Topic

Private Auctions

Something I see happening a lot with projects is this:

Person A is at the project site and in need of a vendor supply, so they put out a call in chat.
Person B is at that type of vendor, so they purchase and post the items on auction.

This sort of teamwork would be greatly facilitated by the ability to post private auctions, possibly with a reduced (or non-existant) final value fee. A private auction system would also make me more willing to go out and harvest for a partner who is - say - making blocks at the project site, because it would eliminate the possibility that someone would buy up all the materials I'm posting and then re-post them at greatly inflated prices.

Although I'd like to see private auctions available to all players, this could also potentially be used as a subscriber-perk, where both the auctioner and auctionee would need to be subscribers.

Posted 19 months ago by Krikket Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Even if it's not private auctions, it would definitely be convenient for there to be a way to give/sell/trade items with distant players.

    On the other hand, meeting up in the same street to transfer items is a good way to make the game more social, I think. I had a nice little emblem-trading meeting with a couple people today, and we chatted and traded some other things while we were there.

    Maybe there could be some sort of post-office system? You can drop an item off at an office at a subway station, and someone else could pick it up at another one.
    Posted 19 months ago by duien Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think it's unreasonable to ask for the fee to be taken away.  It's fair to have to pay something to trade without being in the same place.
    Posted 19 months ago by larky lion Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @ Larky Lion: I agree - that's what the "listing fee" is for. :)
    Posted 19 months ago by Krikket Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If the auction house is expected to lay on the extra security and arrangements for a private transaction I'd expect the fees to be slightly higher, not lower...
    Posted 19 months ago by RealJimBob Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I get the need for goods required to get to the project site quickly but the other side of the coin is that the person at the project site gets the xp for the work that the person gathering has done and therefore gets to level up faster because of another person's work. 

    There has to be a trade-off for that. Are the people involved going to take turns being gatherer and project worker? Or is there going to be a reliance on people doing the gathering and getting no credit for what they do? Should person A be able and willing to share XP with person B?

    If I've got this all wrong please explain, I'm not trying to stir things up, just to understand.
    Posted 19 months ago by Leithwyn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Leithwyn, my rough approach has been to alternate, but without coordinating with someone else.  When selling things I've gathered, I'm fine with some markup, especially for things going into projects.  This helps me build up a little pile of currants, which I then use when I'm the one at the project.  I keep an eagle eye on auctions and nab stuff to put into the project.  I'm also willing to pay above what the auction house suggests, since as you mentioned, there is this tradeoff.

    When I have swapped ingredients at the project site (e.g. providing paper for notes, even though I don't have penpersonship), people are normally good about offering some fair split of the actual project contributions.  Of course, this is all on the honor system, but it's gone well for me so far.  There have been many kindnesses, and I just try to pay that forward.
    Posted 19 months ago by larky lion Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I understand what you are saying, thank you for explaining how well it can work.. :)

     I too have received many kindnesses, which I hope I have done justice in passing on. 
    Posted 19 months ago by Leithwyn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Stoot mentioned just before the closedown that the brand new delivery frogs will at some point be able to do direct player-to-player deliveries. That should help.
    Posted 19 months ago by Spong Subscriber! | Permalink