Trading 2.0
TappedOut forum
Posted on March 30, 2012, 3:02 p.m. by yeaGO
Hello all
I'm going to make some changes to Trading very soon as TappedOut has become increasingly a target for scammers.
My original goal in creating trade binders wasn't to make TappedOut a trading site, it was to create a Trading feature for TappedOut users. If you are on this site solely for trading, you need to find another site! Plenty of MTG trading forums exist around the internet and this isn't one of them.
I don't want to remove trading entirely due to a few bad apples. So here's what I'm thinking:
- Pending trades list on the trade binder page
- Six month waiting period to trade (exemptions will be made in rare cases).
- Vouches come from upgraded users only
I'm looking for feedback and suggestions. Things which don't work:
- Trade history -- people can create sock puppet accounts to Make this up
- Deck history -- people make up decks really quickly to look busy
Thoughts, feedback?
That sounds like a great addition to me personally jkarnes. I think it addresses the issue at hand perfectly. If people don't like the idea of a trade que then they're probably a hardcore trader. And as yeaGO! put it this website isn't FOCUSED on trading primarily. There are other websites out there for that.
On that note, yeaGO! I do agree with you to an extent about tappedout being a deck building community first and foremost. But wouldn't you agree that trading for cards you need is an integral part of the deck building process? I just figured I'd ask if you would agree with that statement.
April 4, 2012 1:05 a.m.
karnes has it down perfectly. trade queue will be added soon.
April 4, 2012 1:38 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
It would be nice to have a list of people who want cards I have and another list who have cards I want.
jkarnes says... #1
Ultimately I think this is a problem that must be approached from two sides. While a great deal of thought has gone into attacking this issue unilaterally I believe that the ultimate solution will be a bilateral one:
What exactly is the problem with a scammer (How does a scammer function?) and...
How can we create a system which inhibits scams without inhibiting normal users (which can also not be duped)?
This is not a simple issue. At all.
The main problem with scammers is that they will always find a way around the system no matter how complex or complicated you try and make it. Safeguards are always able to be circumvented by any party determined enough to do so; therefore, the real question is, "What level or methods of security will prevent the highest number of scammers?"
Requiring vetting is a good first step because it eliminates scammers from being in control of any given situation; however, how do you determine who has the privilege of doing this without being unfair?
Well, a good determination would be for administrators to make the first wave determination of who should be given this ability and then have some kind of distribution system for "earning a vet." As this isn't primarily a trading site, I feel this solution fits the bill of what we are about: community. With any community, you have to be around to be known , and this system reflects that. It also provides a trail to find out if any vetting account leads to scams so that action can be taken against them.
This solution does bring the initial trade volume down due to requiring vetting to take place in waves, but ultimately would lead to trading built around community instead of commodity.
As good as it is, this system can still be beaten out by a patient scammer... one who gets vetted with "no-value" trades (in which neither party gains or looses value) before moving to a single high-value scam, or multiple scams at once by placing all cards in motion towards them and then disappearing once all his trades have come in.
To combat this particular problem, a Trade Queue could be instituted in which only one outstanding trade can be made at any given time. Again, this slows down the velocity of trades, but more closely reflects the idea that community supersedes commodity. You wouldn't have your binder open with 12 individuals trying to rustle trades 12 ways at once in real life, would you?
To recap:
Trade vetting along with trade queues would probably be the safest way to effectively remove scammers from the population because both institutions effectively reduce trade velocity which reduces time invested v. payoff received by scammers. If you make it difficult to be vetted and then make it impossible to scam more than one person at a time, the reward for any given scammer becomes inestimably small and therefore not really worth the effort.
April 3, 2012 4:29 p.m.