Topic

The tedium of the auctions

OMG, they're kinda painful! And getting worse!

1. The auction server seems sucky slow, and getting worse as more goods are forced out of the vendors hands and onto the auction circuit.

2. How many damn clicks does it take to post an item? Which is fine if you do it only occasionally, as was true in the past, but now if we want to organize ourselves to be a regular merchant of FOO, we have to click through the same set of things over and over again. There should maybe be a way to set default orders and then click once to do THAT. Or to be able to repeat an auction you just set up, click, repeat that one.

3. Forget all that. Something is wrong with this whole system in that It Takes Me Out of the Game. 
a. My character is AFK while I am in the auctions.
b. I can't keep up with chat streams while I am in the auctions.
c. I don't know what the fuck is going on in the world when I am in the auctions.

4. When I return to the game, I am greeted with scores of stupid popups telling me what's been sold. Click, click, click to get rid of these popups, scores of times. Gaaaaaaaaaah.

The net effect is that auctions are making the game kinda sucky to me. If ever I wanted to create a bot for this game, the auction facet is that. It all seems conventional, unimaginative, and un-Glitchlike.

Posted 14 months ago by clare Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • THIS!
    Posted 14 months ago by Jarhaven Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Especially 3.  Yes.
    Posted 14 months ago by Fnibbit Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree about all the clicking. But I like that I don't *have* to be in the world to post an auction but I wish it were accessible in and out of the world.
    Posted 14 months ago by MaryLiLamb Subscriber! | Permalink
  • There's a browser extension that lets you autosell some items in game at a set price. Not sure where it is though - perhaps someone else remembers.
    Posted 14 months ago by Prof. Woland Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have to agree... the auction is a bit tedious... also, it's 'free market' is heading in to a downward spiral... as in.. prices just keep going lower... it's now a better option to sell to vendors... not only is it faster and easier, you get more (or the same amount of) currants.

    Also, in real auctions... the price varies.
    Posted 14 months ago by Sly Hoax Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The solution is obvious. Take away auctions. make players talk to each other. let players start little businesses based on their abilities to cook or tinker.
    Posted 14 months ago by Biz Nizza Subscriber! | Permalink
  • i like that it takes me out of the game... means i dont have to trek somewhere in game to sell stuff (awesome for mining).

    However i would like to see improvements to the AH:
    being able to select more than one thing to buy/sell at the same time ... it's annoying when say I want to buy 10 of something but the listings are only for 1 of each.. means i have to buy and then go back  -.-

    on a similar note i want to be able to have a sort function - click on the stacks for them to sort from smaller to larger stacks or vice versa.

    And yes take away the constant stream of "you've slold" pop-ups... or have them disappear on their own (2-3secs) without us having to click ok.

    I would also like to see the AH remember what I've priced an item previously and not display its own guided price. 
    Posted 14 months ago by Makona Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 clare.

    The auction system works well when you want to sell one item once in a while, not at all for steady use.
    Posted 14 months ago by Ximenez Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I posted about the inefficiency of selling batches ages ago. If that was fixed, I think being outside of the game would be less of a problem, since it would drastically reduce the time you spend filling out boxes. There is an 'Autosell' API thing, which looks pretty neat (I've not used it yet), but by automating the process you're unable to respond to the current market price. In any case, I think it's up to TS, rather than altruistic glitches, to produce an interface that works, if they expect us to develop an in-game economy.

    A related problem is that we only see the first page of items, which are typically large batches at bulk discount, rather than small quantities (with a slightly  higher price-per-item) that are affordable for poorer glitches. I've also seen several posts complaining about the profusion of 'sold' notifications, and I think a response from a dev recognised that it was a problem (I can't find the post now because searching is implemented so abysmally on these forums, but that's a whole other issue...)
    Posted 14 months ago by Bobby Chuckles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I got into the auctions in Faunasphere out of boredom. So for me, this aspect of Glitch feels like "been there played that, not too excited about it". It's good it exists, but I wouldn't call it fun.
    Posted 14 months ago by gimmegames Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't think auctions are meant to be the fun part of the game. It's there just to sell extra stuff, not to make Glitch an economy based WOW. Earn money by doing quests, slacker!
    Posted 14 months ago by Electric Wizard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • But they want a player-based economy  - or, at least, as reason to use some skills beyond the needs of the individual glitch, otherwise why are they stopping things from being sold by NPC Vendors?  At the moment it's so tedious and inefficient
    Posted 14 months ago by moggins Subscriber! | Permalink
  • They are stopping things from being sold by NPC Vendors because otherwise it just wouldn't be smart to MAKE a wood tree bean, when it's so easy to buy it! They need it to justify the skill.
    Posted 14 months ago by Electric Wizard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • But also to make those skills useful to more than just you, surely?
    Posted 14 months ago by shhexy corin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I presume the aim is to goad frustrated players into developing tools via the API... And eventually to create tools that are so "well optimised" that for most players the auction market will function like a vendor.

    As things stand, I agree with Clare. And since Glitch's auction house is relatively unimaginative, there are a lot of basic issues that should have been learned from other games.
    Posted 14 months ago by Timski Subscriber! | Permalink
  • To be fair, I don't imagine the auction has been a priority for development in the run-up to launch and following it... 
    Posted 14 months ago by shhexy corin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • auctions make me sad because several times, i have seemingly found a good deal on some basic resources that were *just* posted, only to find them snapped up before i can click two links. i presume this is because of auction snipers. i know they have been deemed fair, but it still makes me sad.
    Posted 14 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • don't make katlazam sad, plz.
    Posted 14 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I played through out beta and never touched the auctions. I have been using them a lot now and I agree with all the frustration. It seems like it would be much easier to just add an "auction" option when clicking on something in your inventory. That would take all the hassle out of it, and keep people in the game.
    Posted 14 months ago by erik Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I guess I'm in the minority but the auction functionality works perfectly for me. I don't mind the occasional quick ask to file the auction (would you prefer trying to click on a buried NPC like most MMORPGs do?) Plus I can easily use it offline Otto from my phone.

    I've made a lot of cash from the AH, mostly by figuring out where the buying scripts have their limits set at and pricing there for an instant sale. Thank you botters! ;)
    Posted 14 months ago by Evadrepus Terramere Subscriber! | Permalink
  • sorry double post
    Posted 14 months ago by erik Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Could someone please explain to us uninformed glitchen what is going on with the botters in the game, including TS's position on it?
    Posted 14 months ago by Widdershins Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Here: www.glitch.com/forum/genera... is stoot's comment on thoughts re legality of auction-sniping-auto-bots. The thread itself is an interesting read as well. And yeah, I've been waiting four months for this thought to be reconsidered. Have the snipers cause enough trouble yet? I hope so...
    Posted 14 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I didn't know bots were allowed in the auctions. That is a sure path to wealth for those who know what they're doing, and therefore, this should be disallowed.
    Posted 14 months ago by clare Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 katlazam.  Also Evadrepes Terramere, my new favoritest player name ever.
    Posted 14 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I like the snipers, they buy my meat.
    Posted 14 months ago by erik Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, like clare said, the snipers give an unfair advantage to those with the cunning and know-how to get a robot to do their endless tedious clicky work at the expense of casual players and/or human beans. Down with snipers!! Forest spice is super nice! (whoops, wrong thread!)
    Posted 14 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'll add my plus one to all. 
    Posted 14 months ago by La_La Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Am I the only one who just avoids the auctions completely?  I just don't care about the money... aside from cubimals, I have nothing to buy.  Just before reset, I sold most of the contents of my house (but not all, and not my tools) to the vendor on my street, and ended up with over a million currants... so do I really need to sell to other players, or buy from them at inflated prices?  If I want something, with the exception of a tiny number of items, I can find it, make it, or buy it from a regular vendor, just as anyone else can.
    Posted 14 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks @katlazam for thread link.  Fascinating read.

    Actually, I appreciate stoot's stance on autosniping, and am secretly pleased that the user-driven market is tedious, even though I use it myself - if that means that we aren't being given the message 'it is important to make as many currants as you can'.  I suspect that in Glitch, currants are not meant to be taken as seriously as currency has been in other MMO's.  It IS imagined currency after all, and it seems that the game is primarily for fun, not profit (if profit is fun for you, then profit as a means to an end of fun, not an end in itself).

    Waxing long-winded:
    ..as well as the fact that once you start focusing on money or value or other non-intangibles (intangibles I assume being like friendships or just enjoyment), an account starts to be worth something concrete and can be sold off IRL for real money when it gets high enough 'value' which I hardly think is something to aspire to. (cf many many other MMO's too numerous to list.)

    So anyway, I actually kind of like that people don't thoroughly love spending their time staring at the market pages.
    Posted 14 months ago by Lara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I recognise now that the "controversy" over the sniper may never die down, and for that reason alone, I sometimes wish that I never released the damn thing. ;)

    The sniper extension was born from the same tedium of the auctions that clare has described in the start of the thread. Need 70,000 bubbles for the season 2003 eggs badge? You can then decide to spend weeks and weeks wandering the plains harvesting the trees while watching your pile of currants grow. 

    Or you can open up auctions and let your currants go to a hardworking fellow Glitch. And so you start. Click, stare, click, refresh, click, stare, click, stare, click, refresh, click, stare, click.

    Doing endless tedious clickity botty work, and worse, completely out of the game world. Sounds familiar?

    One of the key arguments at the time against the snipping was price inflation / market manipulation. Four months later, I see threads in the forums complaining about auction prices being too *low*. I must be missing something.
    Posted 14 months ago by ping Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've never had a problem competing  against any of the snipers in the auction...but, then again, I love the auction and spend a lot of my time with my nose stuck in there looking for the great deals and/or selling my own wares.
    I love ping's sniper, it works well for those who don't care to spend their time in the auction.
    It also helps me make a lot of money in the auction, even tho I don't even use it or have it installed - so, no complaints from me :)
    Posted 14 months ago by sgjo Subscriber! | Permalink