Why doesnt Basil have an Auction Forum?
Everyone tries to spam what they are selling in the general maplestory chat area. So, why not have a forum to sell items? It would be kind of interesting. I wouldn't have to wait to place or receive bids. Basil would get a group of people who are ready to spend some cash, and a group of people that are ready to sell, all in one spot. You could chat back and forth in real time and make a deal. If there is a good item for a good price, it will sell. If it is too expensive and the buyer wont budge or it is a crappy item, then it will get pushed to the bottom of the forum over time. Mr. Basil could even set it up so the titles of the forum listings are just the items up for sale. Here are some thoughts on the details of the Auction Forum.
Perhaps a limit of 5 Auction Forum posts a day would keep the spam low? I think the number of forums in this section shouldn't relate to the rest of the site though. I considered the possibility of creating your own titles, (instead of the item up for sale) but I feel like that will get spammy and people would abuse it. I can easily imagine seeing titles like, "selling my cell phone," or other silly titles. Also I considered the topic setter to be able to add more items in their forum topic section. I think this shouldn't be the case. The topic of the thread should just be the item with its stats and a 140 character box for extra info about the item. Using the extra info box should be for things like adding items you will consider trading it for, min price, etc. There should be guidelines for this though that can be punishable if not followed. It should not be used to list more items. These rules will keep a poster from making their title a super rare item they don't even have, just to get a flood of excited people into their thread, only to see the topic setters crappy list of 20 items they actually want to sell. If they can only list one item in the title, they wont pretend they have a super nice item to get hype. They will want to list the actual item they are actually selling.
So far this is all I have. If you like my idea or have suggestions on what would make it better, please let me know!
NEW IDEAS SO FAR:
24 hr count down timer, until the thread expires. Will keep the Auction Thread cleaner and current.
6 Comments • Newest first
[quote=Amuro]I believe all of the other major MS fansites have a section dedicated to buying/selling in their forums, and almost no one used those in the history of MS. It's been proven that ordinarily, there isn't any sort of demand to justify it, and the only reason it's been happening here as of late was because of the inadequate new auction system, which will likely be fixed somewhere down the line.
No matter how you design it, there will be ways to misuse and abuse it. Why invest in something that will only cause problems, when an auction system alone has worked all this time?[/quote]
I think most of the time the reason those systems dont work is because they dont have the community of people, or there isnt a need for it. Necessity is a driving factor in the popularity of these types of forums and many games would have no use for my idea. For example, I wouldnt go to dnest forum to post an item because:
Number one, their in game system of selling is awesome,
and
Number two, no one would see it. I believe the community on basil is large enough to sustain my idea.
EDIT: Interesting input though.
[quote=br333]I view it in a different way though. It is different then the basil selling system. It is more of a live auction house setting where the buyers and sellers can meet to make a deal. I believe that there should be a selling section of basil still. If I wanted to drop an item in for sale and leave, I could use the current system. A forum would be more live action, with fast current sellers. Find a deal on an item or browse around for current sellers that are selling right now. The first page would be popular items but it would be just like the regular forums. If it isnt interesting then it will be pushed away. Plus with a limit, it isnt like there will be a floood of posts all at once. The items that are pushed away is alright because this forum auction section isnt meant for items to be viewed for 5 days. It is kept current. After 24 hrs, the thread for an item could even be auto deleted. It is supposed to be a more live action auction feel to it! Exciting right?[/quote]
I believe all of the other major MS fansites have a section dedicated to buying/selling in their forums, and almost no one used those in the history of MS. It's been proven that ordinarily, there isn't any sort of demand to justify it, and the only reason it's been happening here as of late was because of the inadequate new auction system, which will likely be fixed somewhere down the line.
No matter how you design it, there will be ways to misuse and abuse it. Why invest in something that will only cause problems, when an auction system alone has worked all this time?
[quote=Amuro]The old auction system allowed trades to happen on their own with little regulation, and the new one will hopefully allow for that too once things are sorted out. A trading section defeats the purpose of the auction system, is much less organized (in the sense that anything beyond the first page will likely be overlooked), and would create more work for the mods.[/quote]
I view it in a different way though. It is different then the basil selling system. It is more of a live auction house setting where the buyers and sellers can meet to make a deal. I believe that there should be a selling section of basil still. If I wanted to drop an item in for sale and leave, I could use the current system. A forum would be more live action, with fast current sellers. Find a deal on an item or browse around for current sellers that are selling right now. The first page would be popular items but it would be just like the regular forums. If it isnt interesting then it will be pushed away. Plus with a limit, it isnt like there will be a floood of posts all at once. The items that are pushed away is alright because this forum auction section isnt meant for items to be viewed for 5 days. It is kept current. After 24 hrs, the thread for an item could even be auto deleted. It is supposed to be a more live action auction feel to it! Exciting right?
Edit: @above: Yes, I agree to this. I would hate for this to be the only option to sell items. In no way is this an idea to replace our current system! However, if I have an item I want to make some fast cash on, I could post it and sell it within an hr. I could even bargain right on the spot. Getting fast offers would naturally let me figure out if im asking too much or even too little. This forum would almost be the basil equivalent of the FM on maplestory.
The old auction system allowed trades to happen on their own with little regulation, and the new one will hopefully allow for that too once things are sorted out. A trading section defeats the purpose of the auction system, is much less organized (in the sense that anything beyond the first page will likely be overlooked, and nothing is sorted), and would create more work for the mods.
I am very old to basil.... why...
You must be new to basil.