Auction House is Borked

[Blyxx10]

Hopefully this gets read and maybe even paid attention too.I have been an MMO Player since Everquest first started...Ive played WoW,EQ2,Asherons Call,UO,Aion and a few others and there is one thing in DDO that really gets me.This problem is not a Game Mechanics problem,nor a Lag Problem nor do I have a problem with the way Classes are done and the way they play.

The issue I have is with the General Community on Thelanis(and probably other servers).I understand the rules of Supply and Demand and the Economy of an MMO fairly well,as I said Ive played several,but DDO has shown me a side of its Populace I do not like...those who post Items in the AH for seriously outrageous Prices.Now I know we all want to make money in the game treasure being a main focus in most DnD based Games but I think if the trend in the AH continues there will be a large portion of the populace who will simply stop playing.I play a 13th Level Ranger...I like my character and I like my friends...what I do not like is going to the AH to Upgrade weapons/armor and seeing things like "+3 Banishing Longsword=2,500,000 Gold" or "+3 Heavy Mace of Smiting=4,500,000 Gold" this to me is simply rediculous price Gouging by Higher Level players in an effort to Grief low level players,or out of simple Greed.

What makes this even more of a concern is when you are doing that Low Teen Level Grind and the groups are becoming irritated at you because you cannot keep up on DPS as your weapons are out of date or just not right for the Quest in general...as if every player out there has some Bored Level 20 Soandso who they can just hop onto and farm gear to hand down to their Low Level Twinks.It fosters bitterness towards those without the excess coin and becomes a breeding ground for Elitism.This is a Comunity Issue,only those playing the game and jacking prices up have the ability to stop this before it ruins an amazing game.

When you go to the AH,take a moment...think back to the first time you started playing this game and how hard it was to get gear...how angry you got when that +3 Ring of Protection that would finally put your AC over 30 was sitting there all shiny for sums upwards of 4 Million Gold and just make a conscious effort not to Feed the Greed lower your prices a bit.In the end the Playerbase benefits as you get a wider pool of Players for Quests/Raids who are better equipped and thus able to do more Dmg and survive Longer.

Thank You;
Blyxx the Elf(Thelanis)

[rest]

TL;DR

But I say this: if someone buys it for that (in your opinion) inflated price, then I guess it wasn't inflated after all.

Oh and if you do in fact see a banishing longsword, BUY IT IMMEDIATELY since there is only one slashing weapon in the game that has banishing on it (Enduring Conviction from the Abbot raid)

I recently started over in a new server and have gotten by with just the stuff I have collected soloing to level 12. Do I have everything I would like to have? Nah. But I have enough good stuff to get by.

[Pyromaniac]

Well there's nothing wrong with the auction house...supply and demand. If someone hands you everything in the game, there's no sense of accomplishment and you'll quit. So those of us posting items on the AH for market value (what they sell at) are trying to retain the playerbase.

If you think posting an item on the AH is griefing...I can't really help you. Good point on the slashing banishing longsword - worth way more than 2.5 mill gp as it must be a one of a kind non-raid item.

I have to pay lots of taxes to support people who don't have a job in real life, no need for me to pay for welfare in DDO as well.

[Rubiconn]

Well let me be the first to say, I think the prices on the auction house on Kyber are outrageous too.

The AH is a fine example of the free market, if you dont like the prices, dont pay them its that simple. The reason people charge such high prices is because they heard someone was willing to pay them. Most people post an item, if it doesnt sell or no bids then they lower the price and try again.

I personally dont use the AH to upgrade very often unless Im looking for something specific, banasher, paralyzer etc. Those weapons are always going to be expensive because they are in high demand.

The Devs are not going to set prices on the AH and I do not make it the responsibilty of other players to make sure that it is easy for broke toons to upgrade their items.

Just my take.

[jwdaniels]

Check the weapon broker in House D or the armor broker in House K before you check the auction house.

[Rubiconn]

TL;DR

But I say this: if someone buys it for that (in your opinion) inflated price, then I guess it wasn't inflated after all.

Oh and if you do in fact see a banishing longsword, BUY IT IMMEDIATELY since there is only one slashing weapon in the game that has banishing on it (Enduring Conviction from the Abbot raid)

I recently started over in a new server and have gotten by with just the stuff I have collected soloing to level 12. Do I have everything I would like to have? Nah. But I have enough good stuff to get by.

Not to start an argument but my paly has a +1 banishing short sword.

[TheDjinnFor]

The issue I have is with the General Community on Thelanis(and probably other servers).I understand the rules of Supply and Demand and the Economy of an MMO fairly well,as I said Ive played several,but DDO has shown me a side of its Populace I do not like...those who post Items in the AH for seriously outrageous Prices.Now I know we all want to make money in the game treasure being a main focus in most DnD based Games but I think if the trend in the AH continues there will be a large portion of the populace who will simply stop playing.I play a 13th Level Ranger...I like my character and I like my friends...what I do not like is going to the AH to Upgrade weapons/armor and seeing things like "+3 Banishing Longsword=2,500,000 Gold" or "+3 Heavy Mace of Smiting=4,500,000 Gold" this to me is simply rediculous price Gouging by Higher Level players in an effort to Grief low level players,or out of simple Greed.

Honestly, I don't think it's a greed issue. Pretty much everything that could be worth money to anybody (raid loot) is bound to character or bound to account, so nobody has anything to spend money on. When everyone in the economy is a billionaire, it's really hard to avoid charging a lot for what few good items can be traded, like 'banishing' or 'smiting' or 'vorpal' or 'holy burst of pure good' or 'large scales'... The problem is, we keep getting money but don't have anything to spend it on.

People tend to trade in large scales more than plat because large scales actually have value and get used a lot...

[kinar]

and seeing things like "+3 Banishing Longsword=2,500,000 Gold" or "+3 Heavy Mace of Smiting=4,500,000 Gold" this to me is simply rediculous price Gouging by Higher Level players in an effort to Grief low level players,or out of simple Greed.

I stopped reading as soon as I saw you reference prices in gp instead of pp...this is an indication that you haven't played enough to comment on behavior of players or the community...

In reality, what is happening here is not "griefing"...and the price gouging isn't against lower level players...if anything, the behavior you see is HELPING new players because the people who are being price gouged are the vets who have 10mil pp and don't mind paying a surplus to have an item now instead of farming for it. newer players can get a start by farming commonly price gouged items.

[syrovi1967]

Some guys will probably say "use it/don't use it" - or more apropriately in this case "buy it/don't buy it".

I do have a system that seems to be working fine for me at the moment on Thelanis.
Call it the 30/80 principal.

Put up almost everything that you think someone else may possibly want or need for 30% of it's base value as a starting bid, and 80% as the buyout price.

Apply discretion if you know it will sell for a lot more than that.

The 30% initial price should cover the 33% fee charged as well as the placement fee, and it is still more than what the brokers would offer you. Unless you have one heck of a Haggle skill....

Just my 2 coppers...With other people overcharging - my stuff is moving quite nicely.

[Bracosius]

Not to start an argument but my paly has a +1 banishing short sword.

Your shortsword is a pierce weapon. Random generated slashing weapons with banishing do not exist.

[kinar]

Not to start an argument but my paly has a +1 banishing short sword.

take a look at your weapon closer...

short swords are piercing...not slashing

[Pyromaniac]

Not to start an argument but my paly has a +1 banishing short sword.

http://compendium.ddo.com/wiki/Weapon:%2B1_Shortsword

A short sword is piercing not slashing. See link above.

[Stuttrboy]

Not to start an argument but my paly has a +1 banishing short sword.


Short Swords are piercing, not slashing.

Edit: Wow, fourth to point that out.

[hunterjjj]

I agree on the its all supply and demand, but some things are out right crazy...I can understand about making some weapons very hard to get(and understand those weapons should get higher money value at the AH). I think thats fair. I don't understand why there's a 30% fee for selling them. I also think it's lame that I have completed the shroud 28 times(probably 30+ more times with part 4 done), and have two large scales. crafting is way out of control.. It shouldn't take you 6 months of running the shroud to make one item..And to agree with the op, 5-8 million gold for a large scale is way too much.

[MrWizard]

waiting for pics of the muppet sweedish chef..bork bork

[megathon]

If I put anything up on the AH I usually have it start at 1k plat for 3 days and no buy out. If people want it bad it enough hey will jack the price up themselves. :)

[jeremyt]

And as such coins take on different values..AH mostly caters to the old vet who started a new toon and forgot to grab such and such twink gear..off to the AH to pay stupid prices.

AH is a great source of patch gear thats sub optimal. Like the +2 holy greatsword of shatter i picked up for a song when i first got to thelanis a couple months ago. Got me through deleras great, as 2k pp. Of course it would have been much more pimp to be able to afford the +2 holy greatsword of pure good..but thats outrageous and what i consider *twink gear*

So, use AH to price gouge vets on any good gear you come across (big part of the game is recognizing the good gear), use AH to fill in gaps with the suboptimal cheap options when needed. But your right, your not going to buy optimum gear off AH starting out, just not feasible.

[Rodrak]

Oh and if you do in fact see a banishing longsword, BUY IT IMMEDIATELY since there is only one slashing weapon in the game that has banishing on it (Enduring Conviction from the Abbot raid)
You can be lucky(?) and pull Dream Edge with banishing on it ;)

[rest]

Not to start an argument but my paly has a +1 banishing short sword.

Short swords are piercing. ;)

[Mockduck]

I blame the Giant Caves from way back when...

[rest]

You can be lucky(?) and pull Dream Edge with banishing on it ;)

I had no idea that the Dream Edge had a banishing flavor.

Learned something new today. I haven't been out ti the IQ/DD in months.
http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/the_more_you_know2.jpg

[rest]

I blame the Giant Caves from way back when...

I blame CO6 elite loot runs.

[Alavatar]

I place the blame solely on tight pants.

[Aristalla]

Doh! Thought OP had just mistyped a thread about Mork.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm5/MethodicalMayhemER/Aris%20Stuff/morkandmindy_s31.jpg

Oh well, hopes dashed again.

Edit: AH is fine. You'll get a LOT more plat when you're higher level.

[Kromize]

Don't forget some glitches with it. I know for sure, there is one that will let you cancel an auction whenever you please, even if people have bids in on it...

I was bidding on an item, first bid when it had 3 days, 2 hours left, bid again, get outbid, go to bid again within minutes, and it said either my bid wasn't high enough or the auction was canceled. I search it in the AH(not just the bids tab), and can't find it, look at bids tab again, and it's gone. 2 hours left, and it just disappeared.

This would be the 3rd item I can remember that did this. Either, people know how to cancel an item whenever they want, or there is a major timing flaw.

[Hokiewa]

I understand the rules of Supply and Demand and the Economy of an MMO fairly well,as I said Ive played several,but DDO has shown me a side of its Populace I do not like...those who post Items in the AH for seriously outrageous Prices.Now I know we all want to make money in the game treasure being a main focus in most DnD based Games but I think if the trend in the AH continues there will be a large portion of the populace who will simply stop playing.
.It fosters bitterness towards those without the excess coin and becomes a breeding ground for Elitism.This is a Comunity Issue,only those playing the game and jacking prices up have the ability to stop this before it ruins an amazing game.



Others have explained this far more eloquently then I will.

This is absurd. For once, I'd love to see somebody complaining about AH prices to simply state " I saw an 'X' for y amount of plat and I'm po'd that I can't afford it. " That would be honest, I'd still laugh but at least it would be honest.

I can assure you, this large portion of the populace you claim will quit because of AH prices is a fallacy. The majority of players at end game vendor 99% of their loot....including your +3 prot ring, your mace of smiting....etc....There are several things that you can do to improve your gear without making this ridiculous claim.

Use your server marketplace forum. Post what you are looking for, what you have to trade/plat. It generally doesn't matter what you have, the same people you are accusing of "elitism" will generally find a way to accomodate you; more often then not, "item x" will simply end up in your mailbox with a "don't worry about it" attached.

Get real.

[Angelus_dead]

But I say this: if someone buys it for that (in your opinion) inflated price, then I guess it wasn't inflated after all.
The real brokenness of the AH isn't about things that get purchased; it's about stuff that is posted to mostly waste space, making it hard to find reasonable offers. An improved search or filtering feature could fix this, without needing to constrain player behavior.

[rest]

The real brokenness of the AH isn't about things that get purchased; it's about stuff that is posted to mostly waste space, making it hard to find reasonable offers. An improved search or filtering feature could fix this, without needing to constrain player behavior.

I absolutely agree with this. U5 is supposed to alleviate this problem though, right? I'll admit I haven't really been paying too much attention since the first doublstrike thread Eladrin posted.

I don't need/want to look through 40 pages checking for a keepsake. Let me search "keepsake" and get the 5 results I want.

[Srozbun]

If you think the price is outrageous so too probably will most other people. There's a reason the item is still listed on the AH instead of in someone's mailbox. After not selling for one week straight whoever put it up on the AH will probably realize it's not worth that much and lower the price.

[Hambo]

Not to start an argument but my paly has a +1 banishing short sword.

Short swords are piercing, not slashing.

[beatles42o]

you should find a better guild? when ever i need ANYTHING my guild leader or other guild members are more then happy to afford what you need. my lvl 8 multi uses duel scimitars. one is a fire and one is ice. they both do 1d6 element. and when one of them gets a crit, it goes 2d6 and the other when i get a six does a 2d6 and goes up according to my crit/sneak mods. so, i do really well with those on DPS. and my guild also bought many more scimitars and armor for me when i get too higher levels...

[Hambo]

Some people use the AH as 3-day temporary storage by setting outlandish prices. Some people use the mailsystem as temporary storage.

I personally think it's hilarious when someone forgets to cancel the auction and loses that item they couldn't find a spot for in one of their Alts inventories or banks because someone paid umpteen million plat for it :D

[Louiey]

You can have lots of plat if you sell enough Pure water and deadly feverbranches at AH, I know.
I put up 5 waters, 12 shrooms, at a time and they last a day or two at the most. On a good weekend, I can make some serious pp. I have lower lvl alts passing the goodies through bank to my main, who sells.
Then, my main buys goodies, when he outgrows them, the good items get passed to my lower level alts.
You can check the pawnbrokers, as has been suggested already. Keep an eye on the AH when your hunting for a particular item, there are really good deals all the time, they just don't last long. Seriously. Yesterday I grabbed a vorpal bastard sword min lvl10, for less than 10k plat. And that's less than what I make for 5 vials of pure water.
On Cannith, my ranger grabbed +5 mith chain from the pawn.... just be frugal and hunt around.

[7-day_Trial_Monkey]

I agree on the its all supply and demand, but some things are out right crazy...I can understand about making some weapons very hard to get(and understand those weapons should get higher money value at the AH). I think thats fair. I don't understand why there's a 30% fee for selling them. I also think it's lame that I have completed the shroud 28 times(probably 30+ more times with part 4 done), and have two large scales. crafting is way out of control.. It shouldn't take you 6 months of running the shroud to make one item..And to agree with the op, 5-8 million gold for a large scale is way too much.

Run Sins of Attrition instead, in Amrath. Large ingredients drop there also.