BidBlast - Feedback Thread :3

[BitterFantasy]

why are the bid times so different? 43hours for mini wings its like they want the price to be outrageous.

i like having the winner having to pay at the end because it deters some people from just troll bidding.

i doubt these timers will ever end since it barely goes below 30 seconds before getting reset to 30 seconds.

[Lazarus Larkin]

What an overly complicated, pointless feature. I really don't see it ever taking off.

[JuJuBe1115]

The length of time on the auctions seems a bit long. I feel that shorter (4-8 hours, for example) is more reasonable than 40+hours. I also feel that the 30 second extension ruins the whole idea behind the auction. The White Satin Coat has been extended for hours, and is well over store price.
Another possible problem I found was the bid button. I hit the button, thinking it would take me to the item page to bid. I did this a few times before I realised it was actually putting bids in. Perhaps a Watching sidebar, with a capacity for, say 3-5 auctions, can be placed on the side, allowing those who wish to quick bid repeatedly on multiple specific items could have them there.

[Flemmes Felares]

A risky bidding method for the smart and witty people that know how to manage and calculate their funds? Nice. I can see the potential for this, but with such a huge community gaia has, this may turn out to be more troublesome.

Still, I think the smart ones can get away with a deal slightly lower than MP price, sure. I shall see how it goes.

[marshmallowcreampie]

Destrius

Wait...Mini Wings for sale? Are they re-releasing older Donation Items? eek
I remember asking at a Gaia Panel and Lanzer and DJ Hellsing reassured users that Donation Items would not be re-released.

They only say they won't re-release them on a MASS scale. They've been given out as prizes for both online and RL contests before.

Anyway... This feature is kind of a disappointment. Changing a few things would be nice. For starters, change the bid time. Make it shorter, that would be good. Second, I'd like it if the 30-second period added after each last-minute bids was gotten rid of. At the rate a lot of these items are going, the bids will just go on until that time cap which is like what, Friday? Plus it just makes the price of the item REALLY high, which defeats the purpose of this feature, which, if I recall, is being advertised as a way to "get rare items at low prices". Third, prevent people who don't have enough gold from bidding. Just leads to trollin'. Fourth, making the tickets cost more could be beneficial. Lead to less troll-bidding, ya know?

[Istoleyourtaco]

Gordon Gecko

Istoleyourtaco

it's interesting and fun but the biggest problem is the adding of extra time when you bid when the timer is low .I have been watching and for the last 2 hours or more the first item to reach 30 sec has yet to be sold and I doubt it ever will with this rule. there needs to be a limit to the time that can be added or this needs to be droped completely.

There is a "limit", it sucks, but there is. The current limit is the deadline for the auction, for Elegant White Satin Coat it is Fri, 23 Sep 2011.

Until Friday people will keep sinking gold into bids thinking they'll win the item outright for the cost of their ticket if they're the last bidder without reading that winning the bid wins you the chance to buy the item for the final bid cost. Stupid system.

I know it ends on friday by limit I meant more like 10 or 20 extra min not 2 or 3 days. because the whole point of bid blast is to get expensive things for cheaper but yet if Elegant White Satin Coat sold now it would be 4 times the price and the other stuff is going to be the same if they made the time limit smaller or get rid of the extra time it would work better. Ebay works awsome and they don't add extra time it ends when it ends. Also it says it ends Friday but it doesn't even come close to mentioning when on Friday it ends does it end at midnight or in the morning or afternoon or at 11:59 pm . it would also work better if we knew when it really ended.

[Snozberry Dreamsicle]

Although I love gaia very much and in all honesty I really do think you guys generally do an awesome job. I think this whole Bid Blast thing has a few flaws that could definitely be worked on.

Like, I'm sure it's been said before but there should at least be some kinda restriction where you can't bid unless you actually have that much money in your inventory. The way it is now, it'd be impossible for anyone to ever win anything really. People could just be losers and do what they're doing to the elegant white coat right now and keep bidding and bidding forever without having any intention of actually paying for the item.

Also, the whole thing where the time resets whenever there's a bid. That kinda defeats the whole point of having any time limit at all if it could just go on forever like that. Especially since there's no requirement to actually have the amount of gold you're bidding.

My personal suggestions:

1. No timer resets. Keep the auctions to a few hours so people can actually watch their item and not have to hope that they'll be awake at the right time a few days from now.

2. Users must actually have the amount listed when they bid

3. As soon as they win the auction, the money is taken from them and the item is sent straight to their inventory to prevent people from jacking up the price infinitely with no intention of actually paying.

Once thats fixed, I think the idea could be really cool. A decent gold sink and a cool way to get cheap items, just like it was intended.

[strangedarkgypsy]

Wow. Lots of good comments on this thread. smile Okay, here's my two cents.

I really liked the idea of this when it came out. What's not to like about getting rare items you might not otherwise be able to afford, right? Only this... doesn't seem to be working like that. I see a couple flaws in way this is currently set up.

1.) If you don't have enough gold to pay for the item, you shouldn't be able to bid. Period. It already works this way on the Marketplace. I don't see why BidBlast should be any different. The option to not claim the item (for those experiencing buyer's remorse?) is fine, but the bidder should be capable of paying for it to begin with. Otherwise it opens the door for scamming and trolling and other unpleasantness, as several people have already mentioned.

2.) The auction should end when the timer runs out. It should not be extended 30 seconds for every bid after a certain point near the end. I understand that this is intended to prevent sniping. That's fair. However, any way you look at it, this isn't. Either the auction can extend indefinitely until the average price of the item on the Marketplace is met or even exceeded (in which case you aren't getting a rare item cheaply at all) or at some point there is a cap on the time limit and the auction ends abruptly (in which case you can still have snipers winning the item).

(I don't think I really need to justify the first part of my argument because... well, just look at what the Elegant White Satin Coat costs right now. That should be proof enough.)

Hypothetically, let's say there is a person who really, really wants an item, but the auction is ending at 3:00am. They can't normally afford the item and are willing to set the alarm and forgo some sleep to get a chance at winning it. Only the auction is "extended 30 seconds" for over 5 hours and they have to leave for school/work/etc. (disappointed, frustrated, and sleep-deprived). Later on, someone who just happened to log in at their usual time notices that "Hey, that auction that was supposed to end hours ago is still going," and manages to get in a winning bid just before the real "at the latest" deadline. Is that fair?

Someone mentioned this would automatically favor people in different timezones, but perhaps the Gaia devs could stagger the end times of the auctions, or set up a way to authorize a friend to bid on your behalf.

Feel free to correct me if you think I've misunderstood something about this (or you just don't agree).

[Flowing Icicles]

I think the idea is great, it is a superb goldsink that people are effectively using.

[DK Blight]

I understand that the avg price for some reason for A minis is at 1 gold which is of course not the case, but the fact the jacket is at about 36-37k on avg and the bid is almost at 200k, I just think items should have a cap value which ends the auction immediately, as it's no deal to pay more than 5x the avg price of the item.

[II Mimic II]

Snozberry Dreamsicle

Although I love gaia very much and in all honesty I really do think you guys generally do an awesome job. I think this whole Bid Blast thing has a few flaws that could definitely be worked on.

Like, I'm sure it's been said before but there should at least be some kinda restriction where you can't bid unless you actually have that much money in your inventory. The way it is now, it'd be impossible for anyone to ever win anything really. People could just be losers and do what they're doing to the elegant white coat right now and keep bidding and bidding forever without having any intention of actually paying for the item.

Also, the whole thing where the time resets whenever there's a bid. That kinda defeats the whole point of having any time limit at all if it could just go on forever like that. Especially since there's no requirement to actually have the amount of gold you're bidding.

My personal suggestions:

1. No timer resets. Keep the auctions to a few hours so people can actually watch their item and not have to hope that they'll be awake at the right time a few days from now.

2. Users must actually have the amount listed when they bid

3. As soon as they win the auction, the money is taken from them and the item is sent straight to their inventory to prevent people from jacking up the price infinitely with no intention of actually paying.

Once thats fixed, I think the idea could be really cool. A decent gold sink and a cool way to get cheap items, just like it was intended.

I agree that this system is less than ideal, and could use tweaking, but everything you just listed is the way things are set up in the market.

[AidenAuthority]

i like bidblast... the only bad part is that the time should not reset when a new person bids when there is less the 30 secs left. the time should just run out and who ever gets it gets it...

[Snozberry Dreamsicle]

animega90

Snozberry Dreamsicle

Although I love gaia very much and in all honesty I really do think you guys generally do an awesome job. I think this whole Bid Blast thing has a few flaws that could definitely be worked on.

Like, I'm sure it's been said before but there should at least be some kinda restriction where you can't bid unless you actually have that much money in your inventory. The way it is now, it'd be impossible for anyone to ever win anything really. People could just be losers and do what they're doing to the elegant white coat right now and keep bidding and bidding forever without having any intention of actually paying for the item.

Also, the whole thing where the time resets whenever there's a bid. That kinda defeats the whole point of having any time limit at all if it could just go on forever like that. Especially since there's no requirement to actually have the amount of gold you're bidding.

My personal suggestions:

1. No timer resets. Keep the auctions to a few hours so people can actually watch their item and not have to hope that they'll be awake at the right time a few days from now.

2. Users must actually have the amount listed when they bid

3. As soon as they win the auction, the money is taken from them and the item is sent straight to their inventory to prevent people from jacking up the price infinitely with no intention of actually paying.

Once thats fixed, I think the idea could be really cool. A decent gold sink and a cool way to get cheap items, just like it was intended.

I agree that this system is less than ideal, and could use tweaking, but everything you just listed is the way things are set up in the market.

I mean yeah, kinda. But in the market the timer is technically infinite too, it would be kinda cool if there was an auction that had a timer that actually ended.

And although I'm one of the few and maligned PRO-inflation types, Bid-Blast would be more of a money sink what with the gold not going back in the system.

I mean, as it is now it's TOTALLY flawed to the point of being pretty much pointless.

Hell, I was even thinking it might be cool if they made tickets MORE expensive. Like 100-200 gold each, to really scare away those troll bidders but still make it reasonable enough that people would be willing to pick up a few.

[Shima Shinji]

The bid ticket thing is a little confusing, I think it should be a little more clear that winning the auction does not win you the item, you still have to pay for it.

[II Mimic II]

Snozberry Dreamsicle

animega90

Snozberry Dreamsicle

Although I love gaia very much and in all honesty I really do think you guys generally do an awesome job. I think this whole Bid Blast thing has a few flaws that could definitely be worked on.

Like, I'm sure it's been said before but there should at least be some kinda restriction where you can't bid unless you actually have that much money in your inventory. The way it is now, it'd be impossible for anyone to ever win anything really. People could just be losers and do what they're doing to the elegant white coat right now and keep bidding and bidding forever without having any intention of actually paying for the item.

Also, the whole thing where the time resets whenever there's a bid. That kinda defeats the whole point of having any time limit at all if it could just go on forever like that. Especially since there's no requirement to actually have the amount of gold you're bidding.

My personal suggestions:

1. No timer resets. Keep the auctions to a few hours so people can actually watch their item and not have to hope that they'll be awake at the right time a few days from now.

2. Users must actually have the amount listed when they bid

3. As soon as they win the auction, the money is taken from them and the item is sent straight to their inventory to prevent people from jacking up the price infinitely with no intention of actually paying.

Once thats fixed, I think the idea could be really cool. A decent gold sink and a cool way to get cheap items, just like it was intended.

I agree that this system is less than ideal, and could use tweaking, but everything you just listed is the way things are set up in the market.

I mean yeah, kinda. But in the market the timer is technically infinite too, it would be kinda cool if there was an auction that had a timer that actually ended.

And although I'm one of the few and maligned PRO-inflation types, Bid-Blast would be more of a money sink what with the gold not going back in the system.

I mean, as it is now it's TOTALLY flawed to the point of being pretty much pointless.

Hell, I was even thinking it might be cool if they made tickets MORE expensive. Like 100-200 gold each, to really scare away those troll bidders but still make it reasonable enough that people would be willing to pick up a few.

I'm not sure how infinite the market bid system is. Listing an item for buy only only lets you list it for a maximum of 2 weeks. I would assume the bid system has the same limit.