AH Suggestion - simple / problem solver

[cyork2]

The problem - the person with the best script (and connection speed) wins when new items are auctioned that have a 'good' buy it now price.

The solution - any time an item is 'won' by paying the buy it now price, the ending time of the auction gets converted to now + 5 minutes (or 10 at the max) and the person who made that buy it now bid is the current high bidder. Now other players can bid above that price and an actual auction can take place if multiple people are truly interested in the item.

The lingering complaint, with this new idea, is going to be that the auction time should be longer so people can keep clearing an area, wander over the bank and eventually bid... but I disagree. If you want to bid on items, carry the plats and bid. The world doesn't revolve around you and 5 minutes gives you a fair shot at items.

Now who is gonna code it?

HUGS - I HOPE THE NEW YEAR IS OFF TO A GREAT START FOR EVERYONE!
Avo

[TaranGoatWalker]

That's not BIN then...
I'd say the onus is on the seller. When I lowball an imbue on BIN, I also want money now!

[cyork2]

If it is more important on seller side to get paid immediately (vs most likely making more money 5 minutes later), that could be done. Since the bidder pays at the time they bid, there is no chance the auction won't complete at or above the original 'max bid' so the seller could be given their 'max bid' amount immediately.

Then you could get more money later based on the final sales price (or the AH could keep it and we could have another money sink to reduce inflation in the game).

Avo

[zizuph]

I have been responsible for the AH of late.

This idea has been actively discussed by the admin on a few occasions. While the idea of trying to prevent the fastest from getting the item on BIN is appealing, we have felt the alternative options all provide a worse experience. This is why we haven’t moved forward on it.

[cyork2]

Thanks for sharing.

Part of the experience you are referring to is dozens of players who can do nothing but sit by a watch, day after day as this auto-buy activity continues. The exasperating futility of watching auction after auction, open and close before you can even see what was listed is maddening. In discussing this issue, have you looked to see just how often this happens? It is one thing to discuss the issue in abstract and consider the mechanics of it as a single case, it is a very different thing to be slapped in the face with this over and over.

I'm not pointing fingers at any Wizards or any individual and I certainly wasn't trying to call you out Z. We can respectfully disagree, but I don't agree that a five minute delay on the buyers side of the AH is a worse experience. Five minutes to give every player a sense that they have a fair shot at competing for items on the AH seems like a very small price to me.

Thank you for coming to the boards and hearing us out,
Avo

[zizuph]

Thanks for sharing.

Part of the experience you are referring to is dozens of players who can do nothing but sit by a watch, day after day as this auto-buy activity continues. The exasperating futility of watching auction after auction, open and close before you can even see what was listed is maddening. In discussing this issue, have you looked to see just how often this happens? It is one thing to discuss the issue in abstract and consider the mechanics of it as a single case, it is a very different thing to be slapped in the face with this over and over.

I'm not pointing fingers at any Wizards or any individual and I certainly wasn't trying to call you out Z. We can respectfully disagree, but I don't agree that a five minute delay on the buyers side of the AH is a worse experience. Five minutes to give every player a sense that they have a fair shot at competing for items on the AH seems like a very small price to me.

Thank you for coming to the boards and hearing us out,
Avo

Cotillion looked at this last year and actually did not find it to be very often.

I looked at it last year too and found a small number of auctions completed in under 10 seconds. It was not particularly common.

[Targun]

The solution - any time an item is 'won' by paying the buy it now price, the ending time of the auction gets converted to now + 5 minutes (or 10 at the max) and the person who made that buy it now bid is the current high bidder. Now other players can bid above that price and an actual auction can take place if multiple people are truly interested in the item.

IMO it'd be better to simply activate <buyout> after e.g. 12-18 hours. If the <buyout> price is exceeded before that time elapses, then the regular bidding progresses until the auction runs out of time. If not, you can buyout the item or item goes to the person who matched the buyout.

While scripts might be relatively rare, I've seen number of items (and snatched a few myself) that were auctioned for e.g. 600PC or 1k and were worth ~4k easily.

Some auctions are massively undervalued (whether on purpose or due to lack of knowledge). Adding a 12-18hour delay, would give people a chance to bid, regardless of timezone, scripts, activity patterns and what not.

This being said... I think there are more urgent issues.

[cyork2]

Z - thank you for taking the time and doing the due diligence on the issue. If the frequency is insufficient to merit action, perhaps in time enough complaints will be made to raise the priority.

For your reference, in the hope that at some point this issue will rise in priority, I did some research on the forums and identified all of the threads / people who would like to see something done. It looks like the reason nothing has been done in the past is that the 'best' solution proposed wound up being complicated to code (a script proof buy it now captcha that is only active the first few minutes after an auction is posted). In some cases, it seems we fall into the trap of great being the enemy of good and nothing gets done. If / when this issue does get taken up to code, I would suggest one of the simpler ideas would be sufficient.

Threads Which Include Complaining About Robot AH Buyers (and solutions in some cases)
---DATE--- : ----- FORUM TOPIC ------
Oct 29 2022 : The Auction House - a ridulous solution
Mar 25 2020 : 1 Minute Delay
Jul 19 2020 : Auction for non-robots
May 25 2016 : Scripting in Genesis
Mar 06 2016 : Stopping script-buying on the Auction House (12 pages!)
Feb 17 2016 : Imbuement and Armour Changes (the discussion went off topic, including AH scripting)

Players Who Have Complained About Scripted Buying and/or Proposed Solutions on this Forum
Avo
Boreaulam
Budwise
Chanele
Dakhor
Freya
Irk
Jar
Kelrhys
Kilrayne
Kirsach
Kitriana
Mayobe
Mim
Morgzaash
Rincon
Rixe
Salmon
Shanoga
Skykil
Skythus
Strider
Targun
Thalric
Val
Ydred

I tried to leave off Wizards even though a number of them also posted that they agreed and thought it was worth doing something.

I am aware of several other people, not on this list, who would like auto-scripted buying fixed but as they have not posted on the forums that could just as easily be me making stuff up so I did not include them and am not naming them.

Best,
Avo

[Quantum]

Sometimes when I bid on an item, it takes only a second for me to be outbid again, which made me look into it with my limited mortal means.

If you spend a little time on the AH, you can figure out the settings on these auction house bots.

The first problem here is - Not everyone can code such an AH bot. Is it then fair that some can and some cannot?

I think the idea of buyout only being possible after 12 hours is a fair and good solution to this particular problem. Everyone know that they can only buyout after this time has passed and can bid on items before the timer lapses.

-> Zizuph, I think the reason you have only seen it on a limited number of items is that it is often very particular items it happens on. I tested one afternoon with a bunch of items. The regular spells or resist or slay rodent imbues were not affected. Mercurystones were bought instantly, sometimes at ridiculous prices. Str, con and int also got nabbed, but only at lower prices. Feel free to test and put some haste imbues on AH

There's a reason why they are so rare. They get insta-bought.

Which leaves only the less interesting items for those of us who either cannot code an AH bot or use a client that cannot handle such a thing.

Also, some bots bid certain prices on long-time auctions, around the clock. Is it legal to activate your AH bot and then go sleep?

[cyork2]

Being asleep with an AH bot running is not legal.