| Subject: My miscellaneous thoughts on trading (long-winded and pointless, so read with discretion) |
Author:
Larq
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Date Posted: 19:10:35 11/15/01 Thu
Something that I said in my last post (the one under Six's thread about the Vault), is leading me to these random thoughts on trading. What I said was, "(if you guys want a trading board...)."
These are the thoughts that, over time ingame, I have built regarding trading.
1. If you're a member of any of the allegiance to which I belong and I have something that you want/need with which I am willing to part, it's yours. Gratis. Free. Consider it a gift.
2. If you're a friend of mine and I have something that you want/need with which I am willing to part, it's yours. Gratis. Free. Consider it a gift.
3. I would not trade an item that I have with a vassal.
Now, this being said, if I'm giving you a gift, that means that I do not ask for or expect a thing in return. In fact, in real life, when someone gives you a gift, do you "owe" them? Nope :) In fact, if I gave a gift to you, and you "paid" me for it, I'd be insulted ;)
Also, that being said, the theories to which I prescribe when you have something that I am in want/need of are a bit different. You, as the person with said item, have the power to decide whether it is being given as a gift or whether you would like to trade it. Your decision in no way speaks ill of you in my eyes... it's your item, it's your decision under which terms you'd part with it.
Trading and auctioning, in my mind, is a little bit different, and should be for *special* items - or at least items that I think are.
I've found that, generally, when someone "opens a bid" (and opening bids at real auctions typically ARE lower, and that's fine because the expectation is that the bidding will continue over and above that opening bid), the auctioner often gets defensive that the opening bid is too low. Methinks that most auctioners do not understand the concept of "auction." That's why I think that it's very important that the auctioner, if he/she is expecting "no less than [insert trade item and quantity here]," then the onus is on him/her to outline that from the introduction of the item being auctioned. I also think that it's very important the auctioner outlines exactly what he/she wants in exchange.
The other thing that usually steers me away from trading and/or auctioning is actually composing, and then later - checking, a trade/auction list. It's just too much time/patience that I could exert elsewhere.
I've noticed that the "what is this worth?" posts often get misinterpreted as "I'm trading/auctioning this item." I've seen effective "price check" threads and I think that they're a much better idea because, if you're looking to place value on an item and not wanting to trade it, you really shouldn't bait others and then, even though you've got high offers, switch. That's just bad practice. If you want something appraised, that's one thing... if you want to get rid of it, that's quite another and there should be a seperate post for that.
There are times, though, when I think that it's completely appropriate to say "Do you have any [insert item here]? I will trade you for it/them." Again, though, it's up to the person who has the item(s) in question to determine whether or not it goes to the other person as a gift, a trade, a high bid, or a discount.
One thing, though, that REALLY, REALLY chaps my hide, is when someone says "I have XXX and I'm trading it for YYY," and someone else says, "You moron! It's not even worth that much!" or "d00d, you're stupid because it's worth sooooo much more than YYY!" WRONG. If I, the trader/auctioner, deem a canescent mattekar pelt worth 2 gold peas (please note that this is just a gross example :) I happen to value it much, much more than that ;)), that's my prerogative because *I* am the person that holds the pelt and I am stating what *I* am willing to trade for it. The converse is also true. If I'm the person offering 2 gold peas for the canescent mattekar pelt, it's still my prerogative as the paying, discriminant shopper, to offer that for it... There is always the possibility out there that someone really is looking to trade what I want for what I have, no matter what others deem its value.
Bleh, bleh, bleh.
No, I'm not really discussing these for reasons other than the fact that they were on my mind. They do not reflect my opinions of any posters on this board, or in this guild AT ALL, I just felt like talking :) So, take my pyreals and do with them what you will... it's your prerogative ;)
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