Why are there SO MANY closed auctions active?

Discussion in 'Community Discussion' started by ShelLuser, Sep 24, 2022.

  1. Hi gang!

    I'm a little bit worried: why are there SO MANY closed auctions around on the main thread no less? I mean... we're not even talking details here, this closed almost a whole month ago:

    https://empireminecraft.com/threads/auction-unused-pot-of-gold.86405/

    With all due respect: are you guys (or one girl?) trying to uphold appearances? Sorry, but given past experiences I cannot help but wonder.

    Because trust me: it isn't working, quite the opposite actually.

    Don't tell me no mods have been around on the forums for over one whole month to clean up? Sorry to being maybe a bit too harsh but that's basically what this boils down to.

    Yes, bias goes into effect and yes maybe that's totally unfair on my part but ... looking busy isn't the same as being busy.

    I'm a casual player right now with plenty of history behind me. I have rupees to splurge (sorta) so picture my disappointment when all of the "good stuff" closed a long time ago...

    I've been here, you guys ("the powers that be") didn't believe me before so I have no hopes that this is going to change much but... this is working seriously against you. The forums don't look busy: they look abandoned from my POV. For whatever that's worth of course but from my pov ... I've been proven right through time on several points already.
    </vent>
    Tuqueque likes this.
  2. Usually JohnKid cleans it up, but with it being September I'm guessing that the mods are busy and haven't really checked it.

    Same reason that there's not many new auctions--much less activity nowadays

    No need to be dramatic, they'll get to it when they do :p
  3. Yah, if only this was the first time ;)
  4. Ah, I see.

    Truly I dont think this is even malicious negligence, it's just that the mods who usually do it havent been on much so the other staff have left it for them.
    Tuqueque likes this.
  5. As for appearances, yes unfortunately the forums have been less active lately, and if compared to years ago, one could say, as you said “abandoned”, with even the recent statuses explicitly saying as such these past couple of days. Even though EMC’s popularity has declined, I also have noticed that the forums seem much more less used than before. New players rarely make an introduction thread or even join here :(

    It would be good to encourage a bit more other EMC platforms such as discord and the forums since what makes most unique EMC is the community (but That is our task as players, to have more friends here! With a bit of encouragement from the server). One could even consider reducing again the amount of recent threads that we have to just cap the amount of threads that appear there being 2+ days old. Regressive on the change done years ago when we asked for more, but it might not be a bad thing to backtrack now…

    As for already ended auctions still in the active section, personally I don’t think it’s really a priority for it to be cleaned, but it’s nice in a while to do so. Also, they usually leave them open a couple of weeks in cases where there wasn’t confirmation that it was picked up / payed for, to allow for that communication channel to persists between host and winner. For the ones that have truly ended with confirmation, it just having patience for them to be moved to the correct section eventually .
    607, TECtock and zafir247 like this.
  6. I find it interesting when older players (who haven't played in years) randomly come back and start complaining about things.

    Even the forumers who proudly say they don't play Minecraft (and then try to use the forums as social media with their little status messages) complain about the lack of activity

    I've been very active for nearly 2 years now and never see these people on. Maybe try treating EMC as a Minecraft server, first and foremost, before you try to treat it as a social experience that is so lacking compared to the glory days of x number of years ago
  7. Hey there, shell!

    No, the auctions are not still in that section to make things appear more active. Staff members typically take action on auction threads after they are reported to be closed or when a player has a problem with an auction and brings it to our attention. It is likely that many of these threads simply were not reported.

    I will go through the auction forums now and work to clean them up. In the future, please report the threads or send a private message to bring it to our attention. Thanks! :)
  8. Nothing new sadly just FAR less frequent. Used to be almost weekly we'd see the high horse get mounted. What's ironic is it was this type of nonsensical drama that drove so many people away from here in order to whine about the lack of activity. Every town needs it's cryer though.
  9. Like other people in this community Staff get busy with other things on Emc or real life having couple of closed auctions on active page isn't going to ruin anyone experience. It's 5-10 minute process so isn't top of to do list most of the time. So quit nitpicking and just enjoy Minecraft and a EMC Community site or hover over Emc in your case.
  10. One girl?
  11. Dang Dwight.. it's been a minute duuude 'heeeey ! o/ howz it going?' and nice reply I must say.. nice indeed. One girl indeed. xD
  12. Huh, I've never seen the Auctions section so empty. Looks weird. :p
    I've never seen that section as meant to show the auctions currently active. It is very normal to be able to look a month back without looking into the archives. When I post my monthly auction (thanks for reminding me, by the way ;)), I look through the Auctions section first, and only head for the Archives if I don't see it there. I think it's nice that way. I feel like they're not in anyone's way either... although I guess that the existence of the separate subsection does suggest that they would be. I think that it's good to be able to go back anywhere between a couple of weeks and several months, though. :)

    I do think, however, that most auction hosts are unaware that they're supposed to report the auction when they think it can be archived.
    crystaldragon13 and Tuqueque like this.
  13. Hey Shell, I've missed you man! Welcome back to EMC in 2022!! :D
    Tuqueque likes this.
  14. .
    .
    .
    Huh. I thought you just said "mods may close" as the last entry and they would get to it.
    Didn't know you were supposed to report it.
    .
    .
    .
    Joy_the_Miner likes this.
  15. ThaKloned and weeh like this.
  16. I don't even do that, to be honest.
  17. It does say in the Wiki to report your auction(s) as closed last time I looked. Otherwise, It'll prolly sit there till someone has a chance to get to looking at them to see if they are still running or not before they archive the auctions. Staff don't know an auction is closed unless you tell them. Or... just wait till they get looked at by them after they sit there a while. My two cents.
    UltiPig and 607 like this.
  18. To clarify: We generally don't close shortly after the auction is over unless requested by either the auction host or the winner as we have no other way of knowing if the auction transaction is fully completed. Keeping the thread open also gives an outlet for either party to address issues/concerns with timing/items in question.

    Closing the thread early on without the report takes away this outlet and may compel staff involvement as a mediator, or in their full capacity dependent on circumstances of the situation, if there's no other way for one party to contact the other.

    Of course, we can safely assume after x amount of time has passed that the auction is completed and will close in those cases. The exact time varies but usually it's a significant period. But prior to that time its our preference they contact us for closure.
    BreezyMan, 607, weeh and 6 others like this.
  19. Elfin comes to the rescue!
  20. Sounds like "mods can close" entry will work as a back up if you forget to come back and report it.

    Learn something every day I guess.