I'll be honest, Im one of those who cringes at each new date auction. I've actually made a bet with members of my linkshell that someday we'd have a different person's date auction every night of the week.
I've had some ideas myself, including hosting player created IC Triple Triad tourneys, or IC Schools/classes/Dojo's with cover or recurring fees. For instance, you want your character to know Martial Arts but nothing in their background says they should? Sign up for Taedrinnar's martial arts class! for only so much gil per class...
And then you have an IC interaction, and an ongoing, showable reason for your character to know something.
There are many possibilities. and at this point, date auctions are sooo over done and played out that I don't even bother clicking the posts anymore.
I've had some ideas myself, including hosting player created IC Triple Triad tourneys, or IC Schools/classes/Dojo's with cover or recurring fees. For instance, you want your character to know Martial Arts but nothing in their background says they should? Sign up for Taedrinnar's martial arts class! for only so much gil per class...
And then you have an IC interaction, and an ongoing, showable reason for your character to know something.
There are many possibilities. and at this point, date auctions are sooo over done and played out that I don't even bother clicking the posts anymore.