players complaining about the same thing. Unresponsive sellers. Price fixing. Trade scams. Bots. Flippers. And it’s only getting worse.

The devs already know this is a problem.

In the official Zizaran interview with GGG (timestamped to 1:53:43), they clearly said:

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"Players will no longer accept a trade system that doesn’t have instant buyouts."

They acknowledged that PoE 2 needs:
■ Instant buyouts■ Proper search■ A limiting factor like non-tradeable gold■ Anti-bot design■ Equal access to all players

They even confirmed that they’re already planning a gold-based, instant buyout system. So if that’s the future, why are we stuck in the past?

If GGG knows the current system sucks, if they’ve already said instant buyouts are the answer, and if they’ve worked out how to implement it using gold — what are we waiting for?

PoE 2 is in early access, and now is the time to get core systems right.

We don’t need to wait for 1.0 to fix trade. The feedback is here. The demand is here. Even the developers agree: trade in PoE 2 must evolve.

Please GGG — make this a priority.

Trading should complement gameplay, not drag it down. We need instant buyout trading in-game. And we need it soon.

The moment Path of Exile 1 game design of balancing / tailoring the game around trade, friction, itemization, out of the equation of Path of Exile 2 game design that tries to be more focused on the action and combat, the better the game will be.

Stop designing Path of Exile 2 with Path of Exile 1 system, design it like it was promised, slow-methodical-tactical yet rewarding game design that focus on action and combat. The focus should be in action, and combat. Not on tailoring and balancing the game around trading, not on itemization and customization on the scale of Path of Exile 1, not on type of game contents in Path of exile 1 like Breach / Ritual / Delirium / Wisp / Expedition with its vampire-survivor like mobs count and needing you to have wide-screen clear skill.

Start designing the game around the combat and action. Learn, copy, improvise and revolutionize the system of action-combat in which the foundation already laid out in the market by games like Monster Hunter Franchise, Dark Souls Series, Elden Ring, Sekiro, Black Myth Wukong, Ghost of Tsushima, and other "souls-like" titles. All of those games have 1 thing in common, they heavily focus on the action and combat, and the itemization almost never supersede the hierarchy of the core game design of action and combat. Only in an extreme case and its also a case-by-case situation, where the itemization will undermine action and combat, but its usually happen way way way way after you finish the game, and truly and fully mastering the game. And that point, you deserve it.

You can make a boring Two Handed sword or axe or mace with all the arbitrary numbers of their stat with extra effect, but the most important thing is how it feels to use it when fighting the enemy. The numbers are only there to supplement you, but on how you actually swing the sword to fight the enemies is far more important.

AGAIN, start designing the game for action and combat, and BE THE Path of Exile 2 that it strives to be, not just a clone of prettier Path of Exile 1 with added dodge roll.

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bewilder2#0356 написал:

Start designing the game around the combat and action. Learn, copy, improvise and revolutionize the system of action-combat in which the foundation already laid out in the market by games like Monster Hunter Franchise, Dark Souls Series, Elden Ring, Sekiro, Black Myth Wukong, Ghost of Tsushima, and other "souls-like" titles.

PoE will never be a souls-like, not matter how much they tell you it is. PoE2 is MUCH closer to PoE1 than any souls game and the fundamental design of it is too far to close the gap.

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Kadath128#6487 написал:

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bewilder2#0356 написал:

Start designing the game around the combat and action. Learn, copy, improvise and revolutionize the system of action-combat in which the foundation already laid out in the market by games like Monster Hunter Franchise, Dark Souls Series, Elden Ring, Sekiro, Black Myth Wukong, Ghost of Tsushima, and other "souls-like" titles.

PoE will never be a souls-like, not matter how much they tell you it is. PoE2 is MUCH closer to PoE1 than any souls game and the fundamental design of it is too far to close the gap.

Despite all my hope that it won't be the case, you are right and I agree. The game will be just a clone of PoE 1, and in my opinion it will be a bad situation for us, the players. The game basically the same, but the community that already divided will be even more divided, the resources distribution for game development will be even more divided considering on how they usually do PoE 1 leagues.

And if GGG can't expand larger than it is now, I'm afraid the quality and development for both games will be slow and worse than now, then both PoE 1 and PoE 2 players will get a lower quality content from league to league, from expansion to expansion, a lose-lose situation.

But what do I know, I just hope PoE 2 know what it wants to be.

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bewilder2#0356 написал:

The moment Path of Exile 1 game design of balancing / tailoring the game around trade, friction, itemization, out of the equation of Path of Exile 2 game design that tries to be more focused on the action and combat, the better the game will be.

Stop designing Path of Exile 2 with Path of Exile 1 system, design it like it was promised, slow-methodical-tactical yet rewarding game design that focus on action and combat. The focus should be in action, and combat. Not on tailoring and balancing the game around trading, not on itemization and customization on the scale of Path of Exile 1, not on type of game contents in Path of exile 1 like Breach / Ritual / Delirium / Wisp / Expedition with its vampire-survivor like mobs count and needing you to have wide-screen clear skill.

Start designing the game around the combat and action. Learn, copy, improvise and revolutionize the system of action-combat in which the foundation already laid out in the market by games like Monster Hunter Franchise, Dark Souls Series, Elden Ring, Sekiro, Black Myth Wukong, Ghost of Tsushima, and other "souls-like" titles. All of those games have 1 thing in common, they heavily focus on the action and combat, and the itemization almost never supersede the hierarchy of the core game design of action and combat. Only in an extreme case and its also a case-by-case situation, where the itemization will undermine action and combat, but its usually happen way way way way after you finish the game, and truly and fully mastering the game. And that point, you deserve it.

You can make a boring Two Handed sword or axe or mace with all the arbitrary numbers of their stat with extra effect, but the most important thing is how it feels to use it when fighting the enemy. The numbers are only there to supplement you, but on how you actually swing the sword to fight the enemies is far more important.

AGAIN, start designing the game for action and combat, and BE THE Path of Exile 2 that it strives to be, not just a clone of prettier Path of Exile 1 with added dodge roll.

I think you're misunderstanding the core point of the conversation.

Nobody here is saying Path of Exile 2 should become a lootfest or a PoE1 clone. What I'm saying is something that even Jonathan—one of the lead developers—already confirmed in a public interview with Zizaran:

"Players are no longer going to accept a trade system that doesn't have instant buyouts and proper search functionality. We need to find a way to make that work, and gold is the tool to do it."(Zizaran Interview with Jonathan, Timestamp 1:53:43)

This isn't about returning to PoE1. This is about fixing a system that's actively harming PoE2.

Right now, the in-game trade experience is deeply flawed. Players have to:

Whisper dozens of sellers, often with no replies.

Deal with delisted items and sudden price changes.

Hope someone is online and not AFK for hours.

That is not "meaningful friction" or "player interaction." That’s just a broken system that punishes players who are trying to engage with builds that rely on gear.

PoE2 clearly still wants an economy. It has trade. It has builds that require specific items. That means it needs a functional way to obtain those items. And as Jonathan said, if trade is going to exist, it has to have instant buyouts and search — because the current system just doesn’t cut it.

This isn't about zoom zoom gameplay. This is about making the systems that already exist actually work. Fixing trade doesn’t make the combat worse. It lets us engage with the content we want to play.

If PoE2 is supposed to be about build diversity and experimentation, then the tools to make those builds work have to be accessible.

Letting trade function is not betraying the vision. It’s fulfilling it.

No thanks.

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Milkshakez#6942 написал:

No thanks.

Hold up. You actually PREFER the current trade system? I honestly don't know that I have ever seen someone defend the way PoE does trade. Its better than the early PoE1 days but its still one of the worst possible trade methods in gaming today.

The moment you make an extra automated system the game will go 1 step further to become a single player game. And the moment you lose most multiplayer game aspects of the game the game will die as just any other single player games. All these little interactions bad and good, people coming to hideouts, global chat, guild chat, checking for items and services on tft,trade2,3,4 and website. is what makes game feel alive. Like i said every automated system deletes a portion of Life from the game. Many people prefer current trade system over automated trading, you got currency exchange, that's enough as it is.

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simonis87#2392 написал:

The moment you make an extra automated system the game will go 1 step further to become a single player game. And the moment you lose most multiplayer game aspects of the game the game will die as just any other single player games. All these little interactions bad and good, people coming to hideouts, global chat, guild chat, checking for items and services on tft,trade2,3,4 and website. is what makes game feel alive. Like i said every automated system deletes a portion of Life from the game. Many people prefer current trade system over automated trading, you got currency exchange, that's enough as it is.

Let’s be honest—the current trade system is already halfway automated.

You list an item in a premium stash tab, it shows up on the trade site, and buyers use a pre-written message with one click. Then what? Half the time, the seller doesn’t respond. If they do, it’s often to say the item is “sold” and then relist it for more. That’s not meaningful interaction—it’s just friction.

This fantasy that trade right now is full of rich player interaction is exactly that: a fantasy. It’s not immersive, it’s not fun, and it’s actively wasting time that could be spent playing the game.

An instant buyout system with a gold cost wouldn’t kill the game—it would finally make the core loop smoother and more accessible. Trading should feel like part of the game, not a gamble of whispering 20 people and hoping someone replies.

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spardaknightz#4852 написал:

I think you're misunderstanding the core point of the conversation.....

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Most likely, BUT, in my opinion as someone that play this game since 2014 at Garena Version because it tries to capitalize SEA market but failed miserably, friction is needed in Path of Exile 1 because it was something that make Path of Exile 1 have its own identity.

It was a niche game, it had niche community, the players that playing it enjoy to being f-ed here and here. Just to be clear, I also on the side of removing friction in the trading system in Path of Exile 1 IF it was made by a large company and targeted toward wider audience. Chris Wilson is my hero and I wish he still fully involved with PoE. Without friction in Path of Exile 1, power acquisition become a window-shopping and then the game will be balanced around that. Severely limiting build customization, itemization, and the power fantasy of becoming a literal God that wreak havoc in wraeclast.

And with Path of Exile 2, I 100% agree with Jonathan about the instant buy-out system. HOWEVER, the game itself needs to move far far far away from the core design of Path of Exile 1 itemization, customization, and balancing around trade. Currently PoE 2 is just basically the same as PoE 1, with prettier graphic, added dodge roll, but worse "crafting" system, less endgame content, severely limited customization, and trying to make a meaningful-tactical combat but fails miserably. All because the game still built upon PoE 1 design.

Now what will happen if PoE 2 implementing buy-out trading system, but still refusing to not moving away from PoE 1 design around itemization, trading and competitive economic environment ? The friction will be removed, players can easily get anything that they desire without any friction, they will be done with the game in less than a month and removing alot of market participation. That is a huge problem for a game that relies on a market participation to acquire resources needed for the itemization and customization, and the market is a true free market where there is almost no intervention from authority (GGG) to stabilize the market to make inflation rate acceptable so that the participants can still actively benefits from the market.

Once actual players leave, their place will be filled with bots and/or certain powerful groups, then market prices and items supply will be easily manipulated by groups that have more resources than your average players. It will be a bad time for your average players to play a trade league and since the game is still about itemization, the casino-slot style RNG jesus take the wheel system that they all as "crafting" won't help them at all in trade league, let alone SSF.

bUt BuT BUT buT hOw uHhh aBoUT aCkTuALlY pLAy tHE gAmE aND fARm ReSoURcES tO......... Then why the game requires your full attention and efforts in every single corner aspect of the game, punishing you for a slight mistake severely, and only reward you with items that you might or might not need, with the stat that you might or might need ? Isn't the game trying to focus on action and combat ? Not PoB and trading simulator 2.0 ? What is the game WANTS TO BE ? WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE ? I thought PoE 2 tried to be a more widely accepted game, and yet alot of game design choices that were made are highly questionable and mimicking PoE 1.

Everything that happening now in 0.2 does not make sense to try to make PoE 2 become its own game, and everything that has happened and is allowed to happen from 0.1 and 0.2 , is just basically Path of Exile 1 type of content. For sure that instant buyout will be great for PoE 2, but if the game still heavily designed and balanced around trading like PoE 1, the instant-buyout system will make the game balance worse than now because they have to tailor every single thing in the game around the capability of players to easily acquire gears and resources needed and quit playing the game in less than 2 weeks.