by Silverhart » Sun May 10, 2015 7:55 pm
No support. I see no reason for Trade Rules, and think it'll only create more hassle rather then cut down on it.
There's really nothing trade rules can add to the system that isn't currently in place. You can divide what you want into Hoard pets and Wishlist pets already, and can even set the number of hoard pets you want for people to see, so there's no reason for a player to make that distinction in trade rules. The pets have their rarities right underneath them, and you can organize them by age, and see how many days old they are, so there's no need to lecture people on values (if they don't understand, or choose to ignore rarities then a rule in a list is not going to do much good. Simply editing a trade to something you find fair is far more helpful). You can lock pets and baubles if you don't want to trade them. You can wishlist lock and label specific groups. If you're looking for something specific, like offsite trades, or specific pets, there are forums you can advertise in where more people will see them. If you receive a trade that you don't like you can easily modify or cancel it and include a message as to what you are specifically looking for. The other person can also send a message when sending or editing a trade if they need to address something, or ask a question.
Really, what more do you need to establish? I think the current system works perfectly and encourages healthy, friendly bargaining between players - rather then someone not reading a rule and sending an innocent trade only to get shot down because they didn't follow an individual's rule. To me it just feels like trade rules would put responsibility on the person sending the trade to read and understand the other person's trade rules, while taking responsibility off the player receiving the trade to deal politely and patiently with the sender. If someone doesn't send a trade you like, it's the responsibility of the receiver to correct it to something they would like. It's not the sender's job to know what you like and value - they're just offering you a deal.
Just like in real life - someone shoots you a number you don't like, and you either counter it or you decide to walk away. You don't establish a set of ground rules that apply to every situation and that you will hold every person to. And there's no reason to do this, as everyone knows how a trade works: "You want something, I want something - let's try to work something out so we're both happy." And sometimes you can't work something out, so you just choose to walk away. There's nothing wrong with two people valuing things differently and it's simple enough to cancel. Trade rules would add an extra obstacle for those who are just looking to trade and have fun. The majority of Eld are reasonable young adults and adults - we should all be able to deal nicely and sensibly with each other where trading is concerned, especially with all the amazing features at our disposal. And that has been my experience trading on Eld so far - with reasonable players who don't need to be told how to trade or interact. We don't need to moderate fellow traders, nor limit the people we trade with to those who fit our individual rules.
If I saw an actual need for Trading Rules I could get behind it. But we don't. Having predetermined rules you can choose isn't a bad idea, but I honestly can't think of a single rule I would consider important enough to write in trading rules that I can't express through the other features on the site. If I don't want to trade newborns it's on me to lock them in a separate group. If I don't want a one sided trade I can send it back with a message or cancel.
Also, don't forget that something like this would need to be coded into the site, which takes time and effort. I don't see that effort being at all worth it when you consider there is not much it would add to the current system. There is no reason I can think of why one would not use features, such as wishlist locking, labeling groups, even using your forum signature or trading thread to advertise. All of them are much more effective then trading rules could ever be.
So, personally I feel adding Trading Rules would be a useless addition to the site which would hamper trading more then help it.
Hellooo!
My name is Silverhart and I am here to collect pets, draw fanart, and geek out over Eld related things. And all while simultaneously searching for the truth behind the very many excellent questions. I am a stamp enthusiast, a loyal minion to my Lord Sullivan, partaker of muffins, and a shipper of apologies.
Eldemore Fanfiction ~ Current Project ~ Deviantart
:origin()/pre00/9974/th/pre/i/2017/333/8/8/canvas_redraw_by_ebriose_by_maralace-dbv8fz3.png)
Please join this site! Also, please put me as the ref (same user): 
