Golly gee it almost seems as though ebaY is being sneaky with this or something? They've posted on the search forum, (where the complaints are immediate)

Wildcard Search - More Information

with a link to ebay partner blog

(but I didn't see anything on the main announcements. Seems odd. This looks like a monumental change)

Update 11/5/12: Wildcards in eBay Search

a quick read looks maybe like sleazebay is whining about resource usage or trying to reduce it? LoLZ!

I'm not sure about anyone else, but fake botmindreading autocomplete on/for search text anything is annoying.

Why these clowns would take something you can do with one search & change it into 100 searches is just plain ridiculous, unless you're hurting for traffic maybe? There could be all sorts of reasons... LoLz!

In other news, we hear there is some powerful new strain of dope in San Jose, called "Orange and Purple Vest" rotfmao