Auction change proposals

[Jorus]

I'd love to see something like:

auc setbuyout item_nn value_pp

added. This information (buyout level) wouldn't need to be visible to bidders.

This could be useful for two things.

1) Sellers could end an auction that had reached a point that satisfied them but still had substantial time left if they needed the cash sooner by setting the buyout lower than the current max bid.

2) It would let the seller pre-specify what is "enough" for them.

3) Having this done would reduce the amount of plat tied up in "in progress" auctions.

This is aside from my issues with other things like "sniping".

Personally, I think the auction needs "fungible" deadlines to make sniping much harder. A bid in the last day/week should add a random number of days to the auction, or the auction should always randomly end 1-5 days early or late. A seller who has a deadline can always set a buyout (if implemented) at that deadline if the item does get into a last day/week bidding war.

I think the lack of measures to deal with sniping is due to the auction being a bit of a combination between ebay type auctions with long-term bidding, buyouts, and email notification of being outbid, and a "live" auction with short bidding times.

I guess I just think aspects that make the auction more "live" should be de-emphasized since the auction times are fairly long and players are on non-synchronized schedules. Auctioning is one area where I think the sole determining factor is economic rather than ptime based.

IMO, the auction would thrive if sniping were eliminated and might actually see some high-level items sold.

Regards,
Jorus