Auction Clutter

[Birile]

Okay, so the auction board is REALLY cluttered and it's rather spammy--not to mention annoying--to have to sift through page upon page upon page worth of items whose auctions have ended in order to get to the stuff that is still actively being auctioned.

Out of about 400 items on the auction board there are less than 150 that are still active auctions. Most of the inactive ones have been on the board for WEEKS after the auction ended. I would like to suggest that we implement a new rule at the auctions that says that if the person who won an item at auction or the auctioneer have not claimed their item and/or money within a week (RL) of the auction ending, that that post gets deleted from the auction board and whatever was left unclaimed is lost forever. Let's face it, if these people cared enough about the item they bid on or the money they got from the item, they would have claimed such in a timely manner and NOT let that item sit on the boards for a really... long... time. I don't think this is an unfair suggestion and it would keep people from leaving items/cash unattended on the board and it would keep those of us frequent auction-goers from having to see the same ended auctions over and over and over and over again. I don't exaggerate when I say there is stuff on there from auctions that ended over a month ago. That's just silly! :)

I would also like to suggest that we knock the upper limit of an auctions timespan from 60 months down to 20 months. I've seen people put the silliest stuff up for auction for 60 months and have the auction FINALLY end with no sale. And if the item IS worth bidding on, why am I going to commit my plats to an auction that isn't going to end for several RL weeks when I can simply wait for that item to get down into the two or three month range (or day range) and bid on it then?? Consumers want something tangible for their money, they don't want it to be inaccessible to them. Most people who care about bidding on items at the auction go there much more frequently than once every 60 MUD months...

Anyway, just some thoughts as I sit at the computer screen frustrated by the pages of items with "N/A" listed next to them! :D

[fotex]

auc list +200p
auc list -1m

[Vahok]

I'm with Birile on this one. This has got to be my biggest mud pet peeve ever. Yes, I know I can filter it. But why should I have to? The majority of people (limited knowledge from tells, etc...but I would think to be true) hate the 60 month auctions for the most useless eq. So why are we coddling the minority and annoying the majority? Some people use the excuse that "just because you don't need/want the item, doesn't mean others don't have the right to post it". I think this excuse is lame and here is why: even if Noob X could use those hatori boots, making him wait 5 RL weeks is pointless. Noob X will have upgraded by then, stop playing, or forgot about the bid period. Nobody really bids until 1 day left anyways, so no offense to people who post long auctions, why are you doing it? To make huge cash on those 10p items? To get it out of your bags to sit on auction for weeks? I could be missing the point, but if you doing it make money or pass down old eq, these types of auctions have got to be the dumbest way of doing it.

My suggestions are pretty simple I think. One is shorter times between unclaimed eq/cash poofing. Another is shorter max times or shorter max times for eq less then say 100p. But to me, the unclaimed one is the key...half the people have forgotten about their eq I'm sure (who rushes over to claim their 10p minus charge?) and the other half could be not playing anymore. Wake up people, use some common sense, and nobody wants your 50 obsidian arm plates. People hand out better stuff then that, and we all know this. Think before you post...but I might as well ask for the moon while I'm at it.

[Viclor Voddyn]

Agree 100% with Birile/Vahok on this.

[fotex]

Not everyone has a char that can easily get to an auction hall, so they might not have the ability or want to frequent the hall that much (especially goody melee players). Anyway, 60 mud months is about 35 RL days, and making a character check his auction within 35 days doesn't seem all that unreasonable.

I do hate it when people spam all the inane garbage in their bags onto the auction board, but there's not much that can be done about that - one man's garbage is another man's treasure. Maybe we could restrict how many items a person does put on auction - it should at least be finite. But at least, when those items reach the auction deadline, they poof; and if not, the labor that would go into claiming each little unsold item for that auction spammer should make him less likely to do it again.

But really, if it is too cumbersome for you to filter items, maybe you should put it in an alias? Or, you could also #gag some of the lines in the auction listing.

I would agree that showing unclaimed or already bought eq in the auction list shouldn't be listed in the default usage of 'auction'. Maybe that could be shown with a different auction command, like 'auction unclaimed' or 'auction unavailable' or something.... ? Also, maybe an auction fee could be implemented for items that get unsold - to prevent people from just putting up undesireable items?

[Dizzin]

I've always figured that items that end with NO SALE should act like they're "bought" by the seller. So 5% of the NO SALE price comes outta the sellers pocket. Same if you cancel something for sale. It makes sense that the auction would charge that regardless if the item sells, and it would help to keep people from always spamming the auction with foolery.

[Vahok]

I do like a couple of Fotex and Dizzin's ideas. Maybe a limit on how many items one character can post (but with alts, still could be problem) or a charge for unclaimed items? Either way, I don't really except the excuse tough for players to get to BG (really, it is a 2 minute walk and tons of transport can be found there...just look for Zouve usually!) I'm just really puzzled how other boards get purged so often, and auction is forgotten it seems. Shrug, I know it isn't a huge deal, but just tired of gagging, etc. just because some people are stupid about auctions. Any bets people forget about the 10p item they needed 15 levels ago, and never claim it because of this? I mean, the idea of auction to me should be a plat sink, move eq around to players who need it, and help players make some extra cash. Does the current system accomplish any of this?

[Abbayarra]

Auction has given me a lot better equipment. Since I only play 4 to 6 hours a week and don't have a character over level 40 this has given me access to equipment I would never have gotten before. This in turn has allowed me to get more out of the time I do have on the mud. It really isn't that long of a walk to BG.