Auction/Trade House Thoughts

[professor ape]

Originally Posted by bailey

Inflationary pressure?? You are kidding me. I thought you were interested in cards selling for fair market value? If someone wants to pay 50K for a card, but doesn't want to scour the AH 25 times a day why can't they make the offer in advance for as many cards as they wanted? I would go so far as to suggest changing the AH to a buyer's market where people bid up cards at a price they are willing to pay. Every card is listed ALWAYS and starts at the quick sell value and potential buyer's bid the price up until a seller hits the SELL NOW button and it is sold and the price reverts back to quick sell value. In this case, the auction would be cancelled and started over after 24 hours from the final bid with no sellers (so as not to tie up a buyer's capital forever).

Anyway, as far as your idea goes, why should a card sitting on the AH for 5, 10 or even 24 hours that gets BIN'ed make the buyer wait 10 more minutes? Maybe, how about every card for sale the BIN doesn't show for 15 minutes and if during that time the bidding goes above the seller's BIN, then obviously that BIN is ignored and the new BIN is the highest priced reached after 15 minutes plus 10% and the auction continues until the time allotted by the seller expires. (That might teach newbie sellers to price their cards higher and lead to even more inflation and make even more money for the company.)

You raise some interesting and very valid ideas but I think you are adding a lot of complexity here which could get confusing for the masses. If noobs can’t feel comfortable with the game then they will drop off. Having a larger population of casual but active players is good for all of us.
Simplicity was key for the suggestion to hold the BIN for ten minutes. Casual fans can easily understand a countdown for it to be available, it is not disruptive to the intended function of the AH, and it only makes the game more fair for all. The complication is that this requires the creation of the Trade House (TH) for those who wish to make trades. I think that works because the TH would be available to those who wish to participate in it but does not complicate the AH. It also bring trading out from the shadows and I think a lot of people would find it to be a fun addition.

[bailey]

Originally Posted by professor ape

You raise some interesting and very valid ideas but I think you are adding a lot of complexity here which could get confusing for the masses. If noobs can’t feel comfortable with the game then they will drop off. Having a larger population of casual but active players is good for all of us.

I don't disagree with this, but your idea adds complexity too. If I BIN a card sitting on the AH for 10 hours for 10 points, I sure don't want to wait 10 more minutes to get it. As far as newbies go, there are over 1000 new teams being added each week and from the looks of it (I had a new team in rookie last week) 99% are abandoned after the starter packs are opened. A genuinely interested newbie will not be deterred by the complexity added by any suggestion in this thread.

[professor ape]

Originally Posted by bailey

I don't disagree with this, but your idea adds complexity too. If I BIN a card sitting on the AH for 10 hours for 10 points, I sure don't want to wait 10 more minutes to get it. As far as newbies go, there are over 1000 new teams being added each week and from the looks of it (I had a new team in rookie last week) 99% are abandoned after the starter packs are opened. A genuinely interested newbie will not be deterred by the complexity added by any suggestion in this thread.

I’m not sure I understand your first point. The clock would only apply to the ten minutes immediately following when the seller first posts the card in the AH. Once that clock expires it is business as usual. If you as the buyer see a card that has been up for more than ten minutes, then you would be able to use the BIN right away.

Say I post a card at noon with a BIN. If you see the card on the AH at 12:05 then the clock would show five minutes before you could BIN. However, if you entered the AH after 12:10 then you could BIN right away as the initial hold has expired.