User blog comment:Godofcyanide/A Trade Proposal/@comment-12279942-20130716151234

I've mentioned this before in chat, but will do it again publicly and on the record here;

Opening a trade function is ill advised; not only for the (insanely logical and realistic) reasons that Cyanide outlined in the OP, but also because it distorts the game not only via deck manipulation, but by *multiple accounts*. People are already complaining about hacking and coin-cheating and other nonsense, in regards to the Top Tier players and the incredible ranking points achieved; but there are a lot more dedicated players than just the handful of top tier rankers; and TFL seems to be a very, very popular game (even a 4th movie is being made, can't see a decrease in the player base any time soon- but I digress).

Once account abuse is implemented via a trading system, it's instantly incorporated into gameplay, well beyond any form of 'strategy'... it becomes 'necessity'. Alternate accounts, Mule accounts, entire CELLS of accounts, funnelled into Battery accounts, and passed onto Main accounts. You'd call me crazy and dismiss what I write, but I have seen it. And once the switch is turned on, you can't turn it off without severely damaging your player base.

TFL would be much wiser to incorporate a more intense (and Tiered) PvP system, or a deeper, event-independant Quest system filled with storyline, artwork, and rewards/items. Actually, there are a ton of things that could be implemented that would be better for TFL and it's players/customers, rather than a 'simple' trading system. It will be abused. Horridly. Abused. And if it's not 'simple', then it's going to be complex, or restrictive, or cost mobacoins (in contradiction with the Mobage stance). No matter how you set up a trading scheme, it's either going to be abusable, restrictive and moderately abusable, or simply impracticle (or just give people the shits).