Announce post #3198: 2021 Auction

7/20/2021 at 0:47
Tiur, the Gnosis
Everyone
2021 Auction

Auction time!

As per usual: The auction will go on for 12ish days. And I promise next month is NOT a credit sale.

Some general auction rules:
* Any artifacts bought through auction (including the gold items) cannot be traded in, nor can their power be transferred to any other item.
* Iron Coin and Credit auctions allow you to bid whatever value you want on them, even if you don't have the currency on hand. Gold items require you to have the gold.
* When IC/CR auctions end, you will have a week to get together the amount you won the bid for, or we shrub you until you can pay up. We take this seriously.
* We don't do takebacks on bids, even if you messed up and added an extra zero. Be absolutely careful with your bidding commands.
* Read both HELP AUCTIONS and HELP AUCTIONHOUSE if you are unfamiliar with the Auctioning system in Aetolia.
* Yes, bound credits/bloody iron coins can be used to pay for the auctions!

Credits
-------

A beastmaster's whip
Syntax: CRACK WHIP
Summon to 5 of your minipets and mounts to stampede through the room dealing periodic AoE damage. More minipets/mounts lead to longer effect duration.

*NEW* Rune of Reaching
This weapon rune allows you to throw the attached weapon from one room further away. It does stack with other sources of range extension.

*NEW* Hunter's Quintessence
An orb for the hunt_quintessence power. It acts as a level three hunting artifact for all classes at once.

A bottomless vial
Ethereal Link
A caravan construction kit
Level 4 Crit Pendant
A portable leyspike
An Eelskin Cloak


Iron Coins
----------

*NEW* A minipet
Name the minipet and you'll recieve it in a cage.

*NEW* A recursive dollhouse
This dollhouse will sit in your castle and be a creepy replica of your home. SHAKE it and it will violently expel any visitors in your castle. TOUCHing anyone in the house will teleport you to them. Attempting to interact with the small dollhouse within the dollhouse may collapse the universe.

*NEW* A castle expansion permit
Gives 10 room credits.


Gold
----

*NEW* A Village Shop Token
This token is good for a player run shop in a village somewhere, subject to RP and Admin oversight. We'll set up your taxes to the village there, and should you lose it due to normal reasons, it'll lock down and show up in these auctions again.

*NEW* A Minipet Spawning Box
Design a minipet, and when sufficient gold is put in the box, it will make a cage of that pet. Own a personal special pet! Sell your own! Refuse to use it and deny everyone the possibilities. Give it away just because. The possibilities are pretty much those four! Subject to Admin Approval. Note that minipets are exempt from a number of crafting "do nots", such as elementals.

An emblem of martyrdom
a Celestine rune of empowerment (l3)

-T

PS The ones with no description are either in the Artifact shop already, or in HELP SPECIAL ARTIFACTS.

PPS I reserve the right to add more things if I feel like it.

Penned by my hand on Kinsday, the 10th of Lleian, in the year 496 MA.
Aeryx
«134

Comments

  • MacavityMacavity Chicago, Il
    edited July 2021
    umm I do not see

    *NEW* Hunter's Quintessence
    An orb for the hunt_quintessence power. It acts as a level three hunting artifact for all classes at once.

    did I miss it?? or is that the orb of power?
    “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
    Nothing is going to get better. It's not.” 
    ― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

    Veritas says, "Sorry for breaking your system Macavity."
    Veritas says, "My boss fights crash Macavity's computer now."
  • AeryxAeryx Docking Nipsy's pay
    22235 an orb of power 4500cr 0cr 287

    auction probe 22235

    You take a closer look at an orb of power:
    Power swirls within this small orb, glowing with a soft light.
    It is an Ankyrean artifact, enchanted with the following powers:
    hunt_quintessence
    It can be worn.
    It is strangely weightless.
    Childhood's over the moment you know you're gonna die.
  • My honest take on this auction is this: we waited 19 days to be given a list of wares that seem too safe - as if they had been specifically selected as something Admin would not need to endure complaints about when those products get into the hands of players. I'm sorry if that feels like an uncharitable take if you were part of the selection of this list, but this does not feel like an auction list that needed almost three weeks to prepare.

    Credit wares are underwhelming and missing all sorts of cool stuff that seemed like no brainers. Ironcoin options don't seem all that appealing to me - ultimately, minipets mean very little, house credits are purchasable by platinum keystones, and the dollhouse was portrayed as a last minute idea. One of the best options on the entire list is for gold.

    There were much more exciting items to put on these lists. There's barely anything new and some of the new stuff was put together last minute.

    Good luck, those you that are bidding!
    EleneRhineBenedictoMazzionCallidora
  • RhyotRhyot Bloodloch
    To be honest, I'd rather items that are "too safe" than items that are overpowered. Quite frankly with the environment Aetolia is currently in, there is no reason why they -should- create items that players have the opportunity to complain about. It's happened in the past where people have complained about items and the only response boiled down to, "Try to get it for yourself."

    Sure, not everyone likes the items on the list. That's cool. If you don't like the items on the list then they aren't for you. Not everyone will be able to get it. I'd love an endless vial as it would really stop me from ever needing to refill health ever again, but I'm not spending 850+ credits on it.


    Just because they don't look appealing to you, doesn't mean they aren't appealing to anyone else. Especially if the current bids are anything to go by.


    AeryxEliadonSeurimas
  • TetchtaTetchta The Innocent
    Rhyot said:


    Just because they don't look appealing to you, doesn't mean they aren't appealing to anyone else. Especially if the current bids are anything to go by.

    Well, yeah, but Aetolians will always drop credits on exclusive stuff, so this doesn't really mean much.

    I'm not as riled as Iesid is but I'm pretty sympathetic to his frustrations; it was a long time to wait for a thing that hasn't been done in a long, long time and the offerings are fairly underwhelming to some folk. Just because some people have credits to burn doesn't make those assessments invalid.

  • Rhyot said:

    Quite frankly with the environment Aetolia is currently in, there is no reason why they -should- create items that players have the opportunity to complain about.

    It's happened in the past where people have complained about items and the only response boiled down to, "Try to get it for yourself."

    Just because they don't look appealing to you, doesn't mean they aren't appealing to anyone else. Especially if the current bids are anything to go by.

    The impression I get from plenty of players I ask is that this artifact auction is a dud and is a real time indicator of how checked out our producer seems. I'm inclined to agree. Almost nothing on this list required coding and most of the list feels like it was come up with in a night or so - why did it take 20 days? It's not like Tiur is our only paid staff.

    As for your second line: scarcity is not a replacement for balance. However, all of these items in HELP AUCTION ARTIFACTS already exist. Someone already has them. The milk is already spilled. We should have increased the supply on at least some of that list.

    I'll be real frank: the feedback I see from Tiur on the Official Discord indicates to me that he's not quite sure what actual players want. We had to literally spell it out for him in a forum thread a month in advance to get something a lot of players want. At least we got salvage. :)

    You can throw any number of strawmen in front of me and wring your hands about how 'some people' like this auction - but the truth is, I think people are just desperate for anything exclusive to spend their currency on. We'll never know how much better any of the items I mention would perform in an auction vs. what Tiur inevitably gave us, because they aren't on the list. It's almost pointless to speculate.

    BenedictoMazzion
  • Items like the Hunter's Quintessence, leyspike, bottomless vial, dollhouse, village shop token, and minipet spawning box are about what I expected from the auction -- high-utility items or items with niche abilities that are fun, but not for PK.

    I'm waiting to see if the Emblem of Martyrdom ends up killing group PK or doing basically nothing.
  • RhyotRhyot Bloodloch
    I feel like group PK is mostly dead anyway if the past 7 days are anything to go by.

    An entire orrery left uncontested, about 6 or so twins, a couple majors, and some umpteen lessers with absolutely 0 contention. Sure, there has been SOME contention, but not enough to really make it seem otherwise, but that's not a conversation for this thread.


    But you're right Legyn, all artifact auctions are much better to be set to high utility, niche QoL, or things that are like 'huh, thats kinda cool' type items, but nothing that will break the game.

    The Martyrdom emblem is going to go one of two ways: You're either going to be primary target or last target. You'll either burn it quickly or never burn it at all. It's going to become just as much of a niche artifact as everything else.


  • TetchtaTetchta The Innocent
    Group PVP is lackluster atm because most of Shadow's leaders either stopped logging in entirely or otherwise dramatically reduced their login times, so Spirit has been mostly free to do whatever they want.

    Rhyot
  • BenedictoBenedicto Tentacles Errywhere!
    Iesid said:

    Stuff that was said

    I have to agree with @Iesid. I feel quite let down by the auction and I was actually quite looking forward to being involved in this one to some degree.




    image
  • Rhyot said:


    But you're right Legyn, all artifact auctions are much better to be set to high utility, niche QoL, or things that are like 'huh, thats kinda cool' type items, but nothing that will break the game.

    Legyn said:

    Items like the Hunter's Quintessence, leyspike, bottomless vial, dollhouse, village shop token, and minipet spawning box are about what I expected from the auction -- high-utility items or items with niche abilities that are fun, but not for PK.

    Please go look at some artifact auctions for the other games.

    Aetolia is in the minority here - and this auction is even less of a thrill when you compare it to the previous auctions even within our own game.

  • TiurTiur Producer
    I really, really don't like items that cause future headaches. If that's playing safe, then so be it. To me it was more a sign of a checked out producer that they didn't consider the future implications of an item in trade for immediate profit. I pull my hair out trying to guess the year+ consequences of these things.

    I did clearly misread some items, though. I used previous auctions and such as a jumping off point, forgetting that players who showed up in the time between haven't seen those items. I'll have a second round go up shortly with the things I thought were a bit tired. Custom wings, relic pieces, etc. My mistake!
    Gavramel
  • RhyotRhyot Bloodloch
    @Iesid Why would I look at the auctions or previous auctions of other games? I don't care about the other games. I'm not and we aren't playing the other games. We're playing Aetolia.

    If you choose to play the other games and prefer those auctions better, good on you. But that's not really an apt discussion to have when it's not the game we're playing.

    But ok. :thumbsup:


    Konnorn
  • edited July 2021
    Rhyot said:

    @Iesid Why would I look at the auctions or previous auctions of other games? I don't care about the other games. I'm not and we aren't playing the other games. We're playing Aetolia.

    If you choose to play the other games and prefer those auctions better, good on you. But that's not really an apt discussion to have when it's not the game we're playing.

    But ok. :thumbsup:

    I am convinced that you are only in this thread to be obtuse, based on the way you are phrasing your responses. It feels like a waste of time to have a good faith argument with you about anything; be that as it may, this is a lot like asking me why studying other brands of the same product is so important for a company...

    It's valuable information about the same market you are trying to tap.

    Ultimately, Aetolians are players of Iron Realms games. If a wildly more successful Iron Realms game does something differently, it might pay off for Tiur to pay attention to those practices instead of listening to someone who only wants to come into a thread to make bad faith arguments. :)

    EDIT: what I'm saying is that it is a chore to deal with you and the bland way you think about gameplay, game design, or products. I'm glad I don't need to make my case to you and that the person I do need to make it to has already taken my feedback into account.
    Rhyot
  • Tiur said:

    I did clearly misread some items, though. I used previous auctions and such as a jumping off point, forgetting that players who showed up in the time between haven't seen those items. I'll have a second round go up shortly with the things I thought were a bit tired. Custom wings, relic pieces, etc. My mistake!

    That'd be good. I kind of felt the auction didn't have enough items in it, but there's a long list of standard artifacts I want to get with my milestone credits, so I didn't think much of it.




    Aeryx
  • edited July 2021
    @Tiur Does the orb, hunt_quintessence, work for 200 level "class" bashing? *Edit - Aeryx got my second question, thanks!!
  • AeryxAeryx Docking Nipsy's pay
    @Mazzion Last * in the first paragraph of the announce says "* Yes, bound credits/bloody iron coins can be used to pay for the auctions!"

    Also interested in your question though, even though it doesn't apply to me.
    Childhood's over the moment you know you're gonna die.
    Mazzion
  • TetchtaTetchta The Innocent
    edited July 2021
    From my perspective, Auctions are a no-win scenario for all but maybe, what, four, five people tops per auction? And even then, the "win" there is "I shelled out $1500 of credits for an item that may be unique and provide a unique bonus, or it might just be some bullcrap." The Admin are in a place where they have to weigh how much an item like, say, the martyr deal will impact combat, versus what people want. There's a high liklihood that the martyr token makes the difference in a handful of battles in the future--until everyone knows who has it and organizes to work around it.

    Meanwhile the rest of us are either going to be "disappointed" because nothing seems worth it, or pissed off because Tina or Jhin were able to outspend them on something marginally special. Some of these items probably, imo, should be released to the public in the regular artifact wares; some are so unbalanced that they'd probably break the game if they were widely available (does that make them good? or horrible?). Would the bottomless vial being widely availble destroy curative sales, or would it just put a minor dent in it? No idea.

    So to a degree I'm sympathetic to all sides of this equation, but I will admit that, after going through HELP SPECIAL ARTIFACTS or whatever the file is, I was a little disappointed that some of the really cool items that are listed in that file that didn't show up in the auction. I also think the Admin not knowing what players want is a real observation; I think it's a perfectly normal thing to experience when you're in that position. The auction probably shoulda been preceded by a survey or form or something that was like "what do you want to see and why" to at least act as a litmus test for what people have their eyes on if nothing else. "Hey, we're gonna do an auction that'll take a few weeks to put up, what do you want" probably would've saved some decision paralysis upstairs, as well as some headaches. But overall I think an auction is always gonna be kinda meh one way or the other however you slice it, and it might be just because of the model itself; expecting people to spend absurd amounts of credits for something that's essentially an unknown quantity or for something that's exclusive that'll tip the actual mechanical balance one way or the other is just...always gonna be bad imo.

    That said, I really am wary of the "look at the bids" argument when it comes to gauging interest. At least yesterday, Tiur said that nobody has yet bought credits for the auction, and I think a large reason for this is because folk have been banking currencies for the past 20 days in preparation; once you take platinum keystones into account, the high bid prices do seem a lot less sensational.

    IesidRhine
  • AeryxAeryx Docking Nipsy's pay
    I mean, @Tiur has legit in the past repeated at least a few times that he hopes people will retire who have the super strong things in that helpfile, and that he makes an effort tone things down a bit in these. Yes this leads to feeling like anything they come up with will probably be toned down or lame. Hell, my first response too was 'This whole list feels a little weak', but I think that's the intended design. It also doesn't help that we all overhyped ourselves for this for the past three weeks.

    On the other hand, on the player disappointment side of things, I think that it would feel less 'bad' that its weak, if the auctions were ran more often than once every 2 years. To be quite frank, I have no idea, with all the currency this will drain out of the game and money that it will make, why these wouldn't be done more often, in place of say, promos that a lot of us are burnt out on. ESPECIALLY if they're going to be toned down, or at least feel toned down.
    Childhood's over the moment you know you're gonna die.
    TetchtaMazzion
  • TetchtaTetchta The Innocent
    Auctions being done more frequently seems like a way to make something that's already kinda iffy even worse. T's reason for not doing custom wings was becuase they sold for so much less than they should've last time; having auctions more frequently would just dramatically decrease the value of the items in the auction while also decreasing how many cool things we get. Also seems like a lot to put on the shoulders of folk upstairs to come up with new artifacts even more frequently. IMO having auctions more frequently would probably destroy what little appeal they have.

    Aeryx
  • TiurTiur Producer
    The quintessence will replace all hunting artifacts, even 200+ class ones.

    Auctions are supposed to be a yearly thing! I just haven't kept them up like I should. They should be a nice pressure valve release on stored up stuff. Perhaps I should just automate them to a degree and escape my scatterbrain.
    AeryxTetchtaIesidMazzion
  • edited July 2021
    Tetchta said:

    But overall I think an auction is always gonna be kinda meh one way or the other however you slice it, and it might be just because of the model itself; expecting people to spend absurd amounts of credits for something that's essentially an unknown quantity or for something that's exclusive that'll tip the actual mechanical balance one way or the other is just...always gonna be bad imo.

    This is the part that gets me.

    As I said in a previous post:
    Iesid said:

    As for your second line: scarcity is not a replacement for balance. However, all of these items in HELP AUCTION ARTIFACTS already exist. Someone already has them. The milk is already spilled. We should have increased the supply on at least some of that list.

    The milk's already spilled. A Producer long, long ago already screwed that pooch for Tiur. There's no winning play - either we don't have auctions and those people keep their unique toys forever or we hold auctions and put more of these 'no win' items into the game.

    Since it is apparently not relevant to bring up other IRE Game Auctions (why, I have no idea), why don't we take a look back at the last two artifact auctions in Aetolia? Both of which were run by Tiur, mind you!
    ANNOUNCE NEWS #3008
    Date: 9/25/2019 at 0:08
    From: Tiur, the Gnosis
    To  : Everyone
    Subj: Auction!
    
    Auction time!
    
    Sorry this took a bit, I discovered one of the artifacts I intended to put up didn't exist. The
    auction will go on for 12ish days. And I promise next month is NOT a credit sale.
    
    Some general auction rules:
    * Any artifacts bought through auction (including the gold items) cannot be traded in, nor can their
    power be transferred to any other item.
    * Iron Coin and Credit auctions allow you to bid whatever value you want on them, even if you don't
    have the currency on hand. Gold items require you to have the gold.
    * When IC/CR auctions end, you will have a week to get together the amount you won the bid for, or
    we shrub you until you can pay up. We take this seriously.
    * We don't do takebacks on bids, even if you messed up and added an extra zero. Be absolutely
    careful with your bidding commands.
    * Read both HELP AUCTIONS and HELP AUCTIONHOUSE if you are unfamiliar with the Auctioning system in
    Aetolia.
    * Yes, bound credits/bloody iron coins can be used to pay for the auctions!
    
    
    Credits
    -------
    Full Relic Token - Trades in for a full version of a relic. Surprise me and don't ask for a ethereal
    link! Also, not the realllllly old ones that turn into artifacts.
    
    Bottomless Vial - You know what this does!
    
    A portable leyspike - Once per howling, spawns a lesser focus in the area where it is used. Can only
    be used in locations that a focus can normally spawn in.
    
    *NEW*
    A Shield of Absorption - A normal 11/11 shield that can be wielded by any class. While wielded, it
    has a 15% chance to absorb damage against you. Flat out, 15% to just ignore it. Keroc approved, 
    even.
    
    
    Iron Coins
    ----------
    Link of the Ethereal - This relic artifact allows you to create a portal between your haven and
    another's. The owner of the other haven must agree to the portal being placed. You can change the 
    destination of the portal once per Aetolian year. Use HAVENS PORTAL <target>. Cooldown is tied to 
    the artifact, so owning multiple lets you create multiple portals.
    
    Wand of Eldlore - The eld can be tough cookies to crack, but what glorious ylem when you get to that
    gooey center! If you want a keepsake of your battles, this wand is for you. Manage to slay an Eld 
    using this wand (it's weak, I'll tell you that) and its image will be transformed into a collectible 
    figurine for your enjoyment!
    
    Relic Piece Token - Trade in for any piece of a relic you need! Contact Tiur upon winning.
    
    Gold
    ----
    Lvl 3 Crit Pendant - Normally 1200 credits
    
    An ilmenite hoe - Normally 250 credits
    
    House Deed - Allows the owner to buy a three room house. Email Tiur to cash in!
     
    Penned by my hand on Quensday, the 2nd of Chakros, in the year 483 MA.
    Discuss this post on our forums:
    http://forums.aetolia.com/discussion/3285/announce-post-3008-auction
    ANNOUNCE NEWS #2854
    Date: 6/18/2018 at 3:30
    From: Tiur, the Gnosis
    To  : Everyone
    Subj: June Artifact Auction
    
    Auction time!
    
    Some general auction rules:
    * Any artifacts bought through auction (including the gold items) cannot be traded in, nor can their
    power be transferred to any other item.
    * Iron Coin and Credit auctions allow you to bid whatever value you want on them, even if you don't
    have the currency on hand. Gold items require you to have the gold.
    * When IC/CR auctions end, you will have a week to get together the amount you won the bid for, or
    we shrub you until you can pay up. We take this seriously.
    * We don't do takebacks on bids, even if you messed up and added an extra zero. Be absolutely
    careful with your bidding commands.
    * Read both HELP AUCTIONS and HELP AUCTIONHOUSE if you are unfamiliar with the Auctioning system in
    Aetolia.
    * Yes, bound credits/bloody iron coins can be used to pay for the auctions!
    
    
    There are special items are up for auction that I'll save you having to look up:
    
    Prayer Book - credit auction
    -----------
    Will allow you to resurrect someone at range once per Aetolia day, as long as you are in the same
    area as they died. Will work on undead or living.
    
    The Libram of Transience - gold auction
    ------------------------
    Ownership of the Libram entitles the owner to free transfers of artifact powers between any of their
    owned artifacts.
    
    a token representing a divine phylactery - ironcoin auction
    ----------------------------------------
    This will be traded in to me for a COMPLETE Divine Phylactery of your Choice, providing the Divine
    approves this. Don't get this thinking Damariel will okay the Order's greatest enemy to use His.
    
    the star chart of Elenina - credit auction
    -------------------------
    By utilizing the star chart, you can increase the influence of a particular star upon you to receive
    its effects. However, it will also bring forth a random negative star to influence you. While under 
    the effects of the star chart, all other astronomy effects are cancelled out.
    
    Mad Tinkerer's Bag o' Bombs - credit auction
    ---------------------------
    Much like the Bag o' Bombs artifact, this bag has a chance of generating random bombs every day.
    Unlike that lesser artifact, this bag is for the TRUE master, and can generate Mirrorbombs and 
    Bamboozlebombs.
    
    an ina'a token - credit auction
    --------------
    This token represents a 900cr mount/pet artifact token, as per the normal pet token. However, it
    enables you to specifically receive the pet as an ina'a, customised to you and the faction you 
    support. A battle-ready ina'a flying mount, specifically - either proud and willful, captured, or 
    broken. This will be unique. We will be making this with your input, and it might have a few special 
    things tucked away
    
    The Jeweled Eye of Tlkhri'i - credit auction
    ---------------------------
    After a twenty second channel, the Eye will provide the 'Obscuring fog', 'Hidden room' and 'Privacy'
    features for the room in which it is DEPLOYed. This effect will last in the room for two hours, 
    during which the Eye can not be removed or called back to you. Yes, that is like the Parasol of 
    Privacy... but this is better, it's Ophidian!
    
    
    We also have a whole mess of relic pieces up for auction.
    
    Credit Auctions
    ---------------
    A right ventricle and atrium of salt - saltheart
    a piece of an insect antennae - antennae
    a mindseye rune - blindfold
    a curved plate of anaxagorite - gorget
    
    Ironcoin Auctions
    -----------------
    A left ventricle and atrium of salt - saltheart
    a piece of an insect antennae - antennae
    a small blindfold section - blindfold
    half a venantium gorget frame - gorget
    
    Gold Auctions
    -------------
    An aorta of salt - saltheart
    a piece of an insect antennae - antennae
    a small blindfold section - blindfold
    half a venantium gorget frame - gorget
    
    -T
    
    PS. Auction is srs business. Auction errors are a big deal, and possibly one of the single largest
    mistakes that can be made with credits in Aetolia. I really don't want anyone to have buyer's 
    remorse here!
     
    Penned by my hand on Closday, the 20th of Variach, in the year 474 MA.
    Discuss this post on our forums:
    http://forums.aetolia.com/discussion/2898/announce-post-2854-june-artifact-auction
    

    I think we've seen an overall decline in quality of goods in each artifact auction. I would hesitate to say that either of these auctions were any good when you compare them to other IRE games - but since we're not doing that, we'll just compare these two and our current one. Overall, I'd rather have any other auction list in Aetolia's past. There were more risks and things that might make the game interesting or present new problems for team PKers or solo PKers alike to solve, provide some fun utility or new people some flavored toys, etc.
    Aeryx said:

    I mean, @Tiur has legit in the past repeated at least a few times that he hopes people will retire who have the super strong things in that helpfile, and that he makes an effort tone things down a bit in these. Yes this leads to feeling like anything they come up with will probably be toned down or lame. Hell, my first response too was 'This whole list feels a little weak', but I think that's the intended design.

    I shouldn't need to say this, but I will: 'hoping that the bad items retire' indicates to me that people are reluctant to address balancing items. I don't believe auction items are exempt from the disclaimer about credit value, artifact value, etc all being subject to change at a moment's notice. Here it is, for your viewing pleasure, where it does not list auction artifacts as an exemption:
    Disclaimer: Aetolia is a functioning and changing world, and while we guarantee you will not lose any of the credits you buy, no such guarantee can be provided for what you purchase with the credits themselves. We wouldn't be in business very long if this happened frequently, but as it is a world, your actions have consequences, and the actions of others can result in consequences for you. It's this dynamism in the nature of the world that people enjoy about the game. Thus, it is possible that the perceived or real value of the things you purchase with credits, or your ability to use those things, may both rise and decline during the course of play.
    
    Is it crappy to deal with entitled customers who feel their price tag should exempt them from balance concerns? Yes. A thousand times yes.
    Is it still part of the job of someone responsible for game balance or product scarcity? Yes. It absolutely is.

    I still do the crappy parts of my job. You probably do as well. They suck to do, but at the end of day, you gotta do 'em.
    Aeryx said:


    It also doesn't help that we all overhyped ourselves for this for the past three weeks.

    Speaking personally: I did not overhype myself. I expected an auction in line with other auctions in Aetolia (above) or other IRE games. If having expectations based on previous precedent is 'overhype', I think I need to reassess who I'm having a discussion with; this strikes me as the language of an apologist. It's OK to not be pleased with the state of the game, a promotion, etc.
    Aeryx said:


    On the other hand, on the player disappointment side of things, I think that it would feel less 'bad' that its weak, if the auctions were ran more often than once every 2 years. To be quite frank, I have no idea, with all the currency this will drain out of the game and money that it will make, why these wouldn't be done more often, in place of say, promos that a lot of us are burnt out on. ESPECIALLY if they're going to be toned down, or at least feel toned down.

    If the auction remains as it is currently stands, I would not spend any currency to acquire any items from it.

    If you are expressing that you think that we should hold these more frequently, I would say that the frequency will not change the amount of currency I put into them. You aren't going to alleviate my disappointment with that sort of approach - you're just going to make more opportunities for me to be disappointed. Offering a bad menu item more often is not the way to improve your menu.
    Benedicto
  • 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.
    RihrinRhyotTetchtaAeryxElene
  • TetchtaTetchta The Innocent
    This is more of a question, but I had to confirm before I even considered bidding on it, but Castle Expand is 10 free rooms, correct? Room credits and roomcredits are, uh, well. One of them is unfortunately named one way or the other and it's a little confusing lol

  • EliadonEliadon Somewhere Over the Rainbow
    edited July 2021
    Ok, I wasn't going to comment, but good Gods Iesid.

    "I shouldn't need to say this, but I will: 'hoping that the bad items retire' indicates to me that people are reluctant to address balancing items."

    People throw a -riot- every time anything they paid money for is touched, even if it's to tune something completely out of line. Every single time an artifact has been nerfed, players throw a unicornsing fit.

    Of course they're going to be reluctant to nerf things players paid money for. We're a bunch of unicorns-heads every time they do, even if it needs to happen.

    Speaking of, re: Saidenn, delete golden translocator or make the relic that blocks magical movement trivially common.
    AeryxNaosRhyotRihrinIllikaalSeurimas
  • TetchtaTetchta The Innocent
    I've not seen an artifact nerfed the entire time since I came back a year and a half ago, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt, but artifact changes would probably not cause a huge fuss if people who felt it ruined the artifact for them were allowed to get a full refund for their purchase. Artifact nerfs appear to be quite rare from the look of things, but I think it's a fairly normal thing to be upset about, given how expensive this game is tbh. Refunds would probably go a long way to paving over some of that if it really becomes a huge deal.

  • EliadonEliadon Somewhere Over the Rainbow
    Then we complain about buying credits that we only bought for the original artifact and would not have purchased otherwise.
    RhyotRihrin
  • I like seeing safe sales, preferably only cosmetic or QoL stuff, as long as the decision to do so is financially sustainable for the game
    Eliadon
  • edited July 2021
    Eliadon said:

    Ok, I wasn't going to comment, but good Gods Iesid.

    "I shouldn't need to say this, but I will: 'hoping that the bad items retire' indicates to me that people are reluctant to address balancing items."

    People throw a -riot- every time anything they paid money for is touched, even if it's to tune something completely out of line. Every single time an artifact has been nerfed, players throw a unicornsing fit.

    Of course they're going to be reluctant to nerf things players paid money for. We're a bunch of unicorns-heads every time they do, even if it needs to happen.

    Speaking of, re: Saidenn, delete golden translocator or make the relic that blocks magical movement trivially common.

    It is called Selarnia and squelched - include it in your venom routing for groups.

    Edit: Piety also blocks pylon recall, voltda/duanathar is blocked by lower health/mana, monolith blocks many things, indoors blocks leap/fly - the list goes on.
    EliadonIllikaal
  • IllikaalIllikaal Pray Area
    edited July 2021
    Saidenn said:

    Eliadon said:

    Ok, I wasn't going to comment, but good Gods Iesid.

    "I shouldn't need to say this, but I will: 'hoping that the bad items retire' indicates to me that people are reluctant to address balancing items."

    People throw a -riot- every time anything they paid money for is touched, even if it's to tune something completely out of line. Every single time an artifact has been nerfed, players throw a unicornsing fit.

    Of course they're going to be reluctant to nerf things players paid money for. We're a bunch of unicorns-heads every time they do, even if it needs to happen.

    Speaking of, re: Saidenn, delete golden translocator or make the relic that blocks magical movement trivially common.

    It is called Selarnia and squelched - include it in your venom routing for groups.
    Please stop making comments about combat balance.
    "And finally, swear to Me: You will give your life to Dendara for you are Tiarna an-Kiar."
    SaidennArdentEleneObaSeurimas
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