Your question regarding 5 people wanting same thing and bidding, i don't understand it really, if it's less than 5 min till end and someone bids more, timer goes back to 5 min, and than if someone bids again it goes to 5 min again, so the auction will end when someone will bid amount others won't match simple as that.
Your reply still didn't answer my question and by what you say it does mean as i though "never ending (5 min) countdown". Let me ask again and explain what i meant....
When will bidding end? Maybe should of added "in real time" in my question. Because that is what we have right now, we have fixed ending auction time (you know date and time to second). What you want is that any placed bid in last 5 mins of original ending auction time extends auction by 5 mins (with reset to new 5 mins after new person bids during that time).
An example of your proposal...
- Item on market is placed for 1 mil (immediate purchase) but it also has bid value of 300 k placed.
- Pank, Scarlet, you and me.... all 4 of us want that item badly, want it very much!!!! All 3 of us have needed 1 mil and are wiling to pay 1 mil for it (if needed to be) but since there is also a bid price all 4 of us chose to gamble with bidding (cause even though we can pay full price we want to pay as little as possible)
- You placed your bid 3 days ago and had items priced fixed as 300 k.
- None of 4 of us knows about other 3 wanting the item. You being happy cause none outbid you and are sure item will be yours.
- Since we all want to buy it as cheap as possible (even though we have and are willing to pay full price), we only raise up bid by $1
- Item expiration time is 17:00:00 (h:min:sec), May 30 as Server time says, time we are all waiting for... You cause you're sure it will be yours and rest 3 of us just waiting for it come close to ending and bid in last few seconds and grab it.
- At 16:57:00 (server time) Pank bids and outbids your price (you get report about it). Since its 3 mins before original auction expiration time, game timer for bid to end is now set for 5 mins, and in real time bidding now ends at 17:02:00.
- You wait till 17:01:30, meaning i wait till last 30 seconds before you place your bid in hope of outbidding and winning.... But as soon as you set your bid, countdown timer is reset to last 5 more minutes making real time when auction expires to be 17:06:30...
- By now we all know there is just more than "single ME" interested into bidding and winning this item
- Than i come into play, overbid you in last second before it was about to expire at 17:06:29 ....and setting new ending real time to 17:11:29
And 3 of us keep on outbidding each other for hours in real time, resetting bid timer to 5 mins.... Now it's already May 31 after 1 AM (server time)... starting to get bored, checking pc every few mins, refreshing market page, checking our reports.... Than Scarlet comes back home, checks market and is all happy item is still up and starts to bid also... than some more people wake up or come back home from work, ones than initially didn't bid cause original expiration time was bad for them (sleeping in real life or at work) and can't be by game at those hours
Each new person wanting item.... because 5 mins extension, cause initially 3 of us wanted it we made it available to 10 or 100 more people.. and each time anyone bids timer rests back to 5 mins... but for what Real time that extension is?!
Till we from starting point of 300k make it to 1 mil that is set as max?!
Than what if there is no immediate purchase price?! How long will that make bidding last (days, months, till we all drop dead of boredom)... We started bidding 17:00:00, May 30. 2017. as Server time... and bidding will end, WHEN? With what you say it can be 17:00:00, May 30. 2020. ...exaggerating on purpose to show you what your proposal can do... And what if during that time seller wants to leave game and / or delete it's character on that particular world?! He / She can't with items up on market...
Did you think about seller?! Did you think that he / she needs cash also and is hoping for sale to go good (above min price set) and to get it after time placed and not wait for hours / days loner till it ends cause of multiple 5 min extended times?!
With so many interested, it should be possible to bid over immediate purchase price also than... lets get some good cash to seller!
Sure some will drop out during time, cause they had to go to work / sleep OR price went higher than they are willing / can pay.... But with bidding going on long enough some of them will come back again to play for that particular item!
That was example if ANYONE bidding and is outbid resets timer to last 5 more minutes... which can be fair, somewhat, but will lead us back to starting point of when bidding was about to expire originally. Not much different if extended time is PER PERSON ONLY ONCE, meaning as i got bid first time and got 5 min extended time to replace my bid i for sure would again wait till last second to bid again, but than again in split of second before my bid someone new can place it and i outbid that person and because of new person in bidding game we ALL get 5 more mins... and all will again wait last second to bid... and ALL will again hope that someone new didn't place bid before they did in last split of second....
How things are now... it is good!! Sure i also do see items up on bidding that expires at bad time for me... than i for most don't even bid and if i do i for sure don't think it's mine for sure and think that someone will outbid me before ending time
Sorry for long read but hope Warbird now understands my question! Maybe now you understand what i meant.... and let me ask you... what if because of all time extensions, you have to go out and pick up your kid or go to work and it gets sold in meantime... or what if you again cause you cant get extended time are outbid... what than, system not good again or are we again back at starting point of your proposal?!
No matter how you turn your proposal around it will come down to two things... are you online and are you fast enough to place bid in last second!
You got angry cause you got outbid in last few seconds... you could of also already when you placed your initial bid place it very high as so none would even think to outbid you... but you wanted it cheap and placed minimal price bid...
What you could of also do is... you could of waited (be around) 1 min before expiration time place into "buy box" your price that is lets say 10 k or 100 k higher than minimal one and wait last second to hit "BUY!" maybe you would of outbid yourself or maybe you would of outbid some other person... If you want sure system that it win you item, go whisper or mail person selling and arrange deal... but don't expect if one placed min bit as 10 k on item that for real would get sold in mins for 900 k, don't expect to arrange deal for 11 k... that is why we have bidding and ones wanting to get it as low as possible wait till last second to bid
Also, please... next time you think up proposal, THINK about all angles from it and all possible situations and what does it really mean to all rest playing, so rest of us don't have to give you explanation and show you all what it will do to all rest playing... think about benefit for all and not just you!
Again... sorry to all for very long read!!