[Discussion] The next Rares Fest?

[4gregu]

Has anyone stepped up for hosting the next rares fest? If history repeats I would assume its Summer time on Atlantic. Just curious, if there is a tentative date I can decide if i want to stockpile these rares to sell there, or have another auction here on stratics if there isn't one on the horizon.

 

[tehfloof]

I hope it comes to Atlantic next I would love to see it around May.

 

[Scribbles]

Ive been thinking about trying help organize something on ATL. Summer time would be appropriate for sure.

 

[Queen Arya]

Toad Town is always ready to be gracious hosts on Atlantic-Just need Nails and the rares community to give us a go!

Scribbles would love some help from your corner of Zento and your PvP event input!

 

[Scribbles]

queen come by nail's zento house. I got my old house back and set it up today. I think you will like what you see. And of course i would love to host an event during the fest.

 

[BrianFreud]

The folks of Chessie would like to host one, but I agree that Atl would be the best shard for the next. Perhaps Chessie for the one after that, in January or so?

 

[Manticore]

I would like to see Nails, Shu Shu, and Linemen each run 2 auction houses so we don't have limits on the number of items submitted unlike the past 3-4 festivals. Shu Shu can perhaps run one in Japanese so that we get all the Asian collectors over here.

I would like to see this towards the end of summer to give Broadsword more time to adjust so that perhaps they can be more involved, i.e. throw in some special events "Broadsword 1st Rare's Fest"

 

[4gregu]

The folks of Chessie would like to host one, but I agree that Atl would be the best shard for the next. Perhaps Chessie for the one after that, in January or so?

Brian knows he has my (and many others) support for a rares fest on Chesapeake. I also think there is something to be said about limiting the number of fests per year, and having a good bit of lead time so players have a chance to stock up on gold and transfer tokens. Plus who can argue with something to look forward to, like a rares collectors version of Christmas morning!!!

January 2015 sounds brilliant!

 

[Kahlan]

Whoever and whenever let me know I am in!

 

[Kahlan]

Some more thoughts...

Would a quarterly auction, say one every 4 months be out of the question? Once on European shards, once on Asian shards, and once on an American shard?

The pac fest, in my opinion had the best silent auction set up. Three houses, each with different requirements, kept it interestesting and varied.

 

[BrianFreud]

The negative there is, there's only 2 European shards. If the goal is to handle time zones, imho, the 3 hour difference between east and west coast US shards is a great as the 6 hour difference between east coast and european. It also pretty well rules out any non-Atlantic US shard ever getting a chance...

Also, I don't know about anyone else, but there was roughly 4 months between the last two fests, and it felt to me that the Europa one was "too soon" after Pacific.

 

[Queen Arya]

The June fest kids were out of school it was a good turn out
Late summer maybe getting ready to return to college. The fall fest say late Sept, that we held, people would most likely be settled back in a routine again and be active
Toad town has two silent auction houses, Scribbles has his Zento home (neighbor to Nails)and if Nails could run his and Toad Town would be more than happy to turn either silent auction homes over to Lineman and / or Shu Shu. That would be four.

 

[Danpal]

Here are my 2 cents.
I would hold 3 a year one on one of the European shards. One on one of the East/West coast shards, And one on one of the Asian shards if we did 3 a year would be one every 4 months. The only down to side to that is it will be a while before any of the other shards can run one but what we could do is have it it on new ones each time so that way it works it way around and gives people that run them a chance to have a break and to start planing the new one. The people that run them will have at lest a year to start planing it sometimes more. that will give the runners of them more time to get them set up and with 3 of them a year will give a chance for collectors to save up the gold and items to Buy and sell.

Am sorry if that sounds odd or does not make sense that was just my 2 cents on the subject.

 

[Orich]

I would like to see Nails, Shu Shu, and Linemen each run 2 auction houses so we don't have limits on the number of items submitted unlike the past 3-4 festivals. Shu Shu can perhaps run one in Japanese so that we get all the Asian collectors over here.

I would like to see this towards the end of summer to give Broadsword more time to adjust so that perhaps they can be more involved, i.e. throw in some special events "Broadsword 1st Rare's Fest"

I am quoting this in hopes that it happens.

Great suggestions.

 

[BrianFreud]

Regarding 3/year, one each to US, Europe, and Asia, let me make the problem with that idea clearer.

US
Atlantic
Baja
Catskills
Chesapeake
Great Lakes
Lake Austin
Lake Superior
Legends
Napa Valley
Origin
Pacific
Sonoma

Asia
Arirang
Asuka
Balhae
Formosa
Hokuto
Izumo
Mizuho
Oceania
Sakura
Wakoku
Yamato

Europe
Drachenfels
Europa

Shard counts:
US: 12, including Atlantic
Asia: 11
Europe: 2

There's only *2* European servers. There are 12 US servers, and those include the busiest shard. Using this 3/year idea, and assuming each shard did actually chose to hold a fest when given the chance, Atlantic would only have a fest once every 12 years, yet Europa and Drach would simply be alternating who holds a fest in any given year.

No offense intended, but I don't think Europa and Drach *combined* have a population to support Europe getting a fest this frequently, especially at the cost of more populated shards (LS, Chessie, Cats, Atlantic) having to wait far longer for even a chance to host.

 

[Danpal]

Was thinking little more on it.
Atlantic, Baja, Catskills, Chesapeake, Great Lakes, Lake Austin, Lake Superior, Legends, Napa Valley, Origin, Pacific and Sonoma get Two a year then Arirang, Asuka, Balhae, Formosa, Hokuto ,Izumo, Mizuho, Oceania, Sakura, Wakoku, Yamato, Drachenfels and Europa get One or Two. I think that 3 a year is good with timing with each one being 4 months apart so lets say Jan, June then Step. But if it was 4 it would be Jan, April , July then Oct. (Only using the month for paper nothing wrote in stone). Only 3 months in till the next one is held. I for one don't think that there would be a lot of time to get new rare items and restock on gold. I for one don't want to see the same items for sale at each rare fest. We could always do 3 a year then do a 4th one just not 4 rare fests all the time.

Am sorry once more if I am not making sense.
Does anyone have a list of all the past rare fests we can add to here to find out what shards like to hold them?
That might help out when trying to put a plan together.

 

[BrianFreud]

There's a list in the archives section; http://stratics.com/community/threads/previous-rares-festivals-shards-dates-hosts.242833/
5 Atlantic
1 Catskills
2 Chesapeake
2 Europa
2 Great Lakes
1 Hokuto
2 Lake Superior
2 Pacific
1 Sakura

 

[Lord Nabin]

Where ever you end up with this event put me down for a billion in gold donation to help support the prizes and costs.

 

[Nails Warstein]

As the Host of the Silent Auction Houses for the past three Rares Festival on Atlantic, Pacific and Europa, I do have an opinion on this subject based on some statistical analysis listed below. Based on evaluating this study, I have adopted the following perspectives:

Buyers want Rares Festivals to happen more often with as many houses and choices as possible. The more choices, the greater the supply, the cheaper the rares. As a buyer I can't fault this logic. A high supply drives down the cost.

Sellers "should" want Rares Festivals to happen less often with fewer houses and fewer choices as possible. The fewer the choices, the limited supply, the more expensive the rares. As a seller I can't fault this logic either. A limited supply drives up the demand for rares.

It appears there are currently more sellers than buyers, simply because there is a high infusion of new rares introduced into the game every year, and players want to sell their old rares in order to buy other new exciting rares. For this reason buyers need sufficient time to replenish their gold supply in order to make more bids, and propagate bidding wars. Having Rares Festivals too often shrinks the bidding pool. This is psychologically damaging to sellers who potentially paid more for their rares. If too many sellers grow frustrated with their investments, it creates a culture of decline. We want to avoid this negative death spiral.

This is why we as a Rares Community need to find this happy middle, a consensus. We don't need 8 auction houses with 800 rares for sale. That would be insane. Just as some don't want 1 auction house with only 100 rares for sale. We shouldn't want a festival every 3 months, or more than 9 months. We need to do our best to plan them in advance, and market them more effectively.

I propose that Atlantic as the trading capital of the shards should host 1 auction every 18 - 24 months. While an Asian shard should try to host a festival every 12 - 18 months, and another non-Atlantic shard should try to host one every 12 - 18 months. This will it make so there is at least one festival happening every 6 - 9 months. Probably not the most popular idea for buyers, but in my opinion, it is the best idea for maintaining a healthy stable UO Rares economy.

I realize that this proposal can be difficult to navigate because we all have real lives, we can't have what we do dictated to us. It has to evolve organically. This is why I only can invoke caution. Don't force these festivals upon us. Allow the non-Atlantic shards that have not already done so to have an opportunity to promote themselves. I realize they won't garner the attention Atlantic does, however it does encourage collectors on these shards to take pride in the game, stimulate their community/economy, and sustain their investment in rares.

RARES FESTIVAL STUDY

Sakura Rares Festival Held In January 2012 (4 month break)
2 Silent Auction Houses (One End At Midnight, not sure on the other)
No Further Data

Great Lakes Rares Festival Held In May 2012 (4 month break)
2 Silent Auction Houses (Both Ended At 11PM EST)
Sellers choice, could choose reserve/buyouts or none
41 Sellers
166 Lots Accepted & Displayed
112 Lots Sold
54 Lots went Unsold, did not meet reserves, or received no bids
No Further Data

Hokuto Rares Festival Held in January 2013 (7 month break)
2 Silent Auction Houses (1st Ended At 9pm EST, 2nd Ended At 11PM EST)
Sellers choice, could choose reserve/buyouts or none
No Further Data

Atlantic Rares Festival Held In June 2013 (5 month break)
http://stratics.com/community/threads/rares-festival-silent-auction-results-are-posted.299895/
2 Auction Houses (1st Ended At 7pm EST, 2nd Ended At 9PM EST
1 House Had 150m Reserve + No Buyouts, 1 House Had 300m Minimum with Buyouts allowed
52 Sellers
182 Lots Accepted & Displayed
17 Lots were rejected (*)
150 Lots Sold
32 Lots went Unsold, received no bids
14 Lots Sold Early To Buy Out Offers
Total = 75,100,000,000 Earned For Sellers
Average Lot Price = 412,637,362 (412.6m/Lot)

Pacific Rares Festival Held In November 2013 (4 month break)
http://stratics.com/community/threads/2013-pacific-rares-festival-silent-auction-house-results.307848/
3 Auction Houses (1st Ended At 8pm EST, 2nd Ended at 10pm EST, 3rd Ended at 12am EST)
1 House had no reserves + no buyous, 1 house had 150m reserve + no buyouts, 1 house had 300m reserve + buyouts allowed
43 Sellers
195 Lots Accepted & Displayed
13 Lots were rejected (*)
137 Lots Sold
58 Lots went unsold and received no bids
1 Lot Sold Early To Buy Out Offer
1 Non-Paying Bidder
Total = 34,973,000,000 Earned For Sellers
Average Lot Price = 179,348,717 (179.3m/Lot)

Europa Rares Festival Held In February 2014 (4 month break)
http://stratics.com/community/threads/auction-over-europa-rares-festival-silent-auction-ends-saturday-february-8th-7-00-pm-est.310863/
1 Silent Auction House
Sellers Choice, could choose reserve/buyouts or none
37 Sellers / 27 Buyers
105 Lots Accepted & Displayed
6 Lots were rejected, some placed in Live Auction (*)
63 Lots Sold
42 Lots went unsold, and received no bids
5 Lots Sold Early To Buy Out Offers
Total = 24,429,000,000 Earned For Sellers
Average Lot Price = 232,657,142 (232.6m/Lot)

(*) - @Manticore I will say this one last time, lots were only rejected if another player had already submitted the same exact item, submitted their rares late, or tried to place items definitely worth less 100 million gold based on historical pricing. At no time was any seller denied to sell at least one item they wanted to sell in any of my auctions. Take note how many items do go unsold at these festivals.

 

[Smoot]

Well said Nails. I had things in the previous 2 fest auctions, both sold for about half what they had for in the last few previous sales. But i also got some good deals on things i bought. So for me it evened out.

I think 2 fests a year is fine.

 

[Assia Penryn]

I think whoever would like to host a rares fest should just do the work and advertise it. Those who are interesting in going... go. Those who aren't... stay home.

All this talk about how often and how many times each shard should host is just silly in my opinion. Just plan it, announce it and let the community decide individually what they want. If one shard decides to run a SH with 4 houses, sure. If a shard decides to run a SH with 1 house and gobs of prices limits, sure. The community will let them know how desirable their decision is based on participation either in submissions or bidding. If they want to come here beforehand for feed back, sure. However we don't need standards, committees and rules to come together to have a good time.

I love that at Rares Festivals you can sell/buy/trade, but I'd also love to see more community outreach. I'd love to see more even advertising to the shard community rather than just internal communication. How about some seminars on common items that can scam people? How about a seminar on how to get information on that shard's EM events as well as how to prepare for one (suits, tips, templates) whatever..? How about historical lessons on past items such as all the rares associated with the candle of love series, the difference in all the double exceptional or what a server birth is?

That's my two cents.

 

[blend]

I had a plan in May 2014
but I discarded the plan too short from europa.
if there is no plan to look around in fall.I would consider again

 

[Queen Arya]

Rares Fest tentative date being held for June 13, 14 & 15th @ Toad Town Atlantic

 

[4gregu]

Rares Fest tentative date being held for June 13, 14 & 15th @ Toad Town Atlantic

Wooo Hooo!

 

[Flutter]

I would like to see Nails, Shu Shu, and Linemen each run 2 auction houses so we don't have limits on the number of items submitted unlike the past 3-4 festivals. Shu Shu can perhaps run one in Japanese so that we get all the Asian collectors over here.

I would like to see this towards the end of summer to give Broadsword more time to adjust so that perhaps they can be more involved, i.e. throw in some special events "Broadsword 1st Rare's Fest"

Isn't six auction houses a bit too many? One house each would be more preferable to me. Instead of people having to spread their gold around too thinly because there are so many items for sale. I do appreciate if Shu Shu could participate and perhaps get more Japanese players to attend. But truly one auction house each (3 total) is more than enough.

 

[Flutter]

On another note, I do think most fests should be held on Atlantic right now. Most of the trades/business/activity/populace is on that shard. Most of us with shard xfer shields have already chosen Atlantic at least once, and most if not all have at least one character there.
While this is easy for me to say, since I am not host, I do think Atlantic is best.
If ever you all want to come to Catskills I can offer a castle and a Luna house to use, but the rest of my houses on Catskills are in Felucca, as is my home on Atlantic. Most folks would rather not have a raresfest in Fel