Is it just me? (small rant)

Armitaage wrote:True, but the AAs and elites don't vary too much in value anyway, so it really won't cost a team any profit. Let's not forget that only 3 things are generally traded in auction : AAs, elites, and gold. Gold is not fluctuating much, always around 7ep for 1m, and elites and AAs generally stay around the same price anyway. The only thing that impacts on AAs and elites is the new monsters being released with each event.

Just remember every extra dollar you spend on ep is more dinero in their pocket. Now multiply that by hundreds of thousands of people who have done the same thing. That's pretty significant and profitable.

The general consensus I've heard from others is that auctions will most likely not change much if anything. From a logical viewpoint, if you are a stakeholder, why would you facilitate this process? Wouldn't you want to make it harder for someone to find what they are looking for, thus being at the mercy of the auctioneer and most likely BUYING EP to meet those demands? I've done it, not proud of it. I'm sure others have too.

It more of a convenience thing because I wanted what I wanted right then and there and looking for a monster/item at a just price is rather tedious with the way the auction system is set up. Even finding it on this forum is tiresome.

I dunno, with the search function, there's a trade off that balances itself. Namely that with a search function more people will be trading in the auction house and therefore the reduced cost of monsters won't have such a dreadful impact. And I'm sure that a team can easily implement a search function and cook up a new way to bleed us dry, lol

Power creep. By releasing higher and higher BP A monsters, A-Team will ensure that people will want to buy EP or summons to get these new monsters. You could put as much added functionality to the auction page as you want, but it won't eliminate the need for more EP. Most players trading monsters really want EP for them. If a player has the newest and highest BP monster, they are more likely to sell it for EP because every other monster is less powerful. This player probably also has a full A+ team and is saving for AAs.
The way the game is set up, there will always be the need to buy EP unless drastic changes are made

Very good point, deemo, that certainly is true. While a search function will stabilize prices, so long as gold remains useless, and a search function WILL make it more useless still, ep will remain the currency of choice. With a team bombarding us with events that bring more and more powerful monsters, ep sales will not be impacted much, lol

I don't think anyone is arguing that adding functionality would eliminate people from buying absurd amounts of ep. No one is saying that. All I'm saying is that facilitating the process, of which you are finding what you are looking for, would give the buyer slightly more leverage. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that this in turn would lead to less ep being bought, slightly to say the least. It may not look like much on the surface but in the grand scheme of things it equates to millions. This is the type of consumer behavior that multi-million d0llar companies such as A-team monitor.

Think about it this way. People will pay around 1.5 million and up to get on the front pages and this happens every day. 1.5 mil gold conservatively is 10 ep. That's ten bucks in teams pocket. Why would u pay anything but min if there is a search function. Now I realize u can save up gold without paying for it but gold does drive ep sales in a round about way.

Two very valid points! But on the other hand, adding a search function might also increase the EP bought from A Team. This sounds strange, but it could be possible.
Let's say you want to buy a Balrog A, and you're looking to pay in EP. The guys on the first ten pages are offering one for 40 EP, and you don't want to pay that. Yes, some people might break down and buy more EP to afford these prices. A lot will also say naaaah, I'll just wait / buy something else. Now if I have a search function and can go through 6 pages of posts with a Balrog A in them without sifting through crap, I might find one that is selling it for 25 EP. Hey, that's a bargain. Let's get it! Buy some EP, get a Balrog!
I'm on lunch so the above point is quick and messy, but hopefully it shows how accessibility can have an impact in purchasing decisions. A person is more likely to purchase a good deal. If you make good deals more readily available to people, this leads to a larger number of purchases. EP is a finite resource when obtained in-game, so eventually it must be paid for. Even if less EP is being spent per transaction, it might work out to more EP being spent in total due to a greater number of transactions occurring.

Auction classic from a guy offering: Cruel Black Wings, Naga and 3 B+
"Eps or an AA always on will not hold any offers if you offer both aa and Eps its auto win thanks and happy bidding"

I know it must be a newbie, but still... LOL

Lol, it goes without saying, but AA is the obvious autowin in ANY auction, regardless of how big the difference in value, lol. Still, only a complete moron would offer an AA for that, lol.

it really is a runaway process. One guy posts stupid stuff like this and two more see it and think its viable. Then four then eight.... and soo on until you get a ridiculous auction house that we see today.