Topic

What is acceptable chat on the Trading Channel?

A post in live help about off-topic chat in the Trading Channel started a discussion there that needed to move off the live help channel, so this post is to continue the discussion.

While it is clear that totally off-topic threads of chat are inappropriate on the Trade Channel, there seems to be disagreement on just how literally the warning that the Channel is for Trade chat only should be taken. My position is that in the course of trading, traders will naturally digress occasionally into friendly chatter arising from the trades taking place. I think this is natural and okay. I stated that the Channel would lose a lot of its charm if all posts had to be strictly trade related.

Another glitch posted that they didn't think charm was needed on the trade channel and that the "trade-related chat only" rule should be literally enforced. (My own feeling is that EVERYTHING in Glitch should have charm.)

So how do you feel about this? Maybe more importantly how does TS view the issue?

Posted 5 months ago by Hawkwell Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • I've found a couple people who consistently make posts that aren't trade related.

    For example, someone asks "Does anyone have X?"  The offenders post things like, "I have a lot, but I'm not selling".  It spams up the channel when you're looking for people to trade with.  

    Last night, after a discussion of what was and was not 'short asides', someone posted "Off-topic:  do you play (internet game) X?"  When people pointed out that the statement wasn't about trade at all, snits ensued.  Because that, to them, was a 'short aside'.

    I've also seen links to things unrelated to selling, like latest snaps.

    I'm finding it difficult to connect with people who are ready to trade, and hard to keep track of the channel.  The red 'new post' number keeps flashing, but when I switch over to that chat, it's just chat.  

    Requests to take chats to IM are met with rude "chill" response.  

    Frankly, unless we get some guides or unless the staff who are in the channel start making comments, I'm about done with it.  A /who consistently shows several staff members, but they seem to let all of this ride, even when abuse reports are filed.  Apparently it's working just fine from a staff point of view.
    Posted 5 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks for posting this here and not starting it up again in the Trading Channel.  I'm a big fan of the 'torches and pitchforks' method.  You know, where instead of sending the 'offender' a private message explaining your point of view, you publicly call them on it.  Then a bunch a lurkers chime in agreement  giving their arbitrary stamp of approval.  Then it spirals out of control and they become an active participant in the very thing they were decrying, non trade talk. 
    Posted 5 months ago by Malus Agricola Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I do all my "Glitchy Chores" while watching the different channels including the Trade Channel. I enjoy the calm that is Glitch so I am concerned when anything here becomes to intense or rule orientated. The purpose of this  game is fun. It concerns me when people take things to seriously. So what if the talk drifts of on occasion, it always comes back to trading. Take a deep breath and enjoy. That is my suggestion. LOL
    Posted 5 months ago by Neon Tetra Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I totally agree  with WindBorn. I am the one that asked in Live help why no staff was monitoring the Trade Channel since I had just seen a full chat page of unrelated chat. Example this morning: X asks : How do you add  symbol on your sign post?..then 12 lines of back & forth between X and another glitch about this subject. A few chat lines of another glitch trying to sell his items got lost in there.

    A staff monitoring could have directed this  X glitch or answered in an IM to him and the other glitch.

    Having the trade channel light up multiple times just to go read and find  that a lot of the chatter has nothing to do with trading/selling. 
    @ Neon Tetra: if the purpose of the game is to have fun and a lot of glitches are saying that they don't find it FUN that the channels are not being used for what they were created for in the first place,  then you should respect that. I do not find global chat FUN because I don't like the kind of language sometimes used by glitchens their so I don't go their often.
       
    If Glitch game had no rules then we would be able to make 100 alts and have them all work to our advantage. Or steal from others with no consequences. Glitch game does have rules.
    Trade is not too bad now but just wait until everyone has a tower, when we go Live and there is thousands of glitch playing the game, what a mess it will be then if we don't set some guidelines(rules) now?.
    Posted 5 months ago by Jeasilver Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Heya- we are fine with a small bit of banter that goes on in conjunction with the trade. We don't want someone to feel uncomfortable with making some funny comments that go along with it. (Be funny! Creative! That thing, from the pop up before you get in.)  When it goes into extended conversations that head to other territories, please avoid that. Note, this channel has just started. We're watching how it works out, and may adjust things once we see how things go. If it gets to the point where someone continually goes against the spirit of the channel, use the tool to report abuse to tell us about it (we want things logged in cases), and we will review the situation and followup with the player in question if necessary. (Yes, we have done so with some reports already.)

    Ok!
    Posted 5 months ago by kevbob Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Hawkwell, WindBorn, Malus Agricola, and Jeasilver - I totally agree with your points of view. I tend to get goofy and out of control, but I do try to keep myself under control while in channels that are topic driven. This is a channel that was set up for a specific purpose. I think that it should be used as such.

    @neon - you're right too! this game IS supposed to be fun. But, we should be respectful of others and use the channels appropriately.

    @me - holy moley, you take a long time to say so little. lol

    @kevbob - Yay!  :D
    Posted 5 months ago by CoffeeSnob Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm totally with Windborn et al here

    I've already given up on the trade channel because it is too difficult to actually find people to trade with
    Posted 5 months ago by IrenicRhonda Subscriber! | Permalink
  • One person's fun is another person's annoying distraction. I think TS has made it clear with the click-through box that chat should be focussed on trading. 

    There are so many other places to talk of other things.
    Posted 5 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just in: an example of what someone Just posted in Trade just now:
    [link removed, please use report abuse tools in place, not use the forum for this --kevbob]
    Posted 5 months ago by Jeasilver Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I got called out for making a very short comment that was not trade-related.  I felt that was too strict and somewhat mean-spirited. 

    The trade channel is new and I think we should all be somewhat tolerant until people get the hang of things.  I get distracted easily (call it ADD or whatever you like) and I sometimes forget I'm in the Trade channel....literally. 

    I will try harder to keep my comments trade-related.  Please, though, let's not make this a police state.  It's a game.
    Posted 5 months ago by Ravenfeather Noir Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just to clarify, I was being facetious with my being a big fan of how we self police.  I take much more umbrage with some self proclaimed moderator busting in to tell someone they aren't on topic.  Mostly because their admonishment is going against what they are fighting for.  And then publicly trying to bend them to their will and interpretation of how things should be. 
      Take some personal responsibility.  Don't think the conversation is becoming of the channel?  Privately tell that person instead of involving us all.  If that doesn't work, block and report.  Problem solved.  Your blood pressure can go back to normal.  But for Giant's sake stop dragging your personal hang ups into it, claiming to speak from the moral majority, or the need to seek the approval of your peers. 
      Also, I enjoy a quip or some snark to break up the constant 'Got Wall segments here', 'how much do unicorn cubis go for'
    Posted 5 months ago by Malus Agricola Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Malus - heh, Unicorn Cubies...  lol
    Posted 5 months ago by CoffeeSnob Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I get that jumping on people isn't a good way to go about it, and that a periodic short quip can be nice.  But the "constant" trade talk is... what the channel is there for, isn't it?
    Posted 5 months ago by diaveborn ♥ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Diave, I agree.  And my use of constant was not meant to be pejorative.  I think I meant more of breaking the monotony.  Hell, I'd love to see some more creative sales pitches rather than just cataloging one's wares and prices.  Right now, I can really only think of the Tower of London.  And that pitch worked.  Now if we could only have jingles to worm their way into our ears. 
    Posted 5 months ago by Malus Agricola Subscriber! | Permalink
  • omg Malus...jingles we can customize into our own personalised music block...that would be so bloody awesome!!!
    Posted 5 months ago by ~Arabesque~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Trade chat will be a mess when we go live even if it is monitored.  If you don't understand why, the current pace can be difficult to follow, multiply that by ten and it is pretty much useless.  

    But while I agree for the most part that trade chat should be about trade, players "yelling" at other players is completely out of line and has itself made trade chat more difficult to use.  No one likes to be told to shut up by anyone, never mind someone without authority, never mind if they should shut up or not.  It's often counter-productive, leading to stubborn people that dig in and go off-topic even more in response to the complaints.   I'm at the point where I'm going to start reporting the self-appointed trade chat police for being an unnecessary source of conflict in the game -- sorry to player support staff, as I think that means you might be getting a report from me every ten minutes.  Let's not make this channel as ugly as rook alerts.  

    As for how that will go when the game goes live, multiply that conflict by ten as well.  Not gonna work.  
    Posted 5 months ago by Red Sauce Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree that it's not gonna work. While staff monitoring and intervention might help to keep the discussion from going off the rails, it won't solve the problem of pacing. So how's this going to scale?

    Trying to hammer out guidelines for this kind of stuff in the General Forum also isn't gonna work.  Even if everyone posting here were to agree on specific guidelines (good luck with that!), there would be differences in interpretation. There will be players who don't read the forums or who only scan for info on game updates. Those who have an hour or less a day for Glitch, may want to spend that time playing rather than reading the forum. And there will be new players who will have no knowledge of prior forum postings -- such as the many posts saying what I've just said in this paragraph.
    Posted 5 months ago by Splendora Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "As for how that will go when the game goes live, multiply that conflict by ten as well.  Not gonna work."

    This is also why, as far as I know, global chat is still slated for eventual replacement by something different and scalable.  /off-topic
    Posted 5 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • WindBorn-Yes to ALL the things. +2

    I'd love to see Trade Channel be closer to Rook Alerts than to Global. 
    Posted 5 months ago by M<3tra, obviously Subscriber! | Permalink
  • In the future they may combat the trade channel being ten times more crowded by instancing it ten ways. 

    *shrug*

     I'm fairly sure there's already at least two Live Helps. Perhaps they will appoint OFFICIAL trade monitors to serve as a sister group to the Guides of Live Help. I dunno how much better, if at all, that would work, just speculating on TS' options :)
    Posted 5 months ago by Liza Throttlebottom Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Gotcha, Malus :)

    I know I have been in the category of people that some are saying are actually contributing to the problem, and I'm sorry.  I have lost my temper a bit in the past but now I'm forcing myself to back off.  Maybe just a quick link to kevbob's post or something, and just once, instead of trying to convince people.
    Posted 5 months ago by diaveborn ♥ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Metra, I have a bit of a disagreement regarding your wanting the Trade Chanel to be more like Rook Alerts. A couple seperate times I got on the Rook Alert chat and asked if there were any attacks anywhere, got chewed out by several glitches each time. I quit the Rook Alerts group because I didn't feel like gettig chewed out for chatting on topic. I hope the Trade Chanel doesn't become as highly policed as Rook Alerts; moderation is of course necessary, but not to the point people don't feel free to use it even when on topic.
    Posted 5 months ago by Kaepora Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The Iron Law of Trade Channels: all trade channels ever will eventually have at least one flare-up of Chuck Norris jokes.
    Posted 5 months ago by Meromorphic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Incidentally, there seems to be a void between trade chat and global chat.  To wit, Glitch-related banter.  I don't want to be in global because I don't want to chat about real world stuff most of the time.  Trade chat filters that out but is, obviously, too specialized.
    Posted 5 months ago by Meromorphic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It works, it doesn't work, it will work, it won't work, I'll report you,...blah, blah, blah...

    Groups, routes, towers, auctions, marketplace, vendors, 3rd party sites, p2p trade....Aren't there enough other ways to sell things in the game already? 
    Posted 5 months ago by Mablem Tiipot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Group enforcement of group norms is rarely a pretty sight. Also, as others have pointed out, there is some irony of using Trade Chat to argue about what is or is not appropriate conversation.

    What I have seen work well is somebody just saying simply "And now, back to Trade Chat." Or some other simple short remark that does not call for a lengthy defensive tirade as a response.
    Posted 5 months ago by Vocable Subscriber! | Permalink
  • one thing that would cut the trade chat traffic in half is if wahoos did not show up there asking "how much should I sell my guano for" and such-like.  Figure it out your own damn selves. 
    Posted 5 months ago by WalruZ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have to disagree with the idea that pricing related questions are inappropriate for the trade channel.  I think those questions are on topic, and there are frequently unusual items that have no auctions right now, which is the easiest way to "figure it out". Given the number of complaints there have been in these forums about predatory pricing and unfair undercutting, don't discourage anyone that's trying to determine a fair price for trades.  And if you don't like those questions don't be a worse idiot and tell them sell to a GNG for 100, or buy a chick cubi for 10000.
    Posted 5 months ago by KhaKhonsu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree that the Trading Channel won't scale. I think it is just supposed to be a temporary thing until a better feature is implemented. I also think they put it up as a way to deal the the horrific begging that broke out after the towers were enabled. 

    What we really need is to have Ur included as a city on Craigslist. Then we could post and respond to free classifieds to our hearts' content.

    If that doesn't work out maybe TS could give us a Glitch version of Craigslist... something like Cosmoslist.
    Posted 5 months ago by Miss Bobbit Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Would it be possible to have a somewhat strict Trade Chat and a more relaxed Trader's Chatterbox?

    Trade chat will likely stat high volume even with strict rules due to ads and people jumping to chime in that they carry [X].   Those of you who can't seem to use it for trade, what is the specific issue you are having?  I haven't seen the chat so fast that info scrolls by before it can be read.    
    Posted 5 months ago by Rathany Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Trade is a chat channel; as such you can't be too harsh on people for going OOC. A programmed mechanism (AH or directory) is a better solution when you want to search efficiently.

    I still think this was a half measure shown to have failed in prior games it appeared in. It's always gonna be Global Chat with slightly more focus on selling.
    Posted 5 months ago by Janitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I would say anthing goes as long as you don't swear or post porn (same as global) (not that it stops to seem peeps doing it on global) except the folk on the trade chat are interested in buying and selling so are all likeminded in that respect.  I've had much more fun on the trade chat than I ever had in global : )
    Posted 5 months ago by ~Arabesque~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Arabesque - a cursin' and a cussin' isn't outright verboten.  The communitry guidelines says no "excessive obscenity."  So that could be interpreted as only one swear to the one's with delicate sensibilities or that threshold could never even begin to be approached by the truly apathetic.  I leave those calls to the powers that be.  But I think intent matters a lot more than the words themselves.  Used to call someone a name, that's probably right out.  But used as an interjection or to intensify another word doesn't seem to outright go against guidelines. 
    Posted 5 months ago by Malus Agricola Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If you have had the trade channel open since before the pop-up was implemented then you'll not have seen it. Close and re-open the channel and read that it's not anything goes.
    Posted 5 months ago by diaveborn ♥ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @diave all chat is spurred on by the trade info that's happening so a few lines here or there following on from a trade or advertisement is just to be expected and part of being a community.  It's still a fab place to hang out, check out prices, have a giggle now and then.  Also a great way to go and visit towers perhaps you wouldn't have thought of before.

    I think it's important to recognize too that the amount of players actually on the chat compared to actually playing in game is going to be minuscule.  More people will read this forum thread than actually ever participate in the trade channel itself : )

    Edit: I suppose there's nothing to stop those that just want business straight forward with no smileys or conversation around it or giggles to start up their own group and own chat too - then it will be a case of in an out.
    Posted 5 months ago by ~Arabesque~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Malus, I get that too - most stuff on Global I've seen hasn't held interest enough for me to stay on there anyway that's why I've been enjoying the trade chat so much.  It's all relevant and a great way to network too.  I do take issue on global when peeps post irresponsible links to certain site etc.  They may feel they're mature but not all of the 14 year olds who are allowed to play are and shouldn't have to see certain things.
    Posted 5 months ago by ~Arabesque~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • New pop up for trade channel says

    This channel is for trading chat only.  Other conversations should happen elsewhere!

    Buyers come first; sellers:  no spamming.  Still, be funny and creative.

    Got it! I am here for trading

    ---------------
    Community guidelines say:

    Use appropriate channels for your conversation
    • Each of the forums and public channels is for a specific use — respect our guidelines.
    Posted 5 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thankfully, staff have given a time out to some players who were interpreting the "related chat" a bit more broadly than the rest of us.  

    Trade is not the new Global, and is not meant to be.  
    Posted 5 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree but you can still chat as long as it's about the trade! : )  That's what the trading is about for the most part or linked to.  Same as folk saying come to my tower lol - much better they say it in there than on global! That isn't trading as such, more pimping but works and serves a purpose to the seller and to those looking to explore new towers for bargains!

    I don't think peeps should go on there afraid to speak! It is a chat channel after all.  Some people do get a little to report click happy when things don't work as they think they should.  I have to confess though I did have a couple of instances last night where the convo was being taken away from the trade discussion so that's when I stopped talking lol - no harm no foul
    Posted 5 months ago by ~Arabesque~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Buyers come first

    I think people are overlooking that aspect of what the Trade Channel purpose is.
    Posted 5 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Buyers  come first

    Once a buyer shows interest in an items that the seller has at his tower, perhaps it would cut down on chat if sellers were to IM the buyer to trade for that item with a price per item and quantity.  Their would be no need of telling the whole chat channel how much each item goes for in their Tower everytime  a buyer asks for something in the trade channel. 
    Posted 5 months ago by Jeasilver Subscriber! | Permalink
  • that sounds good in theory but I get such bad lag on this laptop that I already have trouble dealing with the im's I get now without the trade ones too.  The tower hopping I've noticed is also really slowing my laptop down : ( Might be time to buy a new lappy 
    Posted 5 months ago by ~Arabesque~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • :Windorn true but you can't have a buyer without a seller and more people are selling than buying at present because we are all hyped about our flashy new sdbs :D
    Posted 5 months ago by ~Arabesque~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think that snaps advertising your tower with things for sale is fine as long as you don't post several snaps. One snap should be sufficient.

    Actual trades should be carried out in a private IM because the Trade Channel will disrupt your trading thooughly.
    Posted 5 months ago by Maxy Cat Subscriber! | Permalink