The bazaar is nice and all, but it's not really an auction. It's a place where pretty much anyone can go and sell random loot, and most of the good stuff you can't even sell. So what I'm proposing is a crowns-only auction, but an actual auction set up like eBay, only with people bidding crowns instead of actual cash.
Example = I hatch a Sea Dragon with my Kraken, hoping to get a Kraken with suped up abilities. Instead I get another Sea Dragon with weaker stats. I'm not going to keep this Sea Dragon and am just going to end up selling it for a couple hundred gold (wasting over 40k in the meantime). With the auction house, I can go and sell it for 1000 crowns (for a fee which I will explain later). Let's say someone else goes to the auction house and wants it. He can bid the 1000 crowns. Let's say someone else comes along. They can bid 1200 crowns. And so on and so on until a certain time limit is met (1 day, 3 days, 1 week, etc.) After the time limit has expired, the person who has bid the most crowns will lose the crowns and have them transferred to the other player.
So how it would work is in the example above, I'd sell the Sea Dragon for 1000 crowns. In order to make the posting, I'd have to pay a certain percentage of that to KingsIsle (in crowns), so let's say 5%, or 50 crowns. Let's say the Dragon sold for 2,500 crowns. KingsIsle could take a portion of that too, say, 5% of the total sale, or in this case, 125 crowns. So we've spent 175 crowns to make 2,325. We recoup some costs of leveling up our pets (which many of us spend on several Mega-Snack Packs), and we're not left high and dry when we get a "No Auction" item we're not interested in, such as a Myth armor for your Death character. Maybe even plants like the Maelstrom Snap Dragon or Key Limes of which I have dozens, but can't auction or sell, but keep multiplying through harvesting anyway. Would be a decent way to get rid of some of them.
But how does this benefit KingsIsle? Basically crowns are just being transferred between players, but each transaction nets them a small chunk. Through my Sea Dragon example, they netted 175, and that was just through one transaction. I'm sure many of you have seen how busy the bazaar gets. Imagine hundreds of transactions a day of the same magnitude. This will also mean people need to buy more crowns in order to get something that's available that they'd really want.
Anyone else have any thoughts on ways to improve this?
LIsten GoCowBoys, that's not how KI makes there money with crowns, they make the money when the customer buys the prepaid package of crowns on the website, the rest they could care less what you did with them, so if you sent crowns back to KI it would be a worthless loss of crowns. so instead how about have the 5% xtra pay returned evenly to all players who participated. BUt I do like the idea of actually auctioning of items that are "no auction", but how about before someone auctions a crowns item, a massage pops up that goes: "Are you sure you want to auction off this item?" Yes No "Are you REALLY sure you want auction off this item?" Yes No "Are you REALLY REALLY sure you want to auction off tthis item?" Yes No Then it's on auction for set amount of time.
This is what i posted a while back in the topic No Auction-
Jun/2/2011 2:52 pm Subject: Re:no auction
sedcmd7379 Novice Wizard
Joined: Apr/16/2011 2:35 pm
Messages: 16
Maybe what this game needs then is a Auction system in place - 1 day auctions that the player can set for crowns or for gold. That way items that say no auction can be auctioned. Considering the items that you buy in store are not auction items so they kinda have the wrong tag name for it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Above is what i posted to no response. There really needs to be something like what you have proposed. I really like the idea and it is definetly needed. I wouldnt say just in crowns but in gold also. Some of us dont buy crowns that often but have a lot of gold and need to spend it on something lol
Gonna split this up and take your points one by one.
kckool wrote:
LIsten GoCowBoys, that's not how KI makes there money with crowns, they make the money when the customer buys the prepaid package of crowns on the website, the rest they could care less what you did with them, so if you sent crowns back to KI it would be a worthless loss of crowns.
It wouldn't actually. Players would be gaining crowns without spending a dime, so KingsIsle should get a cut. Especially when using their servers to make the transaction. Also, I think you're not quite understanding how an auction works, which I'll explain after your next statement.
so instead how about have the 5% xtra pay returned evenly to all players who participated.
OK, let me explain since you DO have no idea how an auction works. If I were to bid 1000 crowns for something, and at the last second, someone bid 1,001, I would still have my 1,000 crowns. Just because I bid on something doesn't mean I lose the crowns if someone outbids me. The person who bid the most once the timer expires is the only one who loses crowns. So me giving 5% to people who didn't lose any crowns would be dumb and people would be wanting to LOSE auctions and get free crowns.
BUt I do like the idea of actually auctioning of items that are "no auction", but how about before someone auctions a crowns item, a massage pops up that goes: "Are you sure you want to auction off this item?" Yes No "Are you REALLY sure you want auction off this item?" Yes No "Are you REALLY REALLY sure you want to auction off this item?" Yes No Then it's on auction for set amount of time.
Again...I don't think this is necessary. There should be a part where players can offer a description of just what it is they're trying to auction. Again, for example, let's say I have two Epic Sea Dragons. I don't want a certain one, so I can tag it with "This dragon has Spritely, Skill Shot, etc. etc." They then state whether they want the auction to go for 1 day, 3 days or 1 week. They then state what they want the starting bid to be, etc. etc. There are already several screens in which they'd have to go through, and if at the very end they still don't realize they're auctioning off the wrong item, then frankly they deserve to lose it. Also, KingsIsle could impliment a fail safe just in case where a player can cancel the auction within an hour losing only the 5% posting fee.
Well, the currency used couldn't be crowns because why would they give you crowns when you didn't buy them?
Because players will have to PURCHASE the crowns in order to use them. And again, KingsIsle is taking a percentage from the front and back ends, so regardless, they'd be getting crowns from each transaction made. Here's another bare-bones example just to show you. I'd auction off a Pink Dandelion for 100 crowns. They sell in the crowns store for 500, so someone who really wants one would bid on it. The timer expires and the player wins the Pink Dandelion. With the 5% before and after that I suggested, off this one meager transaction, KingsIsle would get 10 crowns, and I would get 90 and the winner of the auction would get a 500 crown item for 100 crowns. Everyone is happy. KingsIsle gets paid, I get paid, and the winner gets a crowns only item for 1/5 the cost of buying it at it's original price.
However, let me show what else could happen. I recently got a second "Dragonriders Vigilant Helm". This is an Ultra-Rare hat that I believe can only be acquired through buying Dragon Hoard packs. It gives various boosts and a Rebirth card. I could set this auction at 500 crowns due to its rarity. A lot of players would see it and want it and a bidding war ensues. After a week, the item sells for 3,500 crowns. In this scenario, KingsIsle would get 25 crowns for the posting and 175 crowns for the auction. So for doing absolutely nothing, they get 200 crowns, or the price of 4 Level 50 Henchmen. Crowns exchange between players which they can then use for other items, so in the end KingsIsle makes out like bandits.
This could also help some children who are test realm only get a one month subscription. If they get enough smaller items through drops that can't be auctioned, eventually they can auction off enough to get a one month subscription. Again, only benefits KingsIsle as the other citizens of the Spiral are essentially paying for other people to get subscriptions.
Yes, but, not all no auction gear is crown gear and every pet is no auction. What if people who sell crafted gear and pets start getting crowns they never paid for? While yes KI is making money off of people buying crowns to buy the items, but then they are making little to no money off the person auctioning these items off.
The only way to make crowns is to buy them, or earn them by getting friends to subscribe to Wizard101... This is a known and stated fact by KI...
Now, Your Idea would actually cost KI tons of money, rather than make them tons of money... Here is why... If a person wants a specific pet, they have to either farm for it, or buy it for a specific price at the crown shop...
Then they have to train it, using either normal snacks, or buying mega snack packs from the crown shop.
Now, if you were to sell an already trained pet that you don't want, because you got it from hatching or etc, it would be fine if you sold it for gold, but no way would it be fine for crowns...
People then could buy areas for said crowns...
Also, you talked about crown seeds, you can sell those for gold at any housing shop... Now, if you sold them for crowns, KI would lose crowns because people would buy seeds that are cheaper rather than their seeds...
As for the new gear, Again, an auction for gold may not be so bad, but no way would KI let this happen for crowns... If people want this gear, they can do what everyone else does, buy crowns and keep trying by buying the dragon hoard set...
Now, if these items were available for gold, people would not be buying them for crowns in the crown shop...
If KI intended them to be auctionable, they would allow them to be auctioned at the Bazaar...
The only thing that makes sense is this... If you, went to the Bazaar, you could put your pet up for auction for gold... On the auction block, it would show the pet and the talents and would only be up for 1 day... Anyone who bids 200k gold would automatically win the pet, or the highest bidder would win the pet, when time expired... Then, after that time, you would get the gold, however, if the pet sold for 200k and you already had 50k then you would lose the 50k because max gold is 200k...
This is the only Auction that I could possibly see added to the system and even then, it is doubtful...
