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Bazaar Category Specialization

Started by TDupe [2919365] on in Bugs & Issues.

5 replies · 73 views · thread synced · 4 days ago · View on torn.com
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  • Chedburn [1] Admin · 1 likes ·
    These lists are ordered by item sales, but this isn't the only value that determines whether or not bazaars end up on these lists - because that could be easily manipulated. The exact circumstances that allow bazaars to appear on …
TDupe [2919365] · #1

I'm currently posting this with TornTools enabled.

 

I'm resubmitting this as either a bug or faulty logic in the category display data: https://www.torn.com/forums.php#/p=threads&f=19&t=16474904&b=0&a=0

 

[image: i.imgur.com]

 

My bazaar, Medical Supplies, has only sold medical supplies for the past 14+ days. Many of the others in medical category list additional items outside of the medical supplies category presumably selling some. Either there's an error causing mine not to show up or the column of numbers in category specialization is misleading. The api says these are unique weekly buyers for both item specialization and the category specialization. I have at least 61 unique buyers in the medical category according to the item specialization and I haven't sold non medical items in the last week. If it's not a bug then the number displayed in the category specialization should display what's being measured.

 

Mentions: Bazaar Directory Categories Not Working as Implied

Chedburn [1] Admin Developer · #3

These lists are ordered by item sales, but this isn't the only value that determines whether or not bazaars end up on these lists - because that could be easily manipulated. The exact circumstances that allow bazaars to appear on these lists are intentionally a little mysterious.

Furthermore, to appear on the category specialized bazaars, you're rewarded for specializing in a particular type of item, and are actually penalized from diversifying. You suggest all you've sold is medical items, so there's probably something else at play...

 

I think I've spotted the issue, those values appearing next to the Category Specialized Bazaars are showing the bazaar's highest Item Specialized customer counts which is incorrect - they should be showing the customer counts across all sales in that item category. So it's likely those other bazaars you've pointed out had much higher sales than yours.

TDupe [2919365] · #5

This looks much better. Thank you!

I'm not sure it makes sense to reward item specialization in the category specialization at least in my understanding of how item specialization works. My understanding is you get a positive scoring  every time you have a unique buyer of an item for that item and then some form of negative scoring for unique buyers of other items. (I'll presume there's some other black box mystery for this but probably less significant.) But if I build a bazaar that specializes in carrying every medical item and I do well in several medical items such that I don't specialize in any one item it sounds like it will be hard to make the medical category rankings (which appears to be what happened at the last rating as I don't show on any item specialization and then fell off the medical category rankings). Is there some tweak you could make so that the category specializing truly is category specialization? Like maybe items bought in the same category have a much lower impact on item specialization at least for calculating category specialization. 

I appreciate that you want to keep some black box mystery to cut down on ranking manipulation but right now it seems to be too arbitrary to be useful. I average once per week where I completely fall off the list after being at the top of the medical category for 5 or 6 days. Then I magically reappear at the top of the list the following day. I'm trying to realize your vision but it's honestly creating a huge opportunity cost in lost sales.

Thanks for any consideration.

donfanfan [3497772] · #6

I won't create a new thread about this, as Twopips has articulated my thoughts perfectly - if this isn't a bug, the ranking formula needs some tweaking. But I'm fairly certain the specialist page is still not working as intended i.e. it's bugged. I suspect some part of the penalty system is to blame.

 

Example: My bazaar is hyper-specialised, only selling 6 items for the past two months, the vast majority of which are ATM Keys. I consistently appear in the top 5 of both specialist pages, but once a week, I drop off the map completely. Not just out of the top 10 - I don't exist as a seller of any of the 6 items I specialise in, according to the directory. The current top ATM Key seller only has a score of 2!

 

I get the need for a bit of mystery in the ranking formula, but surely this is unintentional?