Spiral Knights - Is there a guiding philosophy behind the Featured Auctions?

Is there a guiding philosophy behind the Featured Auctions?

16 replies [Last post]

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 21:20

Mayaura

Here's what i know or think I know.

A free-to-play game has to limit the ways players can generate in-game wealth in order to motivate them to buy energy with real world cash, and the featured auctions, by somewhat undermining the resell value of accessories, play a part in that. Furthermore, Featured Auctions also give players access to rare accessories that they might not otherwise get, so it's a win-win for us and OOO.

The Featured Auctions are pre-programmed and are not just randomly generated. Everything that appears in a Featured Auction does so because it was intentionally programmed to appear for a reason at a certain time and for a certain duration.

It seems like there are several pre-programmed loops running concurrently.

Occasionally someone at OOO "manually", if you will, programs special items to appear, such as bombhead masks or something.

Does that sound about right?

So, how are the items that appear chosen? Why those items and not others? And what motivates OOO to make a special insertion from time to time?

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 23:29

Klipik-Forum

In theory it would be a complex mathematical formula intertwined with the economy and the material and costume market to try and keep them stable, with human adjustments if something needs a little tweaking. In practice it's probably more straightforward, like "these are thing from old promos that were in high demand so we will sell them to burn the players' crowns and keep the CE prices from exploding to the point where people quit" and the human interaction part is "oh I remember this item that not too many people got but I like it, I'll put it in".

Also, observation: Mawa likes conspiracy theories. Eury doesn't.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 02:08

Rich-Tbiscuit

Yeah, I would assume they're not randomly generated and are on a programmed rotation. Even the rarer ones to appear on there that look like they have 'manually' added tend to be the same things so I'm betting they're also on rotation, but just set to appear less often.

On a whole they're a good thing but it would be nice if the featured auctions changed a bit. I know its supposed to give access to rarer items but having the same divine/prismatic/aura things on repeat has reduced their rarity.

It would be cool if they added things that aren't rare in the sense of shadow/prismatic/divine but things that you rarely see people wearing or on the Auction House that people might have been searching for for a while to complete their costumes. Throw a few non-shadow/prismatic/divine scarves, toupees, bomb bandoliers, moustaches, vertical vents into the mix occasionally or something.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 02:28

Soltanis

Sounds logical to me, I don't

Sounds logical to me, I don't know why you would want it to not be automatic, it would be a lot of work otherwise. I suspect most of them are generated in set arrays, then one of the snipes gets extra helping of lettuce to pick something special from another array that's filled by items that sold well in previous auctions.

Economics is one of the most fascinating subjects ever and when you also include human psychology into it, it is even more fun.

Take for instance the latest addition to Steam, the Trading Cards are pretty amazing to watch. If you look close enough you can see the Steam user strings being pulled by the economist at Valve.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 03:25

Mayaura

Would Three Rings respond to players' requests for items?

If there were a poll or something where they could see what items players most want and would pay the most for, do you think they'd manually insert those or alter their programming a bit so that supply better met demand?

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 04:03

Rich-Tbiscuit

Not sure.

Possibly, but they might not want to ruin the hunt for the most wanted items by just saying 'here you go' when people ask for them. They would probably want to choose what items they put up themselves.

But there's no harm I guess in starting a thread in Suggestions or contacting directly to see what they say.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 08:08

Koi-Wa-Sensou

Rotation

The Featured Auctions (that is, the ones that most commonly appear i.e. wings, dappers, auras, etc.) are on a scheduled rotation. Similarly, so are the Chapeaus, Love Pup/Trojan Masks, etc. (wonder why those chaps disappear so quickly, eh...) But as for other featured Auctions, I do have some reason to believe they are programmed in manually.

I cite the example of the Volcanic/Prismatic/Divine parrying blade FA about 1 year ago. As some old-time merchants will know, I was looking for a Volcanic Parrying Blade for about 3-4 months. My birthday fell on the same day that the Featured Parrying auctions were put up. Coincidence? I think not. While this may not be enough to indicate that someone or someones were behind the scenes pulling the strings, I cite this other example.

Mawashimono put up a Prismatic Plume. Less than 12 hours later, 3 Prismatic Plumes pop on the AH. Featured, no less. Coincidence? Again, I think not.

Lastly, look at the appearance of a Gold and Blue Chapeau on the featureds last month. I consider this to be OOO 'testing the waters' as to another 'lucrative marketing strategy' (read as: Cutting out the middleman and making more profit). I am hoping OOO chooses not to add those into their regular rotation, given the Rose Regalia market, player complaints, etc. etc. you get the point. We saw this two years ago with the Black/Red/White rose sets on the Featureds.

In my opinion, what separates the 'usual suspects' from the 'additions' is what I will call the middleman theory. The Middleman theory suggests that OOO will always want to eliminate the middleman (the merchants) and get the most direct route of profit (so instead of Buy CE > Buy CR > Buy from Merchant) it will be (Buy CE > Buy CR > Buy from OOO). Using Parrying Blades as an example, they are so rare that I'm sure some people would be willing to throw down $50-$100 to obtain one, especially the Prismatic. However, items such as Prismatic Wings and Twilight Auras are popular and have a known buyer-base, and will almost always sell for a good price.

Anyways, tl;dr: The 'usual suspects' are on rotation. The other stuff that gets thrown in periodically isn't.

P.S. Hey OOO, remember that one time you did a full sweep of volcanic/divine/prismatic x, y, z, everything? Yeah? Okay, can we have that again? Okay, thanks.

~Xairathan

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 17:06

Mayaura

ty, Xair

I appreciate the insights from one of the super Merchants. I think it's neat what they did for you on the birthday of a player they like. It sucks, though, that they would spite I player that they don't favor.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 17:16

Our-Little-Ajo

I know their secret

Here's Nick preparing the complex algorithm behind the featured auctions.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/9894/c2d2f93e815e544df6ca2c5.gif

...

..........

Damn.. I'll throw you the secret if you send me a picture ...

Lol

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 16:19

Rating

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFddje9_UBU

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 16:42

#10

Rustymacola

Hey OP. I dont even know you

[No personal attacks please ♥]

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 19:19

#11

Klipik-Forum

Mawa is the GM of Lionheart, one of the biggest guilds in SK.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 20:22

#12

Rating

Lionheart Honor Blade? *mind

Lionheart Honor Blade?

*mind blown*

Fri, 06/28/2013 - 05:38

#13

Minnie-Maggie

I am very disappointed that the gm's have tolerated such blatant bullying of a player as seen in reply #10

I find this topic very interesting and I am curious how the featured auctions are set. This thread did not warrant any angry responses let alone bullying.

Fri, 06/28/2013 - 06:41

#14

Shamanalah

my 2 cents

Apparently I'm the only one with a brain so I'll share some of my find with you

Wolver Tail Featured Auction Spawn Rate: 1 per 4 to 8 days
Ugly normal wings: 1 per 6 to 9 days
Prismatic Glow Eye: 1 per 2 weeks
Halo: 1 per 2-3 weeks
Tabar (suit) each month or each other month you will have them
Randoms volca/divine stuff (bombhead mask) are being poured in too at a random pace. This section would be (my opinion only) generated by someone from OOO, and sure enough there are down time just like there are up time. There wasn't much yesterday but I bet there will be plenty in 2 to 3 days

It's not rocket science, just watch the AH each day and after a while you will notice a pattern.

The funny thing is my GM is actively looking for a prisma and divine wolver tail but keep missing the end time of all of them and I keep telling him "don't worry, another one will pop this week, one pop almost every week" and sure enough, one pops out. He has missed 5 as of now and I might snipe one for him

And also the AH featured actually last 72 hours and not 48 hours. They are 3 days auctions and I got *(@?& by this so I can guarantee it ^ ^

Edit: @ minnie There is no insult in his post, just a criticism of the OP intention. Which may be true... you may as well be his alt actually trying to ego-boost himself. OOO will do something if there is insult or something agains the ToS but he does not.

Fri, 06/28/2013 - 07:10

#15

Minnie-Maggie

The problem is the whole part about " It is clear you are well disliked by both players and OOO staff". I have seen other threads by Mawa and I understand that (s)he has gotten into a lot of fights, but this thread had nothing do to with it. I am amazed that OOO would let someone put words in their mouths about hating a player that I suspect has likely spent money on their game. The rest of the bullying displayed there including commenting on Mawa's mental health and saying everyone hates Mawa was also completely uncalled for regardless of whether or not it was tolerated (though it is blatant flaming). It seems hard to call post 10 anything but a personal attack and I think any level-headed third-party could see that. I really did not want to comment, but I have been through plenty of bullying and refuse to see someone else attacked without anyone standing up for them. Shame on you OOO (I sent a support ticket and you clearly did not take it seriously).

Fri, 06/28/2013 - 09:49

#16

Klipik-Forum

@Sham

Since when is "All you do is cry, everyone hates you and you should leave the game forever" not an insult and a personal attack?

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Is there a guiding philosophy behind the Featured Auctions?