-1 I just don't see the usefulness in this.. Sorry.

 

I understand you're talking about making the shops easier for all parties involved but with business and in general, on ECC, I don't believe ease is the foremost factor of a sale occurring. I'm sure you've partaken in the player shops just as much as any other person has. There has been measures taken to make sure most players on ECC are familiar with trade signs. (i.e. Resident Application requires you read the trade shop/signs section.) In addition the plugin would have to be re-coded and modified to meet the specifications you listed. I'm sure there's a sane explanation why it wasn't done in the first place but I wouldn't have the slightest idea.

Regarding the balances and how the signs interact with players, I think the current system is right on the money. You can only put in so much money or items and you can decide if you just want to buy or sell x amount. If it was linked to the players inventory/chests or balance, then an unlimited and unspecified amount of money could be taken and thus bankrupting someone. Being broke on ECC sometimes can lead to people being put in very hard situations.

The warps issue you describe is very random to bring up. You should note that warps are there to make it easier to travel but is a donator option for this very reason. Yes it would make trade easier. But no, it's not necessary. There is the /spawn command and it will take you about a minute or two to get to your designated shop (if you know where you're heading). It's not that big of a deal where /warp drastically gives players an edge over others and plus, most dedicated shop owners offer free teleports to their shops. Also you must think of the people who have already donated to get the /warp command. To take away from them is insulting and extremely unfair. It's a good thing small little things like /warp is available to donators because it entices people to keep the server running. Unless you're willing to pay for the upkeep and maintence of the server, I don't see why donator features should become free all of a sudden.

Overall I think you need to revise the idea a little bit more for it to be an acceptable change. The system you described is more flawed than what's currently in place, not that the system is working but rather the system is more efficient than this method. I've seen the method you described a few times on large servers and it was extremely easy to empty peoples balances because of it. Also most plugins that connect balance directly to trade signs spam messages to the owner of the trade sign, as well as the person selling/buying. It's just not an ideal way of trading in a large server. The possible pros of this proposed change to trade signs/warps is outweighed by the cons tremendously.

Maybe try focusing on making the user interface of a sign more accessible. That seems the most likely to be a possible improvement on trade signs.

 

If you're suggesting ChestShop -1

 

I like that the current shops aren't tied directly to my balance - the fact there's a set limit in the sign both allows me to limit my purchases, and provide a buffer against sudden market changes.

 

You don't need 2 signs, but you need a chest and a sign. The current setup does everything chestshop does and it's maintained by Essentials, aka, KHobbits and the other essentials developers.
In the case of a problem we can expect it to be fixed swiftly. Not to mention there's no reason to change.
You can add stock by right clicking the sign with the item in your hand. EXP and money need to be restocked manually.

I suggest reading through this thread to see some more in depth discussion about chestshops.

 

obo, it is nice to meet you. As to your point about the server controlling the economy I have this to say - andrewkm works very hard to keep the economy of ECC balanced for the long term player. It is as much a free market as anyone could want. Examples: nstars - $150 if you sell them to the server vs. 350-400 based on the "free market" player base. When farming prices were nerfed - selling to the server prices dropped for most crops which was the server control. Many users complained, threatened to quit, whined, and cried, but what did not happen is that the player market did not respond by paying more than server prices - unlike nstars. Since it is a free market, anyone is totally able to put up their sign and pay whatever they want to for something like melons. In fact to prove to you this point, simply put a sign up paying $3.00/melon block and you will be buying melons so there is no control over your free market.
I think you possibly have confused free market and server control with plugins and add ons which are server controlled. And for that we should all be very grateful that Kuke and andrew take so much time to evaluate new plugins all the time and to choose only the very best for ECC and us - the players. I am comfortable donating to this server for the very reason they do "control" the plugins and "adjust" the economy to keep us on track.

 

Nailed it AdmiralD. Yes that is the best thing about ECC the economy may change slightly but it will never crash too much as there are server prices set.

 

What gives you the impression that this is not a free market server? I would like to hear your experience/thoughts.