Arghhh, I hate Central Bank (in General)

# $5,788,126 bid by Central Bank (Mr. Chairman) on 12:43 AM EST
# $5,512,501 (max bid: $5,512,501) bid by Glory (MrMunch) on Jan 21

This is the second auction snipe in a couple days from Mr. Chairman.

This one was for a +10 named Corn. It still had 8 months+ left on the naming too. Does anyone think this needs changing? How are we supposed to buy stuff when we outbid all other players and still lose.

If you have the highest bid, bid the next high bid +$1 CBD. Central bank will bid the next highest bid over your bid, and you will auto bid $1 more.

considering that Corn was worth at least 6m... I'm guessing you coulda won by bidding it's value...

As far as "sniping" goes, proxy bids are your friend... And if you want your bid to be central bank-proof, you can bid the minimum, then go back to the page, and then proxy to the next bid increment. So long as you have managed to outbid all players by that point, you will have your item...

ya don't even need to add that dollar. being that your bid was placed first, it will take precidence over a matching bid placed at a later time ^_^

How are we supposed to buy stuff when we outbid all other players and still lose.

Simple. Just check if similar items in the past going for similar prices had Mr. Chairman bidding on them... And if they do, bid a little higher than the next highest bid.

Or you can just wait until Mr. Chairman bids, and then you can bid the next bid (if you're still awake)

The point is, I shouldn't have to pay an inflated amount just because Mr. Chairman thinks it is worth more than anyone else is willing to pay for it. If a player wants to start an item for 1 cb and only one person bids and gets it for 1 cb, then good for them. That is why the person starting the auction can set a starting price.

What if someone has more money than God? Shouldn't someone be able to stop him/her? What if there are not enough players online? Many reasons why Central Bank should be bidding...

I do see your point (hell, i just scored 7 band shirts for a total of $20 via ebay due to $1 bids... :P), but there have been many GREAT deals in auctions even with CB's bid... It's as simple as a proxy, or waiting until the end of the auction...

Central Bank only bids one time right? So even if an item is worth 5m to CB, but the next highest increment is only 3.5m say, that's all he'll bid. I think.

What I'm trying to say is match the time remaining on an auction, and if possible, log in 10 minutes before it's over. CB should have already bid, and you'll be good to go. If you are unable to log in at that time, use a proxy bid of how ever much you are willing to dish out for an item.

"Central Bank only bids one time right? So even if an item is worth 5m to CB, but the next highest increment is only 3.5m say, that's all he'll bid. I think."

You are correct, Central Bank will bid once, and will only bid the next bid increment up, but sniping and proxying to the max is unnecessary. Just proxy one increment up, CB will bid, you will match it, you will win.

I say that if you want an item, you should bid as much as your willing to pay for it. If somebody else bids even more, then either you're too cheap, or they got ripped off. If you win it for less, congratulations.

Central Bank may be a little bit less useful now with the proxy bids, but it still serves a purpose. The person who auctioned that Corn got an extra 276k thanks to CB, which (in CB's opinion, is just as much or less than the Corn should have sold for anyways).

I might suggest a change that could be made to CB to make it 'better', but it's 12:23am, and I don't feel like thinking of something right now. :)

I've sold a few items at a decent price thanks to Central Bank. As said above me, there's two sides to an auction. Try selling something in auctions and seeing it go for a low bid....not nice......

"As said above me, there's two sides to an auction. Try selling something in auctions and seeing it go for a low bid....not nice....."

Oh well, you should have set a higher starting price. It shouldn't be the job of an automated bot to inflate prices and auto-insure sellers.

Yea thats true you should have set a higher starting price i still think the chairman is just something that inflates prices cause if a player doesnt win the bid it just makes that item have more demand

Cornuthaums are useful by almost every team in CB... I don't see the demand for them getting any greater than it is now... On the flip side of this, I don't see it getting any less either... Same for EBs...

If you're going to be thrifty, at least make sure you've got your backside covered. I don't really understand what the fuss is all about anyway.. if Central Bank bid higher, then who can say that he won it unfairly? I thought auction sniping was pretty common if you saw an item going for a low price.

So...were you willing to pay more than 5.5M?

If the answer is "No", then good! Central Bank netted that seller more profit from his item than he would have received from you anyways. Glad CB is doing its job!

If the answer is "Yes", then stop whining! You just should have bid what you thought the item was worth, instead of trying to underpay the wo/man. How can you complain about being outbid when you didn't wanna pay what YOU felt it was worth in the first place?

It seems like most of you are not getting it. The seller can set his min price, which is what he is OK selling the item for. There is no need for price fixing/inflating when the seller can set a reserve price level. Mr Chairman is irrelevant when it comes to bidding on items. If no one wants to buy the item, the auction should go unbid on. Because even Mr. Chairman will not bid if the reserve is too high. Let the economy be exactly that, an economy, supply and demand. Price fixing is not how an economy can thrive.

CB isn't a pure capitalistic economy; I think we've established that.

I'm perfectly happy with the status quo with one exception: when Mr. Chairman wins a supporter item.

But in every other case, I'm perfectly happy with having the economy the way it is: we know that when we buy an item, our investment isn't going to lose all value, and when I bid on an item Mr. Chairman also will bid on, I may be annoyed, but I realize that when I eventually sell the item (may be a very very long time), I know that I won't be taking a humongous loss.

If you question the functionality of Central Bank, you shouldn't do it right after you got beaten by him by one bid. You also shouldn't do it by starting an op with "zomg central bank outbid me!!". It lends no credibility to your argument.

If you are opposing central bank from the angle of free market, then present some solid, actual arguments as to specifically how Central bank makes the market inefficient. I'm interested in knowing. I have yet to put enough thoughts into understanding what effects central bank's current behaviour has on the economy.

Setting a low auction price has many uses...

One it makes the auction fees cheap as dirt
Two it starts everyone bidding and gets the auction more notice

What's so bad about price control anyways? Everyone has to compete with it. Same with competing with the store's selling price etc. If it's just a matter of forgetting to bid the amount you are willing to pay then I guess you could say it's a problem, but it sounds like whining about high prices.

Glory, Central Bank's actions are akin to things like the recent interest rate reduction by the Feds here in America. A guiding hand that tries to make things happen more quickly than Adam Smith's "invisible hand".

If you disagree with that, then there is simply a conflict of philosophies. People here "get it", they just don't necessarily agree with you. And the only person that matters, Jonathan, definitely doesn't agree with you. That's just the way it is.

I am sorry you didn't get your corn, but this aspect of the game isn't going to change any more than the forging system or rewards system. It is part of the game.

What if "Mr. Chairman" would auto-start every now and then auctions for rare/supporter items "he" purchased, starting at the price he purchased them for ?
Would you feel that would be more equitable overall ?

I think CB tries to raise the prices of the items by bidding on them just to make them have more value, but it sometimes yanks items off the market all together.

If JUST supporter items were re-auctioned, it'd make CB much less of a hassle.