Note: This post was proofread but not peer-reviewed, so expect errors with language, grammar, etc. This subject is intended for community discussion AND visibility by the Community Council for potential discussion elsewhere.
To cut to the chase, the BMAH (Black Market Auction House) needs a revamp or flat out replaced. Here are the negatives with the BMAH:
If a player wants a specific item, they typically can’t win the item (without placing a gold-cap bid, more on that in a bit) without being on at specific times of the day (end of the auction) to ensure victory. Many of these items require players to stay up past midnight EST just to combat last-minute snipers.
If a super-rare item shows up, players essentially need to be on when the item goes up on the BMAH for bidding in order to try to beat a gold-cap bid. A gold-cap bid is effectively a buyout and shuts everyone else out of the bidding process. The ZG tiger, Brutosaur (when it used to actually show up…more on that later), etc. would typically go for gold-cap very, very quickly, whether at the hands of a BMAH boosting service or legitimate player.
a. This relates to #1, in that for a player to actually win most items, they need to be on at very, very specific times of the day. This is super-unfriendly to casuals, those who don’t want to suffer the health consequences from sleep deprivation, those who have actual responsibilities, etc.
The rotation itself is terrible. For example, there is an absurd overabundance of T3/Ordos items up - absurdly overabundant items that take up what little space is in the BMAH, while pushing out other items of interest that show up much more rarely as a result.
The RNG behind how many slots show up in the BMAH can make many days a complete wash (e.g. days with only 3 items up), and this ties back to point #3 where there’s only so many slots on a given day, and “common” items taking up these slots on a consistent basis feels very bad.
“We’re putting [insert item] on the BMAH”, and then nerfing their drop rates so low that they effectively aren’t even on there, is also terrible. Example: Reins of the Mighty Caravan Brutosaur, which has shown up in the rotation ONE TIME ON ONE REALM IN THE ENTIRE WORLD since July 14th, 2021. (The Bruto is supposedly available in the BMAH containers…more on that subject in the next point).
The Unclaimed Black Market Auction House Containers, also referred to as crates, BMAH containers, etc., are nothing short of degenerate gambling loot boxes. These crates typically go for 300k+ when they’re up - multiple tokens of gold could be spent on just one crate. And the worst part about them? The odds of obtaining a specific item are completely unknown and there is no class-specific loot targeting or any form of “bad luck protection” with these containers. Yes, that means you could spend 500k on one of those degenerate gambling loot boxes and get a piece of soulbound cloth as a Plate wearer. What amazing quality fun that is.
“Removing” items from original sources and dumping them into the BMAH makes the BMAH look like it’s nothing more than a cash grab. Quit removing content from the game and using the BMAH as an excuse for doing so.
The BMAH rotation itself feels very, very neglected. For example, Rhinestone Sunglasses, which are a Jewelcrafting item, are still in the rotation with a starting bid of 500k. An item that crafters can make in the game at this very second is in the BMAH rotation with a minimum 500k bid. Why? That really gives a “we don’t care about the BMAH” illusion.
I’m sure there’s other issues that I (or others) can think of, but now I want to move on to what I propose as possible “fixes” to the BMAH that could stand on their own or be used in combination with others:
Assuming the BMAH can be replaced entirely: Replace the Black Market House with a Black Market Vendor that rotates items everyday and makes the items purchasable by anyone who has the gold on that day. Base the item prices from BMAH sales data. I will say that I think it’s reasonable to set vendor prices that are higher than the average BMAH sales price in this format. While this doesn’t fix the “I have to login on this specific day” problem that many casuals may have, it at least eliminates the “I need to be on at this specific time on this specific day” problem presented in problem #2.
Solution #1 stands on its own - the next possible solutions assume the BMAH remains an auction format.
Get rid of the RNG behind the number of slots available in a given day. Set a fixed number of slots. There is no fun in there being only 3 slots on a day that’s full of T3 pieces. A good number to use, from my opinion, is 8, so with this possible fix, 8 items would show up each day.
Fix the weighted RNG. T3/Ordos items are far too common and often go for no bids, whereas certain items that are technically “on the BMAH” only show up once every 9 months in a single realm in the entire world - that is completely, entirely, unbalanced, and when an item is said to be put on the BMAH, setting its appearance rate that low feels extremely scummy. The weighted RNG is far too lopsided.
Remove the BMAH crates from the auction house and put them on a vendor right next to the auction house. Their availability can remain RNG, but set a reasonable gold price for them that doesn’t require spending tokens upon tokens to buy, and set a daily limit of 1 per person.
Disclose the drop rates of each item from the BMAH crates. People are spending real money to buy tokens to buy gold to buy these loot boxes. Odds need to be disclosed if there’s supposed to be any shred of integrity with the boxes. Nobody knows what the odds of the Bruto are dropping from it, for example, and it’s impossible to gauge just how much a person can reasonably expect to spend to get an item.
I’m super-interested in hearing the thoughts of the community on this.
BMAH feels like a side game for people who only play wow for the economic game. Regular players dont stand a chance. Even if you have the kind of gold things costs you just get out bid til gold cap or paying double what you should be.
Yeah. I have the gold, but I hate playing the bidding game. I rather just pay the buyout price, but not if it’s gold cap. I might be interested if they had caps on certain items. Like 250k for t3.
I like this but at the same time i’d rather see a limit of how many can be purchased (limit can vary based on server population) and more importantly i’d want that vendor to not be accessible for 24 hours after transferring to a server. No same-day transfer to a server that has a swift zulian tiger and suddenly 5000 people have a zulian tiger that day
This i agree with. I feel every server should always have 6 items up every day and i’d also like to see guaranteed categories of items up every day. No 3 ordos items + 3 pets in one day
Probably not a popular idea, but class and armour type specific items from the loot crates should be BoA and sendable to characters that can learn the appearance
I don’t disagree with their being a 24-hour cooldown on BMAH usage or something of the like for transferred characters. That’s something that sort of plagues the BMAH currently that I forgot about - anyone can transfer to a realm and jump right in the bidding. I suggested this idea before but there was some level of pushback against those who do just that, but that may be lessened in a vendor format.
I agree with all the reasons you mentioned as to why the Black Market is bad.
I would argue though that they should just do away with it altogether and bolster the drop rates of the items in question and reintroduce the ones they removed for “reasons”.
Pppsstt. It has shown up very recently. Like, last month. Just for a reference, and to let y’all have the facts for this discussion. There may have been more. I don’t follow it much, except in passing.
I love how people still think they need to actually bid goldcap to get an item. Some people should do a bit more research. Goldcap in the bmah is not 9.99million but 9,6million. No problem now you can save a little on your next bruto.
The BM AH was a bad idea from the start and it has not got any better over time. Its a gold sink, a temptation for people to buy tokens and it puts things from the game that were taken out at outrageous prices. And the crates are a form of loot box in that they work on people’s love of gambling. In some countries that sort of thing is illegal in gaming.
The Black Market AH should be removed from the game and everything (other than the boxes) should be made available in the game by engaging in content.
That’s it, really. About the only exception Id make is to remove the longboi altogether from being available. A mount with an AH was never a good idea imo.
Even I came across and article that said that you can bid Lower than gold cap.
But currently that information outdated as the 5% rule has been removed and now even if u have placed 1 gold less than gold cap others can still out bid you.
This has been a great read Humanbeak hopefully someone from the council or the blizz team is able to take notice of your efforts.
I have taken my efforts into tweeting and submitting bug reports. Hoping i can push forward on that front.
Personally i started off in 8.3 thats was the patch after which the mount being removed.
As a completely fresh player i had absolutely no idea that the mount was being removed as i concentrated on just understanding the game at that moment and a mount being removed went completely under my radar.
But when i found out that it was removed but still “obtainable” via the BMAH i put my efforts into farming the gold needed to bid took me forever to get the goal to achieve the gold to even bid on the item.
I dont think anyone should go through the grind but for players who wish to make it their goals i feel the game should at least give them the option to buy the mount.
This i feel varies from player to player. Yes you might not but other might.
And i would argue if it wasn’t such a big deal why did they remove it anyways it just made them look bad and created FOMO for players who bought it back then and really just upset the rest of the public who might still want it.
find a niche market on your server and take it (sometimes you need to force someone out of it). I sell miners hat xmog and archeology pets on my server. Miners hat sells for 1.2 million only sell maybe 1 a week of these and the arch pets can go from 500 - 750,000 gold pending on pet
Yes, ive heard that the miners hat is extremely rare and sought after by many completionists.
But i find the best way to make gold is to find what you enjoy doing best and then sticking to it like a routine for example if u like picking herbs or flipping things etc.
Transmog farm is viable i personally didnt have much luck in it i still sell a few crafted transmogs mostly i sell consumables to make my gold.
