Hi Pete,
You're still thinking of this in terms of gold values. This particular house sale wasn't about gold value, it was about Siege and its so-called community, which for many years we have been proud to call ourselves 'Siege community this, Siege community that, blah, blah, blah'.
This particular house sale could and should have shown we are still a community, a team, all inclusive, that is able to get together to do a little bit of something for all of us. Instead, it's shown we are merely cliques, shut-ins, closed off.
You obviously didn't read the other thread where the question was asked about interest in this house remaining a vendor/auction/hub house, and outlining the reasons for it being offered to 'the community' not for gold value, but for 'Siege community' Baby Doll has deleted her post now, so too late.
You say you didn't pledge a single coin because you 'simply won't use it', I most likely wouldn't have used it to sell anything either but other players would have, which is why I pledged something. Asking the shard to pledge something for a community project isn't whacky at all, it's the reverse, it's including everyone, asking everyone to be involved. I very often ask for small things I need for the NEW guild. I don't ask a select few players, I ask in general chat...and usually get what is asked for.