Gold Guide: Is it Monitoring or Stalking?

When playing the auction house game a person will run into various types of situations and AHers.  In a general sense, all these players can be placed into two basic categories: casual, and camper.  Sure, it's an awfully general classification but there really isn't a need for precise categories at the moment. At least, not for this particular article.  What I want to talk about is a wrong method of dealing with a competitor when one meets the other and clash.

In a nutshell:
The casual is the AHer that will put up a few items to be able to afford the week's raid repairs.

The camper is the player that will sit at the auction house to cancel and repost their wares if another player undercuts them.

The Scenario
Suppose a casual comes into the market to post an item or two. The casual posts and forgets about their items. The camper sees competition then proceeds to undercut the items.  After a few days of no sales, the casual begins to become frustrated.  All they want is to sell their items to afford repairs or buy a new epic mount. 

Now this same situation can be flipped around. The camper notices a new competitor attempting to enter their playground. Suffice it to say that new poster could/will cut into the camper's gold revenues for the day. All the camper wants to do is make as much gold as possible per hour.

The casual decides to notice when the other typically posts their auctions and uses that information to post their goods.  Success, gold is won!

Seems like a  pretty harmless way to handle the situation right?  However,  let's take it even further...

Is it really monitoring?
Suppose the casual turns into a full on competitor for the camper. Now we have two gold making individuals wanting the biggest chunk of the gold pie they can possible get their hands on in the auction house.

The first AHer decides to add the other to their friend list and wait until the person logs off to post their auctions. The second AHer begins to note a decrease in sales and starts to fume.  The second player then in turn adds the first player to their own friend list. This starts the circle of babysitting each others playing activities. A few days later,  both parties are now watching their friend list to see when an individual's name grays out to be able to post their auctions first.

Still pretty innocent. 

However, now we are wandering into the realm of watching the other player's activities.  One of the player's decides to use the Undermine Journal to determine when exactly the other rival logs on and off to post auctions.  Normally, this is not wrong. The UJ website is a great way to analyze the trends of the auction house as well as see the general movements of a fellow gold maker. 

Let's see how it can go wrong and venture even deeper --

So then with friend list and UJ information at hand the player begins to follow the movements of the other player. At first it seemed harmless. However, the player then begins creating  insulting(perhaps even sexual) letters and sending like-wise whispers from disposable alts to the rival. Soon after, the player starts to appear everywhere the other rival is located whether at an auction house, instance entrance, or at the mailbox.  The sole purpose was to teach the competitor a few lessons by showing that no ground would be lost to them. Instead, it led to creepy methods that no longer have any connection to making gold but about harrassing the other player as much as possible.

Don't cross the path
The scenario I'm writing about isn't a personal one but rather a disturbing situation I am noticing being described around various gold blogs and forums.  It's a dark trend that many aren't seeing anything wrong with at all.  Seriously,  it is wrong. There is a huge difference between monitoring competition and adjusting your auction house practice to fit accordingly and blatantly stalking another player.

Using the friend list and the Undermine Journal to constantly watch, create letters, and to follow around a rival; whether to annoy,  insult, or provoke the other out of self-contempt and jealousy? Wrong. You're on the border of obsession and is no way a right method to make gold.  It's a straight gait into stalking. Plain and simple.