Lightest auction mod?

AyaJulia · 09-25-09, 12:01 PM

Hello.

I've been trimming my addon usage here and there, and my single biggest memory hog is ALWAYS whichever Auction mod I'm using. Right now I'm using AuctionLite, which sits around 20MB pretty much full-time. I've tried Auctioneer and Auctionator, but it's been a while and I can't remember how much they used.

What I'm not going to do here is set up whichever mod I wind up using to load only when I go to the AH; I like having AH prices displayed at all times.

So--what is the lightest Auction mod you've come across? Something tells me AuctionLite is already the best I'll get, but I need to ask to be sure.

Thanks very much in advance.

Petrah · 09-25-09, 12:24 PM

Even the lightest AH mod will eventually get bulky. This happens over time as you scan the AH and the addon saves all that information. The more you scan, the more information it saves. If you never scan the AH, then the addon stays down towards the bottom in the games System Performance List.

In your WTF/Account/AccountName/SavedVariables folder you will find two files associated with AuctionLite. If you don't mind losing the scanning history once in awhile, then delete those.

AyaJulia · 09-25-09, 12:41 PM

Thanks, yes, I'm aware of how to lose the scanning data. What I'm looking for are users' experiences for which one gets so bulky the least quickly.

Petrah · 09-25-09, 12:57 PM

That depends on how much you scan.

AyaJulia · 09-25-09, 01:01 PM

....yes, I'm aware of that.

I assumed people would realize the caveat here is "scanning equally on any of the addons." For example, once a day.

I'm not stupid.

Jeaz · 09-25-09, 01:11 PM

In my experience, Auctionator is one of the least bulky AH addons. It's scan is a lot simpler than Auctioneers and its just less stuff(ie features) involved that take up room.
But, I guess pretty much anything besides Auctioneer. It's a great addon that can do lots n' lots of things, but noone can deny that it is bulky.

Dainton · 09-25-09, 02:12 PM

You could use tekauc and scan every time you log in to have current prices for that session, but it won't save prices between sessions or give you past auction prices. This is most likely the lightest way to go about this.

AyaJulia · 09-25-09, 02:28 PM

That's a very interesting solution, Dainton, and I think I'll bookmark it in case I get any more desperate for memory.

However, at present I REALLY like knowing how far above or below average market price a particular thing is, so I'd actually like some SavedVariables kept. ^^

Thanks very much for the responses so far! Any more experience is welcome.

**Seerah** · 09-25-09, 03:17 PM

Keep in mind that how much memory an addon uses is, 99% of the time, irrelevant. Unless you are running the bare minimum specs in terms of RAM, and you notice performance hits as your computer starts paging things back and forth, then don't worry about how much memory an addon uses.

The real thing to watch (if you're worried about performance) is CPU usage. An addon could be 1 line of code but run your CPU cycles up so much that it freezes your game down to 0fps, ultimately crashing the client. A question many authors face when optimizing their addons is whether to sacrifice memory usage for efficiency in CPU terms. In some instances, an addon can do something clunkily and slowly, using less memory, then it could in a cleaner, fast way, but using a bit more memory.

In the end, if you're not taking performance hits, and you're not worried about CPU usage, then just use whatever auction addon that you, yourself, prefer over the others.

lilsparky · 09-25-09, 03:37 PM

i think, and i could be wrong here, that auctionLite doesn't keep a "current snapshot" of the auctionhouse and instead just adds everything to a single historical database. auctioneer and auctionator both keep an historical dataset in addition to a current scan dataset. it would stand to reason, then, that auctionlite is probably going to be easier on the memory usage.

and one thing about having a large saved data file is that it takes longer to load and parse than a smaller one. i tend to turn off auctioneer not because i need the memory, but because it adds time to my loading process...

edit: okay, i might be getting a bit confused on my auction mods. between auctionlite, auctionmaster, auctionator, and auctioneer the details get a bit confusing...

Cralor · 09-25-09, 03:42 PM

I just have Auctioneer enabled on my Bank char and then on my Bank char I have the majority of my addons disabled because all I do is... auction!

Zirco · 09-25-09, 04:08 PM

Hi,

Zirco, here. I'm the author of Auctionator. Just to give you a data point, I've been scanning since the feature first appeared in Auctionator and now have 44612 items in my database and Auctionator is using 5.85 MB of RAM.

Auctionator only stores a single value per item in its db. It does store some history of prices for items you've posted but not for every item that gets scanned.

That said, I agree with Seerah that a few MB here or there isn't really a big issue unless you're running very close to the minimum.

- Zirco

Bruners · 09-25-09, 05:51 PM

If you use auctionator without doing the whole auctionhouse scan it doesnt use much memory.

I don't really understand why you need to know the last seen price on the auction house for all items, the next time you get there the price will be either higher or lower anyway.

Having it only store items that you actually trade with is a much better option.

Auctinator is awesome!

AyaJulia · 09-27-09, 12:51 PM

Keep in mind that how much memory an addon uses is, 99% of the time, irrelevant. Unless you are running the bare minimum specs in terms of RAM, and you notice performance hits as your computer starts paging things back and forth, then don't worry about how much memory an addon uses.

Yes, I just had a little tiff with Claidhare over this; the simple fact of the matter is, I DO notice a performance hit with RAM usage. Yes, I need more RAM. Don't tell me this fact unless you're willing to donate to the poor-WoW-players fund, conveniently run by myself.

The other night I decided to give Claid's arguments a shot and left more addons running than usual. It was simply unplayable after a few hours--I was over 50MB higher than I was used to, with just over 120MB of usage. The only place I could perform half-fluidly was in a 5-man dungeon.

I don't really understand why you need to know the last seen price on the auction house for all items, the next time you get there the price will be either higher or lower anyway.

I didn't say I wanted the last seen price. I said I wanted the average price. Surely you can dream of how having the average price handy when evaluating purchases or playing the market might be useful.

Just to give you a data point, I've been scanning since the feature first appeared in Auctionator and now have 44612 items in my database and Auctionator is using 5.85 MB of RAM.

This is the sort of great info I was looking for. Thanks. I might have to give it a shot, as AuctionLite is using around 20... but I do love AuctionLite's interface. >:] We'll see!

Any more input is welcome, and again, thanks for the responses so far.

ricks322 · 09-28-09, 09:12 AM

I guess I'm a novice at the Auction House game, but I seem to notice that there are alot of items that are put up for auction with ridiculous prices just to skew the 'avg' price.

I've seen 6 slot bags listed for 100 gold.

Bruners · 09-28-09, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by AyaJulia

I didn't say I wanted the last seen price. I said I wanted the average price. Surely you can dream of how having the average price handy when evaluating purchases or playing the market might be useful.

Any more input is welcome, and again, thanks for the responses so far.

This is where auctionator is cool, when you want to sell something or buy something, simply go to the auction house and it will find the average price for you if an item is already up there, it will even put a price lower than the ones already there.

It will remember the price for items that you have sold before, i still dont see the need to store information about low level green and grey items that you would never sell on the auction house anyway

AyaJulia · 09-28-09, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by Bruners

This is where auctionator is cool, when you want to sell something or buy something, simply go to the auction house and it will find the average price for you if an item is already up there, it will even put a price lower than the ones already there.

It will remember the price for items that you have sold before, i still dont see the need to store information about low level green and grey items that you would never sell on the auction house anyway

I realize you're trying to turn me on to how awesome Auctionator is, but you're really doing quite the opposite. I want to know average prices for everything, whether I plan to sell it some day or not. There are some very expensive greys and whites that people buy for their bank alts to wear, for example. If an addon is going to decide for me what it thinks I want to know, I want nothing to do with it.

Also, again about playing the market--if an item sells for 200g every other day but happens to be up for sale for 100g today and the auction addon lists its average price as 100g that day, what kind of use is it to me?

You may disagree about what you think I should want to know, but I ask that you respect the fact that I want to know different things from you and stop trying to sway me to an addon that does something completely freaking different. Thanks.

I guess I'm a novice at the Auction House game, but I seem to notice that there are alot of items that are put up for auction with ridiculous prices just to skew the 'avg' price.

I've seen 6 slot bags listed for 100 gold.

That's where personal sanity checking comes in to play and you realize that the grey item up for 5g does not, in fact, sell for a 5-figure price. You learn when a price seems fishy, and maybe you go to wowhead to check the comments on it and see if anyone actually does like to buy it (in the case of those expensive bank alt greys I mentioned).

Petrah · 09-28-09, 07:44 PM

Wow. Could you possibly be more abusive to those who are trying to help you?

Miralen · 09-28-09, 08:28 PM

I have to say if you want an addon that doesnt decide for you and lets you delve into the many options so that you can tweak them I have to be honest you dont really want one of the lighter weight auction addons. To be honest I think your best bet is auctioneer advanced and ACP and just disable auctioneer when you dont need it or just have it on your auction character. Personally I use auctionater and like it cause I dont need to run auctioneer advanced as I already spend tons of time tweaking my ui I dont need to do the same thing for an auction addon.

Now keep in mind that alot of these experiences that people have mentioned are from personal experience and their trying to lend you a hand but it seems to me you are looking for a light weight auction addon with options that the two or three light weight auction addons just dont come with which leaves you with a few options: find the auction addon you prefer and write the addon author to see if they could add some of the functionality you are looking for. Write your own addon (not the most practical but you would get what you want) or do what alot of people do and I know this is shocking and probably considered a curse word in most circles but you might just have to compromise. But please remember people are trying to help you out on your quest to find a lighter auction addon, might be that I and others might be taking what you are saying wrong but it just seems a bit hostile is all. I apologize if it isnt supposed to be but just seems that way.

Bluspacecow · 09-28-09, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by ricks322

I guess I'm a novice at the Auction House game, but I seem to notice that there are alot of items that are put up for auction with ridiculous prices just to skew the 'avg' price.

That's why I personally use Auctioneer.

It has an Outlier module specifically to combat people pulling this crap. If the price has a red % besides it I. Don't. Buy. It.

For me I don't give a crap how much memory my Auctioneer mod uses - I use Auctioneer Advanced and can still remember the days when it was even worse a memory hog then it is now. It's pretty efficient as it only loads the price tooltip when you hover an item.

No my FPS gets more effected when Spotlight decides to fire up on my Mac to update it's index