Custom Auctions: Common Sense Not Included

So, I'm writing this on St. Patrick's Day... yes, I don't have much of a buffer here. I blame reality. It keeps causing problems.

Anyway, as I was saying, I haven't the slightest idea what St. Patrick's Day is about, aside from an excuse to get drunk (like we need an excuse). I don't really want to find out, either. Heck, I don't even understand why we care about saints. I mean, Alexander the Grape (Grate? Slate? Grapist? Something like that) conquered most of the known world, and we don't have a holiday for him... Then again, that's history, and I don't like history.

Pack-wise, Alphyn seems to have disappeared from the top five almost overnight. Rather disappointing, really; they'd been up there for the longest time. I guess their pack being disbanded just caused a bit too much trouble; something really should have been done about that. I'd expect there to be backups of pack info, after all... Regardless, they're not dead yet, so there's always a chance they recover. I wouldn't be too surprised to see it happen; most of the packs who've been on the top five at some point tend to be rather resilient.

But that's not really the point of this entry. I'm here to discuss custom auctions. Of course, I know nobody will listen, but at least I can laugh at everyone's stupidity and say 'I told you so'. Because the purpose of life is to make other people look like idiots. Or something like that.

The idea of selling a custom design isn't new at all; it's been around for a while. However, typically it was the person who wanted the custom who would run things - set up a contest or something, and have multiple choices, in contrast to a custom auction, where people are all bidding on the same design.

The custom auctions didn't really take off until lately; I think the biggest factor was this thread, which is probably the highest amount ever paid for any service on the W-H to date. I'm just guessing on that, but it seems a safe assumption. After all, 453 points is an absurd amount to pay for anything.

Not that I object to it. Anyone who can get someone to pay that much for a custom design clearly needs some recognition. CallyKat's very, very lucky, it seems. Or maybe she put mind control messages into the posts forcing people to bid that high. Both seem possible.

Naturally, people being greedy bastards people, there are now tons of custom auctions going on. Of course, a good portion of those people seem to have neglected the fact that people are usually more willing to pay for good art...

I don't really have any issue with the idea of custom auctions. If somebody wants to sell a design that way, fine by me. However, I think people need to think about this for a second:

First off, if you buy a custom design, you still have to buy a custom yourself. You get 75 points from donating for the custom; as long as you stay under 75 points in paying for a design, technically you don't have to pay any more in real money. However, the moment you exceed 75 points, you are paying real cash for it. I don't think people fully grasp how points are real money; they seem to spend them a lot easier. (Yes, some points come from quests, but the majority come from donations).

If you don't believe me, try selling something for real money (same, through paypal) versus something for points. There's a dramatic difference. Having said that, real money is definitely a better deal, since you can always turn it into cash later, and there's no rule against asking for it. Any artists reading this might want to consider charging for real cash instead...

Anyway, there's also the fact that you get your custom designed by artists for free when you donate. Yes, it would be art theft to take a design on the forums and then try to get someone to put it on your custom for you. But... do you really have to have the custom you saw exactly that way? Because, honestly, you can just take what you like from the design, and then change the rest to whatever you want. It shouldn't be an exact copy, but it can have a resemblance; nothing against that. For example, I can't claim everyone with wings on their character is 'stealing' my custom's design, can I? (Especially since I was technically second with wings).

As for line art edits... Allow me to direct your attention to the TOS. The moment someone submits an edited custom for uploading, the art becomes the property of W-H. That means that the original artist has absolutely no claim to the lineart. While it might not seem sporting, there is no hard rule that says you can't use the lineart from someone else's custom. If you like a lineart edit, you can wait until someone uploads it, and then ask for it. Staff could potentially deny it, but usually it's not done. Easier if it's not a direct copy, of course.

And then, consider the cost. For example, for 453 points... you could have got 6 customs. Yes, I know the majority of people wouldn't pay that much, but still - if it's more than the price of two customs, isn't it a better use to just get multiple customs, or use the points on stats, or just save money and not donate in the first place? I mean, you could always donate just enough for your custom, and then use the leftover money if you ever want to change it. The majority of designs just aren't worth that much. There's always another design; you'll always find something you like more.

Plus, you have to put it all in perspective. Rounding a bit, a custom is $10. If you're paying more than $20... you could go buy a video game instead. Not a new one, but still, a video game would likely give you 50+ hours of entertainment... versus one specific design for a custom. That hardly sounds equal. And anything over that is just even more absurd. You could, like, save the money to snag Skyward Sword when it comes out this year. Or some other new game coming out soon. There's plenty of choices, and, really, just about all of them are probably better choices than a custom.

Quite honestly, there's no justifiable reason to pay much for a custom design when you can get it free after donating. Spending points on a whim because you 'need' to have that one design is just as bad a habit as randomly splurging money in real life (if you happen to play it). Don't get in the habit on W-H, or anywhere else.

Unless, of course, you happen to be paying me...