Release Notes 2009-02-25

What Price an Item?

More releasey goodness coming at you:


 * Moved " has entered/exited" notifications out of chat and into the notification bar.
 * Nixed the chat bubble versions of system notifications (they're still in the chat history).
 * Changed chat (and other) preferences such that your preferences when using Whirled do not affect your preferences if you're playing via an embed, also embed preferences are not saved.
 * Fixed problem with starting a party while in a game.
 * Made changes to the item listing process which I'll describe below.

Item Pricing

We've instituted a policy of minimum pricing for items in the catalog and made some other changes as well to try to improve the quality of the items in the catalog and to improve consistency in pricing. The new listing process is as follows:


 * Creators must rate their item when they list it.
 * They cannot change that rating later. Of course other people can rate the item after it is listed and that will have the same influence as always on the item's actual rating, but the rating provided by the creator has a big impact on where the item shows up in the catalog to start.
 * The initial rating determines the minimum price for the item. The prices vary depending on the type of item. We'll have a full chart of minimum prices in the wiki shortly, and the minimum price will be reported to you in the listing UI so you can see it immediately right where it matters.
 * The creator has to pay the minimum price as a listing fee in order to list their item.
 * Once the item has been listed, it will be rated as normal and if the creator ever wants to reprice the item, they cannot give the item a lower price than the minimum based on the item's rating at the time they do the repricing.
 * All existing catalog listings that did not meet their minimum price requirements have had their prices adjusted to meet the requirements.

Item Pricing Examples

If you have a new avatar that you think is awesome and you want to rate it 5 stars so that it shows up at the top of the catalog in the New and Hot section, you will have to price your avatar at at least 1 bar or 5000 coins. You will also have to pay 5000 coins to list the item (whether or not you price it at 1 or more bars or 5000 or more coins). If the members of the Whirled disagree with your assessment and rate your avatar down to three stars and as a result you choose to reprice the avatar, you will be able to take advantage of the three star minimum price and you can lower the price to 500 coins.

Conversely, if you think your avatar is alright, but it's not loaded with awesome animations and likely to take the Whirled by storm, you can rate it 3 stars to start and you will have a 500 coin or 1 bar minimum price and will have to pay only 500 coins to list your item. If the members of the Whirled decide they love your avatar and rate it up to 4 stars, and you decide you want to reprice your item to take advantage of this new found popularity, you will have to abide the 4 star minimum price of 1500 coins.