MSM No Referee Required - Arkadia Forum Auction War

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The gloves are on, and one-upmanship continues to prevail in this knock-down drag-out battle in the Arkadia Forum auction ring to acquire a full set of unlimited blueprints for the Ankitus and Koroma armours. Two Entropians are going head-to-head and not backing down. One is straight-forward, while the other likes to perhaps antagonize a bit with his style of bidding.

When Arkadia announced the Gold Rush Arkoin Auction 2012, the Arkadia Forum was the place to hang out – not only for placing your own bids, but to watch as others fought to win the items of their choice. Many have already claimed their prizes, and the auction is all but over, because two Entropians have been relentless in their bidding for the following unlimited armour blueprints.

Full set of QR 100 Unlimited Blueprints for Unlimited Ankitus Armour - Includes:

• Ankitus Arm Guards Blueprint
• Ankitus Foot Guards Blueprint
• Ankitus Gloves Blueprint
• Ankitus Harness Blueprint
• Ankitus Helmet Blueprint
• Ankitus Shin Guards Blueprint
• Ankitus Thigh Guards Blueprint

Ankitus Stats

• Total TT Value: 30 PED
• Total Weight: 8.6 kg
• Durability: 1800

Protection

• 5 Impact
• 5 Cut
• 5 Stab
• 5 Burn

Ankitus Armour History
“The Ankitus armour design was first located in an old cache near the ruins of what is thought to be the ancient city of Aakas. The design seems particularly suited to the conditions found in the desert areas of Arkadia and may indicate that a substantial population dwelt there in ancient times. Current transcripts from the Archaeological Society research teams indicate that this armour may have been planned as some sort of status symbol in the ancient society of Arkadia. For now, Ankitus is manufactured for colonist use based on the original designs translated by the Archaeological Society.”

Full set of QR 100 Unlimited Blueprints for Unlimited Koroma Armour – Includes:

• Koroma Arm Guards Blueprint
• Koroma Foot Guards Blueprint
• Koroma Gloves Blueprint
• Koroma Harness Blueprint
• Koroma Helmet Blueprint
• Koroma Shin Guards Blueprint
• Koroma Thigh Guards Blueprint

Koroma Stats

• Total TT Value: 40 PED
• Total Weight: 8.6 kg
• Durability: 2100

Protection

• 12 Impact
• 10 Cold
• 8 Cut
• 5 Stab

Koroma Armour History
“The Koroma armour design was first located in an old cache near the ruins of what is thought to be the ancient city of Aakas. Unlike the Ankitus design which was discovered in the same cache, Koroma seems suited to a colder climate, indicating possible trade or transport between Aakas and another region of Arkadia, though the matter is under further study. Current transcripts from Archaeological Society research teams indicate that this armour may have been planned as some sort of status symbol in the ancient society of Arkadia. For now, Koroma is manufactured for colonist use based on the original designs translated by the Archaeological Society.”



The two Entropians battling it out for the armour blueprints were both asked the same questions, and their responses were interesting to say the least. While question two might seem redundant, there was a madness to the method.

“Kikki KJ Jikki” (Universal Born Looters) and “Jim EwoK Morris” (Southern Fortress Engineering) are both going the distance in this auction battle, and what follows represents their position on the matter.


Kikki KJ Jikki — Universal Born Looters

“I want to start by saying that Jim and I are quite friendly about the auction. We have gotten to know each other reasonably well within the game and are on good terms. We’ve had a chat about the situation and how we might help each other out depending on who wins. That being said, I plan to be the guy who walks away with the blueprints.”​

What is your motivation for being so relentless with the bidding?

“I have a well-developed long-term business plan for my crafting efforts on Arkadia. Weapon sales are going well, and the next step is to start developing armour supplies. I have been acquiring unlimited blueprints for the various lower level Arkadian armours over the last year, and I recently purchased another shop to be used as an outlet for armour, plates and FAPS. I aim to supply all of the Arkadian hunting gear I can make so that people know they can come to my shop and get what they want. The Ankitus and Koroma blueprints will be strong contributors to the growth of the defense arm of my business. So I wants them.”​

What is driving you to keep this auction going?

“I plan to win. I have all these Arkoins. What else am I gonna do?”​

And most importantly, how did you come about to own so many Arkoins?

“I made a try for the Gold Rush Baron, but Mordrell beat me to 300k by around 20 minutes. Those were obtained through a mixture of instance running and strategic purchases. Then when the brokers were broken, I had these coins and nothing to use them on. Once the auctions were announced, I checked out the items and put some ballpark values against the ones I was interested in. Given the long time-frame, I have just been picking up Arkoins slowly through sales or via the instances. I have solo’d up to Level 8 and the coin reward can be pretty good for the higher levels.​

As to when the bidding will stop, well that depends on how long it takes Jim to come to his senses, or Tim to beat some sense into him (Tim being “Tim Unleashed” from Southern Fortress Engineering).​

Tim, if you’re reading this, I don’t know how you can let Jim do this to himself. Don’t you know these prices are ridiculous? I’m crazy and I’ve got no one to intervene and hold me back. But Jim has you Tim. Don’t let him down. Don’t be that guy…”​

Jim “EwoK” Morris — Southern Fortress Engineering

“For starters, I guess I should clarify that although I’m the one placing the bids, it’s SFE that is the actual bidder. Tim and I are both in agreement, though obviously I’m the front man on this one.​

My experience so far? It’s good fun. I love puzzles and there is no better puzzle than another person’s psyke. I thoroughly enjoy trying to get into the heads of the opposition and out thinking them. Psychological warfare you might say. I deliberately waited the first 3 weeks whilst tallying up who was showing interest, whilst also trying to gauge when each would give up, and who would be the first to break and in what order. The idea was to make people somewhat skittish due to our lack of reaction, to get them off balance and wondering why we weren’t speaking up about something that would seem of obvious interest to us. And then popping in at the end as sort of a surprise attack. I had pretty much narrowed it down to being either Chilix or Kikki that would be with us at the end of the 3 week mark…nice to see I was pretty much on the money there.”​

What is your motivation for being so relentless with the bidding?

“Quite simply put, we want to be the first ones to make these beautiful armours available to the community. Not in the sense that we would hold the monopoly and ransom them for the highest price we could get, but to add them to our overall range in the same manner we do every other set we make available. That is to make it widely available at fair prices based on our cost to craft them. SFE, after all, was built from the start to be a sustainable business model. To a lesser extent, the prestige is also fairly compelling as well, but certainly not our highest priority nor aim.​

What is driving you to keep this auction going?

“Well, aside from the reasons above, basically, I’m stubborn. I love a challenge, to see who will blink first. It’s also a bit of pride I guess, to know that even if I don’t win, I never made it easy for the opposition either, and made them pay a heavy price for the victory. Getting something easy cheapens the experience and you learn nothing. Winning the prize is nice, but the real win is gaining the knowledge and experience from such a battle….and there’s always the next battle to look towards.”​

And most importantly, how did you come about to own so many Arkoins?

“I’d love to say that we gained them from running lots and lots of instances. The unfortunate reality is that I have very little time available to me at the best of times due to the amount of hours I spend working at the Hospital. Even so, we want to do our bit for the Arkadian economy, and so, have been buying them on the open market, from personal contacts, shouting out at Celeste Quarry and also in the auction. This enables other people to continue doing what they enjoy (and giving them some guaranteed MU) and allows us to continue to assist Arkadia’s economy. I’ve had plenty of invites to join friends on instance runs, and I will eventually get the time to take up such invitations, but for now, I do what I can with the tools and means at my disposal.​

I’m not even close to considering giving up yet, so with the time period of 72 hours needing to be held unchallenged now, I’d say that it could go on for a while yet. Both Kikki and I watch the threads like two hawks eyeing up the same lone rabbit….each of us knows that as soon as one twitches, the other will pounce pretty quickly to up the ante again… 1 or 2 bids every 3 days? It could be easier watching paint dry, or grass grow for some.”​

There you have it – the lines have been drawn, the gloves remain on, and we have no idea how many rounds we’ll see to this bout. It seems that going the distance is limited only by the staunch determination of these individuals set on walking away with the prize of both sets of armour blueprints. Stay tuned to the Arkadia Forum and watch the battle continue. Who will win the Ankitus Armour, and who will win theKoroma Armour. At this point, it’s anybody’s guess.

We wish them both luck in their continued quest to be the one who is ultimately victorious.



Article banner created by @Syer

 

BREAKING NEWS

Too late to stop the presses, but we just learned that “Boardian Chilix Corunian” (The Smurfs) is back in the bidding war, at least with the Ankitus armour, but … while he claims he doesn’t have enough Arkoins to bid on the Koroma armour, his last words in the Arkadia forum auction thread were …

“i dont have enough coins atm for this, but if you take long … omw to aakas” …

This is going to be quite interesting.

 

EDIT — October 24, 2012

OMG —- the bidding has now reached and surpassed the 1 million Arkoins point. Where will it end, and just how far are EwoK and Kikki Jikki willing to go to acquire the (UL) 100 QR Koroma armor blueprints.

As a side-note, it looks as though Chilix may be out of the bidding for the Ankitus armor, but if there are any changes, we will be sure to let you know. However, EwoK and Kikki Jikki are still in a bid war for the (UL) 100 QR Ankitus armor blueprints too. The bids haven’t gotten as high as the Koroma though.

These guys are not backing down, and it’s still anyone’s win.

 

EDIT — November 3, 2012

It looks as though Kikki Jikki has won the (UL) 100 QR Koroma armor blueprints for 1.5 million Arkoins.

In the words of EwoK:

“Looks like I dropped the ball on this one as I’m working nights and
we’ve had some horrendous shifts.

Well done KJ, put them to good use.

I’ll place an order for a set now if I could. Cheers.”

The auction thread has been closed for verification by Cyrus Chen, Arkadia’s Community Manager, but I have a feeling that Kikki Jikki will be declared the winner, as the required 72 hours after his last bid has passed.

We extend a congratulations in advance to Kikki Jikki, and thank him for his part in the intense bidding war that took place for the Koroma armor blueprints. However, there’s still a secondary bidding war going on between EwoK and Kikki Jikki for the Ankitus (UL) 100 QR armor blueprints, and the current bid in play is 361,500 Arkoins by EwoK — where will it end.

Stay tuned to updates as this continuing bidding war keeps us on the edge.

 

EDIT — November 5, 2012

Just when you thought the bidding war was just about over due to the fact that Kikki Jikki conceded the Ankitus armor blueprints to EwoK – Chilix is back in the game, and he and EwoK are now going head to head for this armor. The bidding amount isn’t quite at the level that EwoK and Kikki Jikki took the Koroma armor, but it’s respectable at EwoK’s current bid of 370,000 Arkoins.

Nothing like a new spectator sport.

 

EDIT — November 9, 2012

Well, it looks like the Arkadia Arkoin Auction War has finally concluded with Jim “EwoK” Morris winning the (UL) 100 QR Ankitus Armour Blueprints for 370,000 Arkoins.

In the words of @EwoK :

“Woot! Woot! Woot!

*gets strange looks from other staff*
*passes out from exhaustion*

Thanks to all who participated.

Keep yours eyes open for these armours in our Sanctuary Cove shop soon.

PM me or Tim if you wish to preorder a set.”

The auction thread has been closed by Cyrus Chen, Arkadia’s Community Manager, with EwoK verified as the clear winner of this specific auction.

We send our congratulations to Ewok and Kikki Jikki for their hard fought auction wins, and to Chilix who popped in there now and again to make the battle more interesting. This was truly an auction war of epic proportions, and now we can look forward to these two gentlemen crafting these hard-won blueprints.

Thank you for such an intense, yet very humorous, auction journey.