Account age and previous infractions are already taken into account, along with some intangibles. The only way I see it getting meaningfully more strict would be adding steps to verify character, which i imagine wouldn't be received well and would be sorta difficult to properly enforce.
btw this is all my opinion and nothing else
The obvious reason this system doesn't perform as well as it should is noncompliance. It'd be completely flawless if it had a 100% compliance rate -- If all buyers were to demand to buy TC via the toricredits board, there would never be a scam again. It starts to fall apart when buyers prefer to buy ingame -- where there are extra steps involved for buyers when checking if their seller is trustworthy, instigated by sellers not properly indicating how TC sales should be handled in accordance with rules -- and the system also falls apart when dopes prefer to use discord to buy TC, which has all the same problems as ingame except tenfold.
Noncompliance is a normal part of every system, and in this case it happens for multiple reasons.
Part of the issue is simple laziness - some sellers believe themselves to be above the system, whether its because they believe their trustworthiness should be obvious, or they simply can't be bothered to comply with the relatively simple requirements. They also don't always tell the people they're selling to that 1.) there is a board for these transactions and 2.) using that board is the ONLY FOOLPROOF WAY to prevent yourself from getting scammed, no matter how dumb you are. This is clearly evidenced by.. multiple.. high visibility cases... So, since we aren't able to trust sellers to get the word out about the correct way to buy TC safely, and since that isn't effective
enough anyway, we need to look at other ways of increasing either 1.) visibility of the existence of the TC seller verification system or 2.) visibility of the TC board.
There are a lot of ways we could attempt to do this, but very few ways we could do this effectively.
Some foolproof ways:
- Replace the game with a link to the Toricredits board
- Use the broadcast system to advertise TC buying guidelines
- Have staff go around and force people to get acquainted with TC buying guidelines via very determined harassment
- Include a script in the game by default that prints a console message telling you about TC buying guidelines every time you send the words "TC" and "buy" in the same message
Slightly less foolproof ways:
- Have links, statements, and references to TC buying guidelines/ToriCredits board in relevant and appropriate places, such as the ingame menu that allows you to buy from Nabi directly
- Fit the global rules into the ingame UI, then see point above
- Kindly ask our verified sellers to do more to promote the system that has allowed people to buy and sell TC much more safely than the system before it
The only hangup with now allowing sales ingame is that staff have cosigned a verification system that is only foolproof and operable on the forums. For there to be zero responsibility, moral or otherwise, in the case of ingame scams, you'd need to be able to automatically (so as to bypass human error/scumminess/dumbfuckery) check whether someone in a lobby is verified to sell TC. If that condition is met, I don't see the problem with it HOWEVER
Managing a list of verified sellers and having confidence that they won't do anything shady or scam other users requires a lot of steps and a lot of checks. Currently, the way MS have decided to maintain confidence in TC sellers is to check their TC sources before they're eligible to sell, and have both seller and buyer confirmation on the thread to ensure that 1.) a deal went through, 2.) both parties are completely solid on the rules and procedures when buying TC (indicated by the fact that both parties are completely compliant with rules)
There's probably some other justification for the status quo I'm unaware of, as well.
Maybe this whole system can be simplified, e.g. threads aren't removed/don't need to be remade, but MS instead do regular checks on transactions every week. I, personally, think that's a better system. To me, it seems like there'd be no real difference between those two procedures.
however i still think subverting that system because you're lazy or can't be bothered is super irresponsible, "dishonest," and very worrisome
Maybe, too, everything will be ok as long as all sales are logged with proof on the forums. But, the more we reduce the 'unnecessary overhead' involved with checking up on sellers, the less confidence MS can have that their verified sellers can actually be trusted to sell TC. At some point, that might really need to be caught up with some unpleasant application process like character referrals, long waiting periods, etc.
not that i know anything about anything
As long as a system like this, that involves real money and has tangible real life consequences in the case of insecurity, is cosigned by staff, it needs to be backed with 100% confidence, out of moral responsibility if nothing else. If staff puts forth a system under the context of supporting something, and its unsafe and leads to loss or damage, that's a huge thing.
Last edited by pouffy; Mar 14, 2019 at 12:59 AM.