Sartre's Auction House: Hell Being Other Players' Perfect Rolls

[Annisa]

Existential Competition in Digital Economies

In the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre, the famous line hell is other people speaks to the inescapable tension and judgment we experience through the gaze of others. This idea finds an uncanny digital parallel in Path of Exile’s auction house economies, where the value of an item is never fixed by its stats alone, but by its comparative position within a player-driven market. In Sartre's imagined auction house, players do not simply seek good items — they seek better items than their competitors, and in doing so, create a perpetual cycle of envy, anxiety, and dissatisfaction.

The existential dread is most evident when perfect rolls appear. The unique scarcity of top-tier items makes them highly desirable, but their value is never isolated. Instead, it is relational, determined by what others possess and what others want. A player might find a near-perfect item, but its value plummets emotionally and economically the moment a superior version is listed. The auction house becomes a mirror of Sartre’s room where every player is judged in real time by the standard of another’s fortune.

Scarcity as a Social Construct

In a vacuum, any well-rolled item might seem satisfactory. However, the competitive context transforms every roll into a statement about one’s position in a social hierarchy. Sartre would suggest that meaning here is not inherent in the item itself but projected onto it by the gaze of other players. An average item can feel sufficient until one witnesses a screenshot of a perfectly rolled counterpart, posted triumphantly in a trade chat or forum thread.

This scarcity is largely artificial, sustained by the distribution algorithms and RNG systems that create extreme rarity at the highest tiers. While players think they are pursuing absolute value, what they are actually chasing is comparative value — superiority over others in a fundamentally unstable economy. As long as someone else holds a slightly better item, one's own accomplishment is rendered incomplete. This turns the trade market into a source of continuous psychological pressure where satisfaction is deferred, not because good fortune is lacking, but because other people’s good fortune is visible.

Value as Performance

The auction house in Path of Exile is not a neutral marketplace but a performative space. Players showcase their rolls, setting prices often as much for public display as for commerce. Listings with exorbitant prices for perfect items often remain unsold, yet they serve as markers of status and dominance. Sartre’s idea that identity is shaped through performance before others is enacted here, as traders curate their listings as declarations of wealth, power, and luck.

In this performance economy, players are both participants and audience, constantly observing and being observed. Prices fluctuate not purely based on utility, but on desirability, trends, and reputational capital. A high-profile player’s endorsement or acquisition of a particular item can dramatically shift its market value, demonstrating how economic worth is inseparable from social positioning. Sartre’s notion that we define ourselves in relation to others is unavoidable here, as every trade window becomes a space for judgment and comparison.

A Digital Theatre of Judgement

The relentless public nature of trading systems ensures that no acquisition exists in isolation. The moment an item is listed, it is exposed to collective scrutiny. Players internalize this gaze, experiencing both pride in ownership and insecurity in potential obsolescence. Perfect rolls thus become both prizes and punishments — affirmations of success and reminders of everything still lacking.

This creates a uniquely Sartrean kind of digital hell, where satisfaction is always provisional, dependent on the shifting tides of other people’s luck. The auction house, much like Sartre’s room, traps players in a cycle of mutual observation and comparison, ensuring that even rare fortune is never free from the oppressive presence of other players’ perfect rolls.
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