* Under the moon chuckles, finding this rather amusing.
Allow unlimited killing, and >90% of characters will be psychotic murderers (if they RP at all).
Allow unlimited thieving, and >90% of characters will be heartless thieves (or more likely grievers)
Allow unlimited spying, and >90% of characters will have their ears pressed against the walls of everyone else. (which is rather funny to think about)
In my opinion, only the BEST of roleplayers should have any of these abilities. Just as I think only the best of roleplayers should be the owners of guilds and guildhouses (and the power I think should come with such), not the guild that can come up with the highest sum of money. Suppose, just for a second, that the <insert lame mass guild here. you know the one> came up with more money than any other.
Just out of curiosity, what were the other guilds involved in the bidding?
Was the sale announced in advance, and for how long? (I was gone for ten days, so do not know)
Who did the sale (in character, not the actual player)?
What type of auction was it? (silent, paper, Shout out, “Wadda-ya-give-there”, or other)
Was the Settings team involved? (they should have been in charge of the actual event)
Will all houses be auctioned as such in the future? (I hope not.)
Does the guild have to continue paying ‘taxes’ to keep the house? (‘reason’ for the sale in the first place)
(PS, the ‘tax’ reason was a rather thin excuse for the auction. A much better solution could have been found, both in RP and player relations. I could name four of them off the top of my head.)