User blog:Godofcyanide/A Trade Proposal

Hey folks,

Part III of TFL Domination is coming soon. I can't write about my experiences while I'm learning from them. ;)

I want to discuss my proposal for trading, and why trading as most would want it is absolutely horrific for the game.

My proposal is this: A player may participate in one trade per week for one card, and this trade would cost each party 1 million credits. Players now have to make a significant sacrifice of credits to make a trade, and the one trade a week restriction is in place to circumvent a number of the problems I will discuss below.

Here are the problems with un- or limited-restricted trading in TFL:

1. It opens the game up to account hackers. A hacker could theoretically hack your account and sell your stuff, but that would take sheer malice. He'd rather steal what you worked for so he doesn't have to. Many years ago, this happened to a "pro-level" MtG player's online account; when that player contacted the company to have his account restored, they basically replied with, "Sorry, bro, bad beats, you never actually own digital stuff anyway LOL." I have zero doubt that any of the companies involved in this game would take the same tack should it happen to any of the game's top players - let alone aspiring top players.

2. It opens the game up to coordinated deck manipulation. Whether it's teammates or players with opposing schedules "loaning" powerful cards out to each other via trade, it tilts the game against players without such associations, as such manipulative trades would not occur between players whose only allegiance is through the TFL game itself.

3. It could drive away newer players. Players hate getting nothing for something, and it's been my experience that some savvy but unscrupulous players will enjoy taking advantage of "n00bs" via the trade system. I've watched people do it at Magic tournaments and BRAG about ripping some little kid off on a valuable card. TFL players would be ripping off less-knowledgeable adults, generally, but the same issue applies: Being taken advantage of sucks, and people often respond to such incidents early in their gaming life as a sample of things to come and are likely to not return, or, at the least, be scared off trading when it could improve their deck when done with people who aren't jerks.

4. It would create a secondary cash market that Mobage cannot participate in, let alone control. Players can offer to sell cards to each other in transactions that Mobage has no hand in. That's not going to sit well with them. Just imagine the first time someone pays for a card and the seller refuses to trade the card. Mobage can't do a damned thing about it, but it is mail fraud that could never be proven or disproven without Mobage's direct involvement. This could be a legal nightmare for them that they surely want to avoid.

For once, I'll give you...

TL;DR - Be careful what you wish for. Trading opens Pandora's Box for TFL.

Peace, y'all!

- the god of cyanide, who should be sleeping after the draining run of last event, but had to get this out there.