Good game design, LOL. That is NOT what BBs random expiring auctions is about. Its about lack of respect for peoples daily lives.
It's not about lack of respect for people's daily lives. It's about becoming a part of people's daily lives. You can be perfectly on top of this game by checking in once every other day. And on top of that you have to be willing to schedule some odd times to be on to snag a player or staff. That's not a huge sacrifice. Part of what makes a game engaging is that (to a certain degree) you can't predict what's going to happen. That's what randomness gives you. It builds interest.
I'm also making the argument that it's financially beneficial. Because BB gets money from advertising, it is advantageous to design the game in such a way that people want to access a page many times. So making the staff stream random is also good business, because it adds to the list of things users want to check often.