Hey, I know I'm brand new here so it might be a bit early to stick my nose in to this one, but, I was pretty closely involved with the Aion rendition of the Bachelor and Bachelorette Auctions. The real Kinah spending was, in my opinion, a wonderful idea.
Basically, we would ask RP legions to sign up as beneficiaries before the event. It was easier if there was a cut off, like no later than 24 hours before the event. We also later had rules that the legions had to have been... not totally brand new. Say that 7 legions signed up before the cut off. Those 7 legions would all get an equal cut of the profits made at the auction.
RP legions often put the money to good use. I only once heard about a legion leader pocketing the money. The rest of us put it towards future events that involved things like contests, raffles, and other sorts of prize-oriented activities. We gave out real prizes without cutting too far in to our own pockets.
So, my two cents on the matter--Real in-game currency bidding can be a good thing. (And I'm not saying that doing it with implied Gil is a bad thing at all. Just that real Gil wouldn't do any harm either.) It goes right back in to the community, usually, and in my opinion, makes things a little more interesting. There was one bachelorette auction that I spent several days simply grinding for kinah to be able to pull probably the most amusing stunt I've ever pulled in Aion before.
My alt, Lahatiel (who was a giant twat, for the record), was bidding on behalf of his extremely wealthy patron. He bid on the lover of the Brigade General of probably one of the larger legions in attendance that night. There were so many avatars crowded around my alt, looking all threatening, that I actually felt uncomfortable in real life. Giddy that I got the results I wanted... but uncomfortable nonetheless! I can't say it would have had as much of an impact without the use of tangible currency, because any yahoo at that point could then claim to be the richest person in all of Eorzea, while people who really wanted that reputation would have to seriously buckle down and work for it.
Basically, we would ask RP legions to sign up as beneficiaries before the event. It was easier if there was a cut off, like no later than 24 hours before the event. We also later had rules that the legions had to have been... not totally brand new. Say that 7 legions signed up before the cut off. Those 7 legions would all get an equal cut of the profits made at the auction.
RP legions often put the money to good use. I only once heard about a legion leader pocketing the money. The rest of us put it towards future events that involved things like contests, raffles, and other sorts of prize-oriented activities. We gave out real prizes without cutting too far in to our own pockets.
So, my two cents on the matter--Real in-game currency bidding can be a good thing. (And I'm not saying that doing it with implied Gil is a bad thing at all. Just that real Gil wouldn't do any harm either.) It goes right back in to the community, usually, and in my opinion, makes things a little more interesting. There was one bachelorette auction that I spent several days simply grinding for kinah to be able to pull probably the most amusing stunt I've ever pulled in Aion before.
My alt, Lahatiel (who was a giant twat, for the record), was bidding on behalf of his extremely wealthy patron. He bid on the lover of the Brigade General of probably one of the larger legions in attendance that night. There were so many avatars crowded around my alt, looking all threatening, that I actually felt uncomfortable in real life. Giddy that I got the results I wanted... but uncomfortable nonetheless! I can't say it would have had as much of an impact without the use of tangible currency, because any yahoo at that point could then claim to be the richest person in all of Eorzea, while people who really wanted that reputation would have to seriously buckle down and work for it.
![[Image: byda.png]](http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/7874/byda.png)
