Gold Capped: Sleazy auctioneers and giving away trade secrets

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-28-2010 @ 2:58PM

Kylenne said...

I'm probably what you could call part of WoW's Middle Class; I'm not filthy rich, but I've been able to easily afford epic flight on multiple toons and things like a Battered Hilt. I'm generally too lazy to farm, but I do have almost every profession covered on my alts, intentionally so I don't have to deal with people like you on the AH. I have a great deal of old world enchants of the sort that fetch a premium, but I try to charge reasonable prices. It seems to me that your last paragraph is pretty much invalidated by your first few. From where I'm sitting, people who aren't jerks wouldn't care about their "secrets" getting out. In no other aspect of the game do people act like that--just on this site, I don't see angry comments on class guides or pvp guides or what have you. IMO this kind of paranoid selfishness is inherent to people for whom this is the *only* part of the game. It's all about them, and their gold hoarding, and screw everyone else. I also come from a server whose economy is almost entirely jacked up because of these AH shut ins, who frequently start sending angry whispers to people who undercut them. Gordon Gekkos, the lot of them. Personally, I'm thrilled every time Blizzard does something like the glyph change, or breaking addons, if only to see these douchebags cry into their cheetos.

But I'm honest enough to admit my generally dim view of people who seem to do nothing but camp the AH all day comes from having very little respect for unfettered capitalism IRL, being the dirty hippie I am and seeing what it's done to my country up close (I used to work in the financial services industry), and seeing the same rationalizations for greed and predatory behavior on here is kind of lulzy to me. At least no one in the game is really hurt by it, unlike IRL. If it makes you feel any better, I have even less respect for the PvP griefers than I do for the AH griefers. FWIW, I think you're one of the good guys, Basil, but don't kid yourself. (And here comes the downvoting, lol.)

10-28-2010 @ 3:03PM

frugality said...

I think you save yourself from massive downvoting because you clarify that your opinion is borne exclusively about how you view real world economics. That being said, that's a dangerous topic to broach on a WoW site. Therefore, I give you another youtube video classic, the Hayek v. Keynes rap:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk

10-28-2010 @ 3:17PM

Kylenne said...

Ha, it's not as though this wasn't going to end up a massive wankfest anyway, given that auctioneering tends to bring out very strong opinions in people.

FWIW, I tend to believe the Gorden Gekko types (people with massive automating operations over multiple accounts and the like) are a distinct minority in the playerbase as a whole, just like nerdraging raid leaders who scream on vent are a minority. As I said in another comment, people who are obsessed with one aspect of the game to the exclusion of everything else are far more likely to be wankers that piss everyone off about it, it doesn't matter whether it's AH camping, PvP, raiding, RPing or anything else. It's just that, well, you're far more likely to have to deal with the AH shut ins than the other groups. You don't *have* to raid, or do any of those other activities, but no matter what aspects of the game you're into, eventually you're probably going to have to go on the AH at some point.

10-28-2010 @ 4:06PM

frugality said...

Frankly, I wanted an excuse to post that video. (IT'S AWESOME, WATCH IT!)

I would just say that if you are a "super casual" player, then you will not even notice the people who hardcore auctioneer. Like you, I have alts with almost all of the professions...just missing JC, but I still use the AH to get rid of my extra mats or the stuff i farm up on my farmer (gotta love that herb and mining are now easy to use at once) and I respect that the opportunity cost of camping the AH is kind of annoying. I am unsure about the remote AH/its specific mechanics.

Basically, I think that at some point demand will meet supply and after people buy off the crazed AHers, the goods of the casual player will remain. Thus, it all will work out if you are patient...maybe you'll have to repost a few times. Not that huge of a deal. It's like finally getting kingslayer this month instead of getting realm first.

10-29-2010 @ 10:59AM

Forreststump said...

"...comes from having very little respect for unfettered capitalism IRL"

I pretty much had that figured out in the first two sentences, but thanks for the confirmation. =)

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