If we wanted the guide to be perfect, you're right; there would be a lot of hand
scrubbing. But I'm really just looking for it to be a solid point of reference with
some implied margin of error. For example, we could just deal with games properly
labeled in the title and make an assumption that this only accounts for about 50% of
the games that show up on eBay (due to spelling errors, bulk listings and titles like
"old game for sale.").
We would certainly do some hand scrubbing for special items (like Drash), but it
wouldn't have to be overwhelming. Also, input from knowledgeable experts would always
override the automated system. For example, if Tom has been searching for Ultima II
every week for the last three years on eBay, I would trust his judgment on its rarity.
Hugh
-----Original Message-----
From: Edward Franks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Jan 30, 2004 9:25 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Rarity Scale
On Jan 29, 2004, at 10:12 PM, BL wrote:
> Well, I've thought of that, but there's a lot of factors involved, like
> condition etc that will effect prices. If we pioneered an ebay title
> posting format, then well, it would be pretty easy. Or alternatively,
> we
> could only use those entries that have certain information in the
> title, or
> yet another possibility - just use all "found" auction data, and make
> that
> the "middle of the road" average. I'd be interested in something like
> this,
> and could code the DB and app.
Good luck parsing this auction correctly
<http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?
ViewItem&item=3074939557&category=3561>. ;-)
Between the typos and the combined auction you're in trouble. Also,
you are going to *have* to deal with the auction descriptions, if only
to separate out all the permutations of game and parts. A listing for
Ultima IV that pegs an auction of just the disks with an auction with
everything will royally mess up your rarity scale. Even if there is an
app scraping eBay for the basic info, I can still see people spending a
lot of time making judgment calls about where each auction fits.
I'm not saying it can't be done, but I think you'll spend more time
hand massaging the data than you might realize.
--
Edward Franks
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to
the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect'
Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to
the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect'
Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
