What part of /auc is unclear to you?

[Breathe]

(Despite my ranting, I'm actually in quite a good mood today. Maybe 'cause I'm not letting things fester or something. )

When I go into the Bazaar (or any other zone for that matter), if I'm in a shopping mood or don't mind hearing about various wares, I leave /auction on. If I'm not in the mood, I turn it off. Yet there's always some yahoo who thinks that /shout or /ooc is his personal auction channel.

I'll often ask them politely to use /auc; often citing that they'll find their buying audience there. Othertimes I simply say "Wrong channel :>" in whichever channel they're using. Sometimes, I get fed up and get pissed, say something not nice, then ignore them or turn off all public channels before I lose it.

What part of /auc being for auctions do people NOT understand? What part of /shout and /ooc NOT being for selling is so hard to grasp? Why do people think that the conventions of polite society applies to everyone BUT them?

GRAR!

Done, thank you.

[Quesci]

I am a bit of a stickler for the rules and I have to say that I agree with you. I do want to point out a couple of counter arguments that I have heard:

/auc would be for auctions - in my four years on EQ, I have seen real auctions maybe 10 times, and all of them were people willing to get rid of a nice item cheap. "What am I offered for this? Player A offers 100pp. Do I hear 150pp?" etc.

/shout would be a roleplay way of attracting attention to your wares, especially in a bazaar. "All kinds of fresh foods for sale! Meat pies from Halas! Misty Thicket Picnics--always trust the hobbits to know good food!"

Some people say that since the bazaar is mostly for traders, then all of the channels should be open for trading.

I am not saying that I agree, but it does kind of irk me when people use the wrong channels. Asking where the bank is in /shout will have me reply in /shout "It is in the north part of the city, just west of the merchants selling brewing supplies." If they ask in /ooc they get "pos 400, pos 400"

[Gillin Whisperfoot]

Personally, I've gotten SO annoyed by all the garbage that sooner or later goes on over those zone wide channels that I've just turned em off. Period. And I'm much happier for it.

For safety safe, if I'm hunting in a rabid train zone/area I will grudgingly turn them back on when I get into the area... Sometimes it takes the first train to make me remember it. But as I play my druid (EVAC!!) or my enchanter (/g I am mezzing everything even CLOSE to >> %t << !!) or my cleric (/g Incoming rez... ) I don't worry too much about the first train, besides it makes for interesting strategy discussions afterwards.

But as soon as I'm done hunting and headed back to the clubhouse / forge / tailoring kit / what-have-you, the first obnoxious /shout or /ooc I hear, up comes the options window and off goes /obnoxious, all three of em.

I have (and still do sometimes) played on Firiona Vie and Test Server, where I've developed a deep and abiding LOVE of quiet, personal time. This is the closest I'm ever going to get to making the blue servers into that quiet place. And I've got too many friends and characters on Tunare to completely move.

There are too many times that my blood has starting pumping in frustration listening to the garbage that spills over those channels. For my own health I leave them off AS MUCH AS I CAN!!

[Chenier]

Yah, I'm a firm believer in turning everything off now (except when I need KEI) - no occ, shout or auc....I'm unguilded, so no guild chatter, usually not grouped, so no group chatter...niiiice and quiet. =)

[Velisaris]

Now, if they'd only put in a /casino channel for all those goobers who think the Bazaar just became their own personal Las Vegas, I'd be very happy.

[Pojodan]

I just have all those channels on a seperate window so they don't get in the way but if something interesting is announced I see it.

[Zedd]

Does anyone really pay attention to all that garbage anyway? Let's say you zone into the bazaar looking to purchase some leather padding. Do you stand there and wait for someone to start spamming the zone accross 3 different channels that they are selling some, or do you use the search filter?

Just my observation on WTS spam,
Zedd-Wizard of the 63rd fizzle

[Moonlilly]

Yes people actually pay attention to those channels. While selling Justice Fruit Pies I would put out an auction for them in /auc and on our servers auction channel, and most of my replys would come from people in the bazaar.

As for the other channel I heard this in PoK a couple weeks ago (wish I had logs on so I could have kept it)

A_Random_Dumbass shouts, "WTS <Something Stupid>"
A_Normal_Player shouts, "Try using the /auc channel"
A_Random_Dumbass shouts, "But people turnoff the auction channel"
A_Normal_Player shouts, "Now why do you think that is?"

[Gnastassja]

/ignore list has been increased to 100! YAY!

You gotta love when people shout /tells in the hunting zones too, eh? Drives me nuts! :P

[Aenadil]

There are a very few situations where I think /shout for a sale is justified. Containers can't be sold in the bazaar, for example, and many people turn off auction because of the spam. Yet, the only way to even sell a container is to spam, and you can't reach anyone if they turn off the auction channel.

Likewise, brand new items. I was using shout for unfolded bearskin potion bags because many didn't even know about them. So I would /shout, also saying it was a new tailored item, what its for, and so on.

The ones that REALLY burn me, however, are those with a lengthy list of items to sell FOR SET PRICES. If you know what you are selling and exactly how much you want for it, don't use shout, don't use ooc, and heck... don't even use auction. Use the BAZAAR. Its what it is designed for. Cancel your spam, clear the air so its not flooded with useless garbage, price your items, AND GO DO SOMETHING ELSE. Surely theres a more productive use for these peoples times than up-arrow + enter?

Of course, if all the spam were cleaned up such that only appropriate spam existed, then maybe people wouldn't find the need to turn off the auction channel so much, and the rare exceptions for spamming in shout would move to the appropriate channel as well. But that would require logic and reason, something too many people lack it seems.

[Clementine]

Filters are my friend half the time I have /shout and /ooc on (/auc has been permanently turned off unless I have time shopping in the bazaar). I still wish there's a way to purchase containers in the bazaar traders... speaking of containers.

[Quinner Sparrowhawk]

I wish there was a way to turn off all the casino garbage, like the random rolling, etc. As far as the auction channel goes, I get annoyed when anybody posts the same hotkeyed message more than once per minute. These #$#@$@#$ are the reason why others resort to OOC and Shout to reach customers who have turned off auction to avoid spam. What do they think, that the 1 person who zoned in 30 seconds ago who might want to buy their item but will zone out in the next 20 seconds so they might miss that message? Once per five minutes would suffice. I must admit that I am guilty of advertising services in OOC and Shout but only after I try auction once, and even then I only use each once. If I get no response, I don't bother to keep spamming everyone since it is obvious no one wants to buy my goods or services.

I do apologize if this message seems a bit disjointed, I administered a state education test ALL day today and my brain is a bit fried.

[Kcalehc]

...Containers can't be sold in the bazaar, for example, and many people turn off auction because of the spam. Yet, the only way to even sell a container is to spam, and you can't reach anyone if they turn off the auction channel......

So they use another channel to spam the people who have turned auction off because they don't want to hear your spam... nice one Some people just have no common sense. (I dont mean you I was just using your comment as an example)

[lonewylfe]

Actually, the random rolling can be moved to another window by selecting filter -> other
Still not sure what all other stuff is in the other filter, but it sure helps cut down on rolling spam.

[Quesci]

It definitely increases sales to use /auc to describe your wares. I notice many customers who come to my trader to buy an item shortly after I describe it in /auc. In some cases, these are things that people didn't realize that they needed (and isn't that the very definition of salesmanship?).

When I started making ceramic bands they just sat on my merchant. I saw others pricing 1 or 2 of them at 50-100pp but mine weren't moving at all. I even bought 10 from a nearby merchant who had them priced at 10pp. I sent her a tell asking if it was a mistake and offering them back, but she said no, she priced them that low because she couldn't sell them.

As soon as I started auctioning them, they sold like crazy at 50pp. I /auc in bazaar about once per minute and when I am in PoK maybe once per 5-10 minutes. Instead of the ordinary "WTS Green and White Ceramic Bands, 50pp", I get more creative:

"Selling Ceramic Bands. This handy item has a million uses. Pull with a low aggro spell. Tag for faction. Break roots. Get experience when your pet is killing. It works at level 20, so buy one for all of your friends. Only 50pp!"

"Selling Opal Encrusted Steins. Where else do you get 25 CHA for 25pp? Buy two and save the cost the first time you visit a merchant. (Pssst! Frogloks are uuuuugly!)"

That last bit was made get the attention of those people twinking new frogs with the release of LoY. Steins flew out of my inventory once I started doing that. Sure, people could have looked for the item in /bazaar and seen that I sell my steins for the exact price as everyone else. By hawking my wares (NOT spamming), I got their attention when they may not have even THOUGHT to buy CHA gear or a utility band for their characters.