Escrow system

Some of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

• An escrow system is planned to prevent griefing in the crafting system.

We're going to have a UI... you're gonna put the resources in or they're gonna put the resources in. It'll be like an escrow system and then once [the job] is complete you'll get the item they'll get the money.

Caravan insurance

Caravan insurance will not be an in-game system in Ashes of Creation. Previously it was stated that insurance was able to be purchased from a caravansary prior to the launch of a caravan.

There's nothing to say that that can't be player organized. If some particular guild wanted to go and create a caravan mercenary corp that helped aid in the defense and transit of caravans, they could employ some type of insurance system. – Steven Sharif

Player merchants

Player stalls, personal shops, and auction houses enable buying from and selling to other players.

• Player merchants will not be able to be placed on ships.

	Player stalls	Personal shops	Auction houses
Cost	Rental fee.	Placement certificate purchase.	Listing fee.
Location	Can be rented at locations near the unique building in an economic node or in Marketplaces.	Certificates from non-metropolis nodes, allow placement near the node's unique building or on a freehold. Certificates from economic node metropolises allow placement anywhere in the world.	At Markets in Village economic nodes allow raw resources and crafting materials to be posted. At Exchanges in Town nodes allow all goods/items to be posted. Metropolis stage Economic nodes enable remote bidding from linked economic nodes. Auctioneer NPC emissaries present in Vassal nodes allow some access to the parent node's auction house.
Player presence	An attendant NPC is assigned to the stall. Character does not need to be online or at the stall.	Player must be online and present at the shop.	N/A
Storage	Linked to character's warehouse.	Linked to character's inventory.	Raw materials and gatherables are automatically deposited within the listing node's local warehouse. Anything other than raw materials and gatherables will be mailed to the purchaser.
Advertising	Items and services are listed on Bulletin boards in the same region. There may or may not also be listings at auction houses.	Custom billboard appears above the character. Items are not listed in the parent node or auction houses.	Items listed are visible in community boards (bulletin boards). Metropolis level economic nodes enable worldwide sale prices for auction houses across Verra.
PvP	Players are not able to be attacked or robbed while occupying their player stall inside the limits of a node. Material losses may occur if the node's warehouse is destroyed during a node siege.	Players may be killed while occupying their personal shop and are subject to material loss due to normal death penalties.	N/A

Player to player trading

Alpha-2 player trading UI.

Alpha-2 trade request UI.

There is player-to-player trading in Ashes of Creation.

Q: Will Ashes of Creation have player-to-player trading? Will there be anything stopping me from gifting a friend that's fresh to the game a bunch of in-game money to help them get on their feet quickly?

A: There won't be anything to stop you from doing that. – Steven Sharif

• Player to player trading, interacting with vendors or NPCs, and the ability to access storage is disabled for corrupted players.

• Security systems are in place to combat RMT and other forms of cheating.

The nature of player to player trading already introduces that in an open economy game... that is why we have measures to attempt and heat flag suspicious transactions, active gms and other honeypot systems/agents that will be active in discovering those types of cheaters. – Steven Sharif

Crafting

Alpha-2 Crafting professions user interface screenshot.

Crafting and gathering is a very important component of the economy that players will have direct control over. Whether you wish to build a sprawling plantation around your house, or wish to travel the vast wilderness in search of treasure and resources. There are many tools available to the crafters of our world. Regardless of how you gather your resources, we believe that every item that exists in the world should in some way reflect its creator. As such, there will be extreme versatility in our crafting system – giving crafters the ability to create unique items that represent their strengths and weaknesses.

Crafting is one of the artisan classes in Ashes of Creation. It is a driving force for the game economy.

Crafters are the shit in Ashes. It's not just crafters are relevant for player-to-player trading, crafters are relevant for a lot of gameplay loops within Ashes; and not, again, in a way to inhibit those things from occurring, but rather to enhance them: To give you a leg up, or your side a leg up. – Steven Sharif

• Crafting is intended to complement the leveling process and be a viable way to gain equipment for personal use and/or trading with others.

The intent is obviously that crafting is complimentary to your leveling experience: that at every stage that you gain access to new tiers of available gear. Crafting is, if should you choose to engage with that part of the game, is a viable method not only to equip yourself, but to also earn gold by trading with other players for you to perhaps acquire things that you yourself are not capable of obtaining just by yourself. – Steven Sharif

• Crafting in Ashes of Creation is recipe-based, but there may be RNG when crafting "risky items". Previously it was stated that there was no RNG in crafting.
• Crafting stations are located on freeholds or within nodes.
  • Higher tier crafting stations are unlocked with node progression.
  • Players can only craft up to journeyman level on freeholds.
  • Top tier crafting stations are present at all node types, however Academic nodes offer additional bonuses to crafting performed there.
  • Crafters can craft at any node's crafting station, but citizens will be given additional benefits, including reduced fees.

• Artisan gear will enable crafting of stronger items.

• Crafting times may vary between professions but the bulk of the time spent in the artisan system resides in the processing branch.

• Not every crafting profession is able to craft consumables.

• The developers are seeking feedback on the addition of a gameplay layer to crafting that determines the outcome based on the player's performance.
  • The developers are debating whether this occurs on a craft-by-craft basis or a one-off basis following after a new level of certification has been achieved.
  • This will be revealed when it is ready to be showcased.

• There will not be a labor or energy system in Ashes of Creation.

There is no labor or energy system in Ashes. However, that's not to say that crafting will not be difficult. Crafting is very difficult; but it is because it is difficult that it will be very rewarding as well. – Steven Sharif

See also

• Economy
• Caravan insurance
• Artisan classes
• Security systems