My suggestion is to politely ask non-mod players to stop policing the auction forum. I've seen several times in the past week (since I've actually been doing auctions and thus paying attention) players posting for the sole purpose of telling someone they are breaking the bump rule. In every case the player is either wrong or is complaining about someone bumping it just short of the 3 hour period. Either way, I think the better way to handle this is to contact a mod if they think it's that serious that they need to point this out because what they are effectively doing is bumping the post to the top themselves when they do this. This can lead to abuse, but more importantly it's just plain annoying and ends up filling auction posts with this nonsense instead of bids.
Hmm, I can see where your concerns are coming from, but honestly I think this is a good thing. We have tons of players on this server, both IG and on the forums, and not nearly enough mods to be able to handle every single little thing that comes up. The fact that lots of players are trying to help the staff out by telling people the rules, even if possibly misguided, is a really cool part of our community, IMO.
There are two types. By someone getting into a small "discussion" over the rules, it can be annoying. Thats the first type. The second type (which I personally use) is to just quote the specific part of the auction rules which is broken, but that should only be done if the broken rule is noticed fast, not 8 hours after the person illegally bumped their thread. If what was broken was noticed recently, and a quote of the auction rules was posted, not much of a disturbance is made. There isn't much point in wasting a mod's time with something like that, because they will likely do something similar to what a player would do anyways.
Something wrongs with the auction: Bad response: Idiot, the tools aren't at full durability Good response: Are the tools at full durability? Someone bumps early: Bad response: ONE MUST WAIT 3 HOURS SINCW THE LAST POST TO BUMP Good response: Hey, make sure next time to bump 3 hours after the last post It's all in the way you say things ( Note: this is not reflecting anyone, I have done both of the responses but am trying to work to where I just do the good response )
It's annoying though, seriously... I can see the point if someone was seriously breaking the rules in an egregious manner... but most of the time it's nothing. It's compounded when the same player goes into multiple auctions and says the same annoying thing about a player bumping. All you end up doing is bumping those auctions again making the situation a thousand times worse. There is just no point. If someone is breaking the rules repeatedly and it's causing harm to the system then report it to a mod and let them handle it. Don't be part of the problem.
I agree in saying that players doing this is a good thing when it's done for a good reason. Moderators have more important things to handle, so players bugging them about every illegal bump that happens would take away from those tasks. It's better that players take this duty since it's something that we're able to easily deal with. A moderator is only necessary when it's a "higher level" situation, for example an invalid auction, where the response (locking the thread) is something that can only be done by them. Like jkjkjk said, as long as it's short and to the point, it shouldn't be a problem. I can see it getting out of hand when it turns into a conversation, but this doesn't happen most of the time. It's usually just a simple correction and things return to normal.
If it's not important enough for the actual moderators to handle then it's not important enough for someone else to point it out. This is simple logic people.
May I ask what your views are on players asking other players to watch their caps, or to not spam as much in chat are?
So just let people go around breaking the rules without ever knowing it's wrong? Just like telling a player to stop spamming in chat, not everything needs to be immediately brought up to a moderator, yet still needs correction.
Well I personally don't mind someone doing that in chat, although there is a report function for that, for the simple fact that I can easily ignore the chat. When a player bumps an auction to tell a player that they bumped the auction too early is dumb. Are you really not getting that? or do you think being a nag (aka a snitch, tattletale, narc) is that important?
look at the current lava auction as an example, someone decided to point out that the OP bumped the auction a couple minutes early and an argument ensued and now the auction has gone up several thousand rupees and has gone to the second page when previously it only had like 2 bids total... all because of the exposure. at this rate i might as well start illegal bumping my auction just to get it more attention and thus more bids.
Which is why a simple quote of the rules should have been posted when the illegal bump was posted (If its less than 20 minutes early, I usually ignore that). If the person decided to pick a fight after that, which is a more serious issue, then the report button is more worthy of being pressed.
Telling a person that they illegally bumped an auction isn't considering bumping it, it's considered giving them advice so they don't get their auction locked. Continuing with my previous example, I usually try to get the person in chat to stop doing whatever it is they're doing to break the rules before I just go and report them. Just like in the auction forum, they may not know it's wrong (even though they should have read the guide, just like how auction holders should read the rules), so reporting them right off is a bit harsh in my opinion. I also don't consider letting them know they're breaking a rule nagging. "Tattling" would be going and telling a moderator about such a small offense that doesn't really need any action on their end.
it doesn't matter if it's considered a bump, it's bumping the auction to the top. that's the reality. if you really want to punish someone for bumping an auction early then DON'T respond on the post and report it using the Report button. that'll do more to stop the issue.
Again, it's not necessary to bring a moderator into every little situation. There are plenty of times, like illegal bumping, when their action is not a necessary punishment. If they keep illegally bumping after you've already told them to stop, then yes, use the report button. But like I said before, you don't need to bring it up to them immediately.
depends on how long since the auction got bumped, maybe it's already at the top when they give the warning.
We are a community, we don't want people to be punished for itty bitty thing like that. Using the report button will do little to stop it, since why would a mod stop by later and bump their auction, just to post the rules which could easily be done by one of us?
