A Next-Generation Trade System for PoE 2: Balancing Accessibility, Economy, and Player Engagement

Introduction: Why Trading Needs a New Approach in PoE 2

Trading is one of the most important aspects of Path of Exile, but it’s also one of the most frustrating. Right now, players rely on third-party websites, spam whispers that never get responses, and deal with bots constantly manipulating prices.

At the same time, a fully automated Auction House isn’t the answer. We’ve seen how automated trading destroys economies in games like World of Warcraft, EVE Online, and Albion Online, leading to market crashes, bot dominance, and devaluation of rare items.

PoE’s economy is not based on gold, and its items are not standardized. Every rare, fractured, or influenced item is unique, making fixed-price listings an oversimplification of item value. This means:

A traditional Auction House would hurt PoE 2.

The current system is outdated, frustrating, and bot-infested.

We need a new approach that makes trade smoother while keeping player engagement high.


The challenge is:

How do we make trade more accessible without making it fully automated?

How do we combat bot abuse without making trade harder for real players?

How do we keep the economy balanced while respecting PoE’s unique itemization and currency system?


This is a hard problem, but one that could have massive impact on ARPG trading if solved correctly. GGG has the data, tools, and expertise to build something new and groundbreaking.


Why an Auction House Would Hurt PoE 2

Some players suggest a fully automated Auction House, but history shows that would likely hurt PoE more than help it.

1. Market Manipulation & Bot Domination

Games like WoW and Albion Online have seen bots flood Auction Houses, setting prices artificially low to trick players into selling underpriced items.

PoE already has bots constantly undercutting real players with no intent to sell, manipulating prices to make unaware players undervalue their own gear.

An automated AH would make this even easier for bots while making it harder for regular players to compete.


2. Removes Player Interaction & The Thrill of Trade

Trading in PoE isn’t just about economy, it’s part of the gameplay.

Finding a great deal, negotiating a trade, or discovering an undervalued item is exciting—a pure AH system removes all of that and makes trading feel robotic.


3. PoE’s Items Are Unique, Not Standardized

Unlike RuneScape or WoW, where items have fixed stats, PoE gear is dynamic. Crafting, corruption, and modifiers make every item different in value.

An AH would oversimplify pricing, making rare and high-end items harder to sell at their true worth.


4. Dead Economies & Inflation

Games with AHs often suffer from market oversaturation—items flood the system, devaluing them and making them feel disposable.

EVE Online avoids this by having regional trade hubs instead of one global AH, preventing total market collapse. PoE doesn’t have that structure, so a global AH could crash item values entirely.


A Next-Gen Trade System for PoE 2

Instead of forcing players into a bad Auction House or the current frustrating system, PoE 2 should have a hybrid system that:

Keeps trading engaging and player-driven.

Limits bot abuse while staying accessible for real players.

Respects PoE’s unique economy and barter-based currency.

Balances accessibility with the thrill of discovery and negotiation.


1. Player Shops market– A Region/servers-Based Market That Reduces Spam

Instead of a global listing system, player shops should:

Be accessible through a vendor in each in-game town that provides access to the shops market.

Shop inventories are tied to servers and player level brackets—this means:

Players will only see items relevant to their progression stage in the game.

leveling players can still access earlier level shops, but listing in a lower-tier market requires visiting the respective town’s vendor.


Max Level Shop Vendor:

Located in the final town or placeable in a hideout.

Players can see and buy from all lower-level brackets bound by servers but must visit the respective town vendor to list there.

Shop market are only able to support selling ilvl 60 and below. ilvl 60+ are available but limited to connect server shops ( could be expanded so it has more access but not global access) Items ilvl 60+ can only be listed in the Trade Realm (explained next).

This structure spreads out trade activity, making bot market manipulation harder and keeping trade focused on relevant gear for players.



Fake Low-Ball Listings Are eliminated:

Items listed in shops remain in the seller’s stash tab and are immediately removed when purchased.

This prevents bots from fake-listing ultra-low prices to manipulate the market.


2. The Trade Realm – Global Market & Advanced Trading

The Trade Realm is a separate trade system designed for:

Global access to all shop items across all servers and level brackets.

The only place to list ilvl 60+ gear.

Players must be online for their listed items to appear as listed.


Loot Goblin – Unlocking Trade Realm Access Through Gameplay

Instead of allowing infinite trade access, players must earn access to the Trade Realm through a Loot Goblin encounter.

Sacrificing items or currency makes the Goblin stronger but increases its loot quality.

Defeating the Goblin grants limited access to list items in the Trade Realm.

1-2 premium stash tabs and player investory are eligible for listing, but players can reroll which stash tabs for a currency cost.


Consumables That Influence Loot Goblin Spawns

Players may find rare, non-tradeable consumables that increase the chance of spawning a Loot Goblin, making trade access part of gameplay rather than passive listing.



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3. Expanding the Currency Exchange for Bulk Trading

Base items, fossils, essences, and certain crafting materials should be tradeable via an expanded Currency Exchange.

This allows bulk trading of standard materials while keeping rare item trades more interactive.

Crafters should be able to easily buy base items in bulk, rather than spamming trade sites.



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4. Taxation & Currency Sinks – No Gold, But Balanced Fees

Trade fees should be paid in crafting currency.

The fee should be 10% of the Exalt/Divine value of the item, based on the currency exchange rate.

Fees can be paid in:

Orbs of Transmutation, Augmentation, Alchemy, Regal, or Exalts and divine and is paid when sale is made as to not limit poor players finding and listing a very valuable item.


GGG should review this system and take players feedback to ensure fair balancing—trade fees should be meaningful, but not punishing.



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5. Combatting RMT – Evolution of the Player Trade Window

Items can be freely given to another player only if they were in the party when the item dropped, for a set time (e.g., 1 hour).

A rare, non-tradeable consumable could allow a trade window to open outside this rule, but:

Only 1 item or 5-10 stacks of stackable tradeable items can be traded.

This limits RMT operations while allowing flexibility for legitimate trades between players playing together.

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Final Thoughts: This Could Be Game-Changing

This is a hard problem, and no ARPG has fully solved trading in a way that balances accessibility, economy, and engagement.

However, if GGG gets this right, it could be one of the most innovative trading systems in gaming history. A hybrid model—**player shops, trade realm access through gameplay, and expanded currency trade—**could be the perfect middle ground.

GGG has the data and tools to refine these ideas into something that works. This is the starting point of a discussion, not the final answer. Let’s make trade in PoE 2 something worthy of the game’s depth and complexity.

What are your thoughts? Let’s refine this together.

Everything is an idea, what's most important is player feedback.

I WELCOME and ENCOURAGE you to scruitize, critque, disagree or agree with all or pieces. I'm not an economist, or game designer so the more feedback, positive and negative, move this closer to something that can be amazing.

Thanks for reading and or adding to the conversation.

TL;DR:

Auction Houses ruin ARPG economies by enabling bot abuse, market manipulation, and removing player interaction. PoE's itemization is too complex for a simple buy/sell system.

Current trade system is frustrating—third-party websites, whisper spam, and bots dominate the market. A better system is needed for PoE 2.

Proposed solution: A hybrid trade system

Player Shops Market – Region/level-based shop vendors that limit bot dominance and keep trade relevant to player progression. Items stay in stash until sold, preventing fake lowball listings.

Trade Realm – Global market access for ilvl 60+ items, requiring in-game engagement (Loot Goblin mechanic) to prevent passive bot trading.

Expanded Currency Exchange – Streamlines bulk trading of crafting bases and materials.

Trade Fees in Crafting Currency – A balanced, scalable system that removes excess currency without punishing players.

RMT Prevention – Item gifting restricted to players present when the item dropped, with a consumable for special cases.


This is a hard problem, but GGG has the data to solve it. If done right, PoE 2’s trade system could set a new standard for ARPGs. Feedback is encouraged!

First: use the forum markup (bold text, spoilers), it will be easier to perceive.

About the division into zones:
Limiting supply by introducing server zones will reduce competition and therefore increase prices. In addition, pricing in the game is carried out using the "comparison with analog" method, and the lack of a diverse offer will lead to difficulties in selling. Therefore, the prices will be "not fair".

Breaking it down by level will only affect bots. They will become more complex and smarter, but they will not disappear.

Goblin
You offer to enter the market by ticket. This should probably help in the fight against bots, but at the cost of difficulties for players. But there are other, possibly better ways to deal with bots. The benefit to the players is unclear. Reducing the frequency of transactions makes the market less responsive and, as a result, less honest, and the "invisible hand of the market" does not work as effectively.

Interaction of market players
I think too many people will disagree that " haggling is fun." Judging by the abundance of topics on the forum, people just want to avoid communication at all.

Wholesale currency exchange
It's already there. And that's the problem. This is a more complex market than the item market, with fewer exposure options. Yes, goblin would probably have a positive effect here, but I think there are easier ways.

Taxation
The topic is not disclosed. How does it relate to the economy? What effect will a particular measure have?

Fighting RMT
I can just drop the item on the ground. To any player. Yes, it's a risk, but it's a black market, there's always a risk. Again, there are other ways to fight bots.
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There are two simpler suggestions:
- Exclusion of resale of the item. This translates to the market in the service market - resale and manipulation are impossible here, since you can no longer earn money on it. There are in the same WoW, in the topic are not considered.

- Captcha It seems to me that the currency market cannot be converted to the service market (it is possible, but it seems to me "too much"). And excluding the passage of robots to it can have a positive impact on the market.

Any other feedback?

Genuinely interested not just in why this won't work, but yohr ideas for what a innovative next Gen trading system.

People rightly point out that an unfettered, unrestricted, instant-buy AH will basically have bots corner the market but then use this as a reason there should be no AH.

IMO the solution is to just have a restricted AH.

It would be cool if they made a hypothetical AH a more gamey system. Eg you had a group of traders on the caravan that would go fetch an item from the market place, maybe they even need their own currency to do so. And you'll literally need to wait say, a real life hour for the merchant trader to go out, get the thing, and come back.

You could even have an upgrade system where you could increase the number of couriers, or reduce time, etc.

This would severely diminish bots since you couldn't just automate the system and wouldn't have too much impact the majority of players beyond having to wait for a trade.