Cutter wrote on Aug 28, 2012, 16:53:
I can't believe there's no direct trade with players atm! That boggles the effing mind!
I got into an argument with someone on Reddit about this. They claim it's because Anet wants to cut down on WTB/WTS spam in general chat channels, and force people to use the Trading Post (when it's up...).
Fact of the matter is players will use whatever means gives sellers the most profit, and buyers the best deal. If that means spamming /map with WTB/WTS and risking a trade through in-game mail, then that's what players are going to do.
To that regard they should just put it in so that the risk of scams are reduced.