Best Of

I do agree that more items should be added - and that is already addressed and will be coming soon (hopefully). There are items from previous auctions that will go for a decent price and the more of these that are added, the more currency will be drained from the game.

I also can agree with a survey. A month prior to the auction being scheduled (as I assume promotions are determined quarterly or at least bi-monthly) would give an easy assessment of what to consider including - taking out things that are highly imbalanced or with infinite value (logbook, venom rag).

That said, I do have to agree with @Rhyot that comparing auctions in other IREs to Aetolia is apples to oranges. Previous auctions in Aetolia? Certainly, but even then, items that were distinctly imbalanced for the sake of high spending or giving someone something special should be discounted or considered very very carefully.

Achaea has a different playerbase, different desires, different standards for balance, group and single combat, etcetera - to go "well they offered these items" is not comparing two games that are the same, it is comparing two games in a similar genre and ignoring the differences inherent in their design and design philosophy (FFXIV vs WoW).

I will agree I was underwhelmed when the auction came out, but mostly it was the variety of what was already on special artifacts and what was actually on offer. I understand wanting to balance offering with currency available. You offer too much, the pool is too low and things that are valued at x are going to underperform significantly and, while you drain currency, you also run into a grumble at "saturation". A staggered release of the auction (as Tiur initially mentioned in his first post regarding the election) does allow for a fluid step into addressing saturation.

Should more been released first? I think so, but so long as more come out, I think we'll get an opportunity to bid on more items. That does not stop anyone's right to feel disappointment at what is currently on offer, but given that the number on offer has already been said it will be addressed (both in this thread and in the initial post), I think it is also worth to acknowledge time for the lack of variety to be addressed.

I, for one, am quite glad there is nothing game breaking. Game breaking auction artifacts create resentment and end up having to be balanced later. Since "other IREs" have been mentioned, should we talk about the beckon tank in Achaea that could be set off and beckon en masse from adjacent even if the targets were off-balance? Or choke gauntlets (not an auction, but still). To say things have declined is... true to a point, but so has the concern for ensuring balance is kept rather than encouraging people to spend to have a toy that only they (or their allies) really enjoy. Just because you feel you should be able to buy something or afford to buy something doesn't mean you should be able to buy something. My list of things I would like to see:

Custom wings
Full relic tokens
ring of elemental mastery
boots of divine celerity
relic tokens (for gold/ic)
shield of absorption
golden translocator (through the token or on its own or both)
class slots

TL;DR: Staggered auction release not the end of the world. More could have been released and more information gathered prior, but things can be done better next time. Comparing other IREs to Aetolia is bad - different design and different design philosophy. Feel free to be disappointed, deliver criticism and feedback constructively for future iterations.