Pink Poogle Toy Forum

I never wished for this. Probably only a few squeaky wheels did. There are many, many other alternatives that are equally viable solutions--shapu's is an excellent one (pats shapu on the back)--so is one where they give us an estimated end time. Instead of very long, why not say estimated closing time is 7:00 pm--doesn't mean it is 7:00 pm on the dot--just somewhere around that time. Do you really want to bid on something and have your nps held in limbo if you don't know whether the auction ends in 2 hours or 2 days? Wouldn't an auction ban be more fair (in other words, like the quests, restocks, and shop wiz, you are banned once you buy more than X auctions per day)?



That is the real solution to the problem--stop the automated programs. Don't punish the innocent people who don't use automated programs. They shouldn't be punished for having fast fingers, nerves of steel, and the knack for pulling things off at the last second.

If Neopets or any other site that has this kind of problem could figure out once and for all how to stop ab programs and auto-bid programs, along with however some people are finding and using cheat programs for games, then alot of these new measures as well as many of the rules wouldn't have to be in place or enforced so harshly that people end up being unfairly frozen for allegedly using a "downloadable cheat program" when the only thing they're guilty of is either being too fast (high speed internet, savvy at auction sniping or rs'ing), too slow (older/slow/dial up computer) or "too good" (getting a great score) on a game.

The people who DO cheat would be caught immediately and only those people punished if there was a way to stop the above types of programs.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a way. Neo finds one way to stop ab'ers. What happens? There are people with a brain and apparently too much time on their hands - they write another kind of ab program. Same with auctions, same with games. I still don't and will never understand cheating on a game! It's .... stupid

What everconfused said is so true. Programmers level up their progs whenever TNT change something. So technically, there would be no way to stop them completely. On the other hand, there are many ways to limit them, not only by freezing cheating accounts.

I find this comprable to when they removed the "Newest 20" link from the Trading Post.

They felt that there was a problem, but in truth ended up seriously decreasing people's chance of getting the items they want or allowing people to get the best deal for what they're giving up.

There was no problem with the auctions. If it ain't broken, don't fix it... or screw it up as the case may be.

The main index page that shows the auctions ending soon doesn't (any longer) show the auctions that are ending /next/. Every minute it randomly changes how far into the future it shows auctions. So if you load the page, the first auction listed will be ending anywhere in the next 10 minutes. I made that change the day after I made the time -> text change. So, no, there's still no way for snipers to know when an auction is going to end.

And I'm changing the display today so that it shows the approximate time range left for an auction to end (e.g. "2-8 hours") instead of a less meaningful string (e.g. "Long").

Don't ask for justifications about these changes, I'm just here to clarify some misconceptions about how things work.

Mrinsane, Thank you so much for coming here and posting. We all really do appreciate when you, Adam, Donna, Snarkie or any staff posts here.

And thank you for letting us know that there are a few changes, i.e. the estimated time as opposed to "long". I actually DO like that "short" is now going to be random, as there were some people on the boards claiming that they knew when an auction would be ending, even with the new system.

Actually, auction snipers per se do not bother me. They have the fast fingers and probably a very fast internet connection. Yes, it can be frustrating not getting whatever you bid on at the last second, but that happens in real life. It's these auto-bidder programs that I have heard about (have no proof, just what I've read) that bother me, along with auto-buyer programs (the new system there is, in my opinion, brilliant - the time played equals the rarity you see in shops).

Someone who's an honest player and happens to be good at restocking or auction "sniping" I say bravo to - I can't do either being on dial up and having problems with my hands.

Thank you all for once again doing what you can to help keep the site clean and as fair as possible.

I actually dont mind this new system either. I am not a 'sniper' I just like to buy things off auction. Now I actually have a chance

I don't care what you say. This is the most pointless, stupid thing that TNT has ever done. The whole point in auctions is that you stay there until the last minute bidding. That makes auctions fun.

Now auctions are in my opinion horrible. I won't go near them until this is pulled back. I advise others to do the same aswell.

No, the point of auctions (in all contexts) has always been to maximize the seller's gain. From an economic standpoint, auctions are the ideal way of selling rare or unique items, and fixed prices are the ideal way of selling mass-produced or commodity items.

When auctions occur in the real world -- and by "real world" I mean in an actual auction house with an auctioneer and a crowd of people shouting out bids -- the auction does not end until nobody else wants to bid. There is no fixed, set time limit after which the auctioneer accepts no more bids. Internet-based auction systems like eBay and the one on Neopets can't function that way, because the pool of potential bidders is vast, they may not even be aware of the auction until they search for it, and the manpower to have a separate auctioneer for each auction is not available.

Essentially, technical restrictions force automated auctions into being time-limited. Some auction systems extend the time remaining whenever a new bid is accepted, which mimics the "going once, going twice" mechanism of a real auction, but there are issues with such a system. We did consider it but we're not implementing that for now.

Auctions CAN be implemented as a game of timing and mouse-clicking skill, but that isn't the way we want them.

Personally, I really don't see what was wrong with the old system. True, it wasn't realistic, and not very newbie friendly, but it was fun. And you'd be surprised at how many times I've seen overpriced codestones and other items going for quite higher than standard Shop Wizard Price. Sellers could still make a profit from the items they were selling.

By taking away the buyer profit from auctions, you're effectively making the Auctions less popular. Why would you for example bid 2 million NP for a Darigan Paintbrush, if you can get another one for quite cheaper of the trades?

Quite often in real life, auctions are used as a means to get rid of a non-wanted item, and quite often the seller does not make any profit from it.

And in the end, isn't all of Neopets just a game? A game is meant to be fun. By taking away certain aspects of the site, you can quite easily make it less fun to some people. The Auctions were fun, now they're not so. People use Neopets as an escape from reality quite often. To get away from the over-orgainised society we live in. Neopets is crazy, unpredictable, and different. And if you're aiming on making Neopets more realistic, you'll get a lot of negative responces.

I appreciate that the Staff read and even answer some of these boards on PPT (very much so), but it does not always mean I'll see some of their decisions eye-to-eye. I don't expect any changes, I just thought I'd voice my opinion.

Okay, mind me asking, but since when have auction snipering been aganist the rules, unless it means you use multiple accounts to jack up the price where no one will bid (On the original auctions), thats rigging.

Auctions are no fun now, it was fun to be able to get a butterfly in your stomach because you were nervous about getting that underpriced Faerie Paint Brush in auctions for 5k.

*throws yellow flag*

There's a flag on the play. Axe, #656, on the offence.
Inappropriate Conduct on the field.

Mrinsane never said that sniping was against the rules. What he did say was that it was not how they wanted it to be implemented. So they change it so that it's how they wanted it to be. That's that. It's their call.

If you don't like it, that's fine. But at least be a bit more refined with your comments. Calling it "the most pointless, stupid thing..." and "like crappy" is completely uncalled for.

Hm...sorry if my comments offended anyone.

Well, if your gonig to keep it this way, could you possibly atleast make it more specific in anyway? Maybe how many hours are left?

I agree.

I also totaly agree with Mrinsane.
Sniping wasn't against the rules, i'm sure in part because there was no way that they could fairly monitor that. Many other games have something similar in place to prevent sniping. It dosen't place any real inconvienence on players. Several games have something that adds a few minutes to the timer every time that someone places a bid so as to prevent auction sniping all together (which i think is a brilliant idea)

Sniping is something that makes the auctionng aspect of the game less fun on the whole for the majority of players. Personaly it's kept me from ever bothering to use auctions. I don't mind being outbid fairly but sniping dosen't allow you to have a counter bid and prevents the seller from gettng maximum value for their purchase.

I do agree that a chart stating how much time the different limits cover would be a good idea. That way if you look at a short auction you know it'll be over in a half hour and very long is over 18 hours or whatever they actualy are. This would help those people who want to know how long their neopoints would be tied up.

I personally don't mind the new change all that much. Yes, I sniped when I wanted to buy something from auction (I have a dial-up and still managed to snipe things, so don't listen to the "oh, I'm on dial-up, I can't snipe" carp), but I can live without sniping. This way other people can't snipe as easily anyways.
Actually, if given time, programmers could figure out how to make autobuyers work with the new system too. For example, search continuously for an item. When a new item appears, record the time it appears, check approximate time left, and match it to one of the options you can select as an auction time. Wait that amount of time, and snipe it. Then those of us who don't use autobuyers would be at an even greater disadvantage than we were at previously.
But whatever.

My question is:

Why are you spending time playing around with things like the auctions, which have been that way for years, when you have things like neoschools and war prizes to give out? Shouldn't you finish what you said you'd do long ago first and stop procrastinating with these minor details that can wait? O_o?? *cries with frustration*