[Guide] Auction Channel, or global-2
Guide to the Auction Channel.
There is an unofficial auction channel on global-2. If properly used, it can greatly help your progress in the game. If you use it improperly, you'll be ignored and lose out on some great deals.
If you read and understand the following, you'll be able to enjoy use of the Auction Channel.
To join the auction channel, type:
/joinchat global-2
To leave auction and get back to "wild west" general chat, type:
/joinchat gobal-1
Note that the Auction Channel is not for general chatting. I would highly recommend you join and simply listen at first. You'll usually see an auctioneer, which is not an official position but simply someone whom the community respects. He announces the people who are auctioning, keeps track of the high bids, closes the auction, and announces the winner. If you have any questions about what is happening, either wait for awhile, or whisper the auctioneer. They will usually respond in time, and it keeps down chat, which improves the auctions.
You must be level 17 and have a branch office to trade; so don't bother bidding or selling until you have that. You can still listen and watch at any level, however.
Each person who wants to auction whispers the auctioneer. He calls the first, and they list the items they have for sale. Note that unless specified, the seller will send all trades. Many advanced players have mouse macros that make this easier for them; but if you don't, simply add "buyer sends trades" to your auction announcement. This will almost certainly result in a lower price, but it is much easier.
Here is an example auction announcement:
1200 granite (3 stacks), 1200 min
All auctions are for gold coins; I recommend not trying to auction for anything else as it gets confusing. First you list the goods you have, and then the minimum amount of gold coins you'll take in trade for them. I personally recommend a minimum of about 75% of the "value" of the item. What is the value of an item? Watch auctions to see what they go for! The amount of gold you'll get is usually less than you could get using the trade tab, but it is much faster. An example: crossbows often trade 200 for 400 gold coins on trade tab, but in the auction channel they'll sell more like 1200 for 2000. You get your coins faster, and the buyer gets more crossbows faster.
If you don't know what your items are worth, you can list them "no min" which will quickly rise to close to their value. You can tell what the value roughy is by when the auctions stop jumping by 50 or 100 and start moving by 5s. Always bid by at least 5 gold coins as it keeps things simple and moving quickly. I personally recommend bidding close to your maximum quickly as it often scares people away (and gives them less time to think). I've seen a stack of granite get no bids when listen with a 600 minimum, but then later go to over 700 when started at 400.
Sometimes you'll see a combined auction, such as:
1000 titanium ore, 1200 steel swords, 1100 gunpowder, 10k bread, 42x SotV, 50 granite, 1000 minimum.
These auctions are harder to price and so they often go for more because they attract people who are interested in different items. The above I would value at somewhere around 400+200+400+250+0+60 or 1310 gold coins; I wouldn't be surprised to see it sell for over 1500 or more.
You'll note "42x SotV" in the listing; one huge advantage over trade tab is you can sell adventures. The "good" adventures sell for between 1000 and 2000 gold or more; the "bad" ones (like SotV) are not worth the time it takes to trade them. If you stick around in global-2, you will see someone auction a group such as:
2 OT 2 HB 3 WOTS 1 IOTP 5 SOTV
which is the way they get rid of the lower-level adventures that they find while searching for Nords and Black Knights.
Here are the abbreviations I know for adventures, along with the "value":
OT Outlaws - Low
HB Horseback - Low
WOTS Witch of the Swamp - Low
OF Old Friends - Low
IOTP Island of the Pirates - Low
SOTV Sons of the Veld - Negative
SE Secluded Experiments - Very Low
DP Dark Priests - Moderate
SFTR Stealing from the Rich - Moderate
VTV Victor the Vicious - Medium
Mother Motherly Love - Medium
DB Dark Brotherhood - Medium/Low
Nords Nords - High
BK Black Knights - High
RB Roaring Bull - Very High
The "value" of an adventure directly depends on the rewards you get from it compared to the rewards. Nords is quite valuable because the XP you get compared to the troops lost is the best in the game. RB is very valuable because the loot is phenomenal and the troop loss not bad at all. The more "slots" an adventure has the more valuable it is, as you'll see shortly. I personally wouldn't buy an adventure until you've run it so you know what you're getting into. Watch the auctions and learn!
You will see four other items offered for sale in the Auction Channel that are not (yet) available on the trade tab (TT). Firstly, you may see people offering "basket buffs" such as "25 basket buffs immediate, no min." What they're offering is to buff 25 of your buildings the moment you pay for the auction. Remember that a basket buff from a friend lasts nine hours, so not only do you save production house time (which becomes VERY important at the higher levels), but you save the mats and get a longer buff! Most sellers want to buff immediately, but some will offer to buff "now or later."
The second items you'll see are deposits. People will sell everything from gold deposits to iron deposits to the ever popular fish and meat deposits. You'll recognize these auctions from the word "deposits" in the description, such as:
10k meat deposit, no min
Why would you buy a meat deposit? Because it will be dropped immediately and frees up production house time. When you're higher level, your production house should mainly (and perhaps only) be producing breadmans, groups of settlers so you can make more troops and keep your barracks running. Fish deposits, wheat deposits, and iron deposits are also sold (and I heard a rumor about a water deposit).
Thirdly, you'll have people selling giftable gem items. Why do they do this? Because they want coins or other materials, and the amounts in the store are frankly pathetic. Instead of buying gold directly, they can offer to sell a "noble deed, gifted, no min" and get 250 gold coins or more for their 95 gems. Great items to get this way are watermills, silos, jolly geologists, improved drill plans, and any other giftable gem item. Sometimes you'll even see "shopping sprees" where someone will auction something like this:
800 gem items gifted, 1200 min
After you win (and gems go for 2 gold each or more), you'll be able to pick what items you want gifted. Note that anything with a limit (veterans, licenses, etc) cannot be gifted and so you must buy them with your own gems.
The fourth and final auction specialty are lootspots. A player will start a Black Knights, say, and finish almost all of the entire adventure. Then they'll auction the open slots like so:
BK LS FF, 1000 min, top 2 win
These auctions are always a bit confusing, as the top two bidders win, but they sometimes get confused and bid against each other anyway. A simpler method may be to sell one lootslot, and then whisper the second place bidder offering to sell him the other one at his last bid.
The above lootspot will go for quite high (I've personally paid 1975 for one I wasn't even able to get into because the game messed up) - why? Because you get all the loot from the adventure with the loss of only between 1 and 5 recruits (sometimes one cavalry unit). You send a general (it is always polite to have a battle hardened general ready to go), hit the camp specified (ask the seller and they'll tell you exactly what troops to bring and what to hit and from where), and then wait for them to finish. In the above announcement, you have BK = Black Knights, LS = lootspot, FF = fast finish (they can win the moment you tag). Sometimes someone will sell "finished in an hour or so" or similar; these often go for much less and can be a good deal if you're willing to wait.
Note that you can only have one adventure invite active at any time; don't bid on a second until you finish the first or you'll delay the seller, which is uncouth. What do lootspots sell for? Often a number of coins equal to the amount of granite you may get. Nords can drop 800 granite, so a lootspot often goes for 600 or more (as the granite is not guaranteed). Often you'll only get exotic wood logs, so get used to disappointment. If you want to earn gold coins, running a number of Dark Priests and Stealing from the Rich adventures and selling the lootslot can be quite profitable. Adventures that have a chance of a building often sell for more.
Etiquette
When auctions are going DO NOT CHAT. Even if you see well respected elders doing it, refrain. If someone accidentally asks a question or chats in the wrong window, whisper them. The poor auctioneer has enough to do without saying "cut the chatter" over and over again. Of course, auctioneers should not encourage chatting by chatting themselves, commenting on the bids, or saying "do I hear BID+5." While it is quite appropriate for a "real" auction, in chat there is no need to raise your voice over others (unless people won't stop chatting).
NEVER COMMENT ON THE AUCTION. It is rude to the seller to exclaim that the current bid is "too high" for the items, as it discourages bidding. And if the minimum is too high, simply don't bid. The auctioneer will see no activity, and after a wait, will ask the seller if he'd like to lower his bid or pass. Making insultingly low bids is almost as bad; if someone puts an auction up for "no min," be polite and bid at least half of its value, or don't bid at all. Yelling "NEXT" or similar just disrupts the auction, and someone who lists SotV at 400 gold will quickly see there is no action when chat remains absolutely silent.
BID CORRECTLY. You should check carefully that the amount you've entered in chat is something you'd be willing to pay. Obvious typos will be allowed to be retracted, but it slows the auction down and causes confusion, which usually breaks out in chatter. Don't wait until you see "going once, going twice" to bid. Bid what you're willing to pay early and you won't miss out. If your bid comes in after the auctioneer types "sold," you've lost. The auctioneer's screen is final, and arguing over it can easily be avoided by bidding a fair price early. Note that there is a five second delay between chat messages which means that you cannot bid in rapid succession; however, the auctioneer is under the same delay so there will be at least 15 seconds between the last bid and "sold."
BID POLITELY. Nobody wants to sit around while a RB lootslot is bid up to 1800 from 0 by fives. And all bid increments should be 5. I personally recommend bidding in jumps of 100 until you get "close" to the value of the item, then drop to 50, then 25, then 5. When you're fighting it out with Stabby above the value, sure, bid by five. But beware someone bidding 100 over you! While you consider whether you want it, the auction may close! I find that opening with the amount I'm willing to pay often frightens everyone else away.
DO NOT SPAM. This is perhaps the most important rule of all. Auction Channel, global-2, is for auctions and auctions only. If you want to sell your items for a fixed price, go to global-1 (or I hear, global-3). If you list items for sale in auction-2, you will be ignored by the bidders. Many people, myself included, will not purchase or sell to anyone on their ignore list. If you simply must sell your items, auction some of them and then offer to sell to the losing bidders via whisper. Spam global-2 and you may have to change your name simply to get anyone to be able to hear you.
Auction Channel is not a dictatorship; everyone is quite friendly. If you make a mistake, the auctioneer will let you know, and/or people will whisper you. Even if you get ignored, you can often promise to fix whatever you did and people will unignore you. But simply saying "oops wrong channel" after each spam will only work for a short while.
What to do if you win an auction
Congratulations! You paid at most a little bit over what the item was worth at that time. If you can see the seller in your chat window, click on him and select whisper. You can then talk to him and arrange the details. You can also send a friend request right away, or wait for the seller to send it. If you don't know the seller, simply say "seller please whisper" and they'll get in touch.
For items such as granite, the seller will send the trades. It is polite to break the trades up so each one is "fair" - so if you sold 1000 granite for 1500 gold, each trade would be 200 granite for 300 gold. Some items cannot be traded completely safely, such as an adventure worth more than 400 gold coins or a lootspot. In those cases, it is polite for the buyer to send the gold (trade the coins for a single fish), and then the seller will reply with the item or invitation. Once the item is accepted, the seller accepts the gold trades. This lets him see that all the gold has arrived.
What if the buyer/seller scams me? If you're worried about the seller, don't be. The auctioneer has experience and "scam" sellers are quickly ignored and outed. To be safe, try to make sure you're bidding on items that directly tradable. If the buyer refuses to pay, this will be reported to the chat and the player will be ignored. If you're at all worried about bidding on an auction, you can whisper the auctioneer to ask if he trusts the seller. Sometimes the game will disconnect the seller or the buyer; be patient and don't be afraid to ask the auctioneer for help. You'll quickly come to recognize the "regular" sellers and buyers, and can bid with confidence. Someone who successfully purchased a lootslot for 1800 gold is unlikely to stiff you on your 1000 fish auction.
Self Auctions
Sometimes there is no auctioneer, or there are no auctions running. In that case, open chat or self-auctions may be the rule of the game. Simply list your item as usual, but now it is your job to watch the bids, announce the "HB" or "high bid", and call out once, twice, sold. I personally like to announce as follows: "ITEM to PLAYER, HB CURRENT_BID" so that I can change it easily if I notice a higher bid. Wait until there hasn't been a bid for 20-30 seconds before calling "once." As you get more used to the channel, you'll know when an item is above its value and the auction will be ending soon.
The following are my personal preferences; you don't need to follow them but I feel they're polite. Don't call "out" when someone overbids the maximum you were willing to pay. This can discourage other bidders and reduce the price the seller gets, and increases the chance of chatter.
If you make a mistake on a bid, immediately (after the five second delay), NOTIFY the mistake and make the correct bid. If during the five second delay, someone overbids you, KEEP QUIET. Having to unwind an auction is a time-consuming and annoying process. When someone outbids your mistake, you've been saved! Waiting too long to retract a bad bid can anger people, and repeatedly doing it will result in being ignored. An obviously wrong bid, such as 3500 instead of 350, should be easy to retract.
BId only with numbers, nothing else. Don't be cute and say "I hereby bid 500 of those yellowish coins." It is distracting, and increases the chance of typos and confusion. A simple number is all you need; let your bid speak for itself.
Never bid more than you have at the time! I don't care if you have gold coming in at any moment, you should only bid the coins you actually have at the moment of trade. Delaying payment will annoy people, and even if you're not ignored they'll be less inclined to bid on your auctions.
TIP the auctioneer! Personally, I feel you shouldn't ask for a tip, but even so, you should give something to the auctioneer when he sells an item for you. My preferred tip is to visit both the player I'm trading with and the auctioneer and buff a building for them. Simple, quiet, polite. Remember that the auctioneer is NOT getting anything for dealing with this hassle; a spare weapon, a small gem, is all you need to show your approval.
Don't be surprised if you receive whispers from people offering to sell more of whatever you just bought. If the price of the item went above the "value" people will often want to sell you more. They may even imply that you're not the brightest for bidding that high; but time is money, friends.
If you trade well, people may offer to sell you more of the item directly, or on future dates. This can reduce future hassle for both parties.
Roll Call. Sometimes, especially when there is no auctioneer, someone will call a "roll call" to see how many people are around and if it is worth listing an item. I personally prefer to set a fair minimum and see what happens, but these do occur. Simply reply "here" to reduce the chance of chatter.
Come join us! Don't bid against bombcar, he has more gold than sense! ;)
/joinchat global-2
