Anyone who participates in a land auction wants one thing -- and that's a nice piece of land. But if there were another thing they'd want, it would be the knowledge that the auction was conducted in a fair and forthright manner.
Up until now, we've kept the bid history -- the actual amount of each bid -- secret until the end of the auction. We haven't hidden the high bid, though, and that's the only one that really counts. All and all, hiding the bid amounts hasn't really done anything to make auctions more fair, so we're going to try something a bit different.
We're going to mask the names of the bidders instead. Don't worry, this doesn't mean anonymous bidding -- every bidder is an actual bidder and every bid is bona fide, and all will be revealed at auction's end. How does this improve auctions? It eliminates vindictive bids, "Johnny Ingersoll is sooo rich and seems to really want that parcel in Tamarack -- I'm going to bid to run up the price in the name of proletariat." It also combats bid collusion, "Janice, we're both bidding on Avondale 10. How 'bout you let me have it and I'll stop bidding on Orchid 3?"
In short, the key information in any auction is the high bid -- not the name of the high bidder. This change might make the auctions less entertaining as a spectator sport, but it will make sure the bidding process stays fair.