TOPIC: Traders Guild discussion: Trade poaching

Raven wrote:

henwy wrote: I like your breakdown on the "larger purpose" of the Guild. I suspect some people are leaning towards the former, and others to the latter. I'm not sure we can't have a bit of both in there... but it would be good to clarify the purpose, so we don't have arguments on the floor, in front of those customers which we are trying to draw in.

One option is to just keep it as a 'social club' and dump the rules and tenets and whatever. Those who want profit will probably still gain something with the added legitimacy if they choose to advertise it, but as a social club, it'd likely be small enough you only have to invite whoever you want in and then use social pressures to make sure none of them are vultures looting the innocent. It's once you open it up to large groups of people that you start needing structure and rules and whatnot.

Well... as George is the one spearheading this, I'm content to leave him to make that call. Whether it's to say this is a social club, or that he's trying to make something more geared towards legitimacy and profit, or towards educating the newbies at the cost of our profits.

Personally, I am not against making a profit... and I don't think many of the traders are trying to take the newbs for all they're worth. It's bad business practice, if nothing else ;P

But you know... if all that comes out of this is a bunch of traders who agree to treat each other with respect, not poach, and recognize a general range of values to certain tokens (which I wouldn't consider price fixing) then even that is not a bad thing, is it? As long as they don't try to force everyone else to play by the same rules. Then, if someone else wants to offer more, or less, for a given token, or if you want to tour the bazaar and tell people "it's cheaper across the hall" we can all still enjoy spending time with each other, and still provide a place where players can trade with a certain degree of confidence.

henwy wrote:

Raven wrote:

henwy wrote: I like your breakdown on the "larger purpose" of the Guild. I suspect some people are leaning towards the former, and others to the latter. I'm not sure we can't have a bit of both in there... but it would be good to clarify the purpose, so we don't have arguments on the floor, in front of those customers which we are trying to draw in.

One option is to just keep it as a 'social club' and dump the rules and tenets and whatever. Those who want profit will probably still gain something with the added legitimacy if they choose to advertise it, but as a social club, it'd likely be small enough you only have to invite whoever you want in and then use social pressures to make sure none of them are vultures looting the innocent. It's once you open it up to large groups of people that you start needing structure and rules and whatnot.

I agree with the social club (i am not after a "profit" as long as I get what I want)

Ahhh the bloody heck with it!

I'm all for poachin'!

Poach poach poach - just add a little heat, a touch of tarragon and some Frank's Red Hot (Yes I "put that sh*t on everything!!")

Now we just gots to decide what to poach - not eggs that's too old and tired! How about some nice tender juicy dragon wings - nummy nummy - poached Wing o' Draco-Lich! YUM!



Sorry - slipped a cog there for a bit!



Seriously though - Could we perhaps simply agree that it is rude to interrupt a basically "fair" deal already in progress, and that no doubt we will see this happen, and that in the best interests of fostering a nurturing environment towards trading, we should all generally be excellent towards one another? I also know that many of us, upon seeing someone getting ripped off would probably speak up whether it crossed over into "poaching" or not - it is basically the better side of human nature not to want to see someone get a raw deal - and I hope that we would not "cry wolf" to try and "steal" a customer (that would ultimately bring discredit all around).

As I said before - whole scads of great points here, but in the end we are in a free country, and we can more or less do as we please. (Including hashing it out on a forum like this! ) If we treat others the way we expect to be treated (I KNOW that sounds cornier than all get out - but just think about it) then ultimately most of this discussion will tend to resolve itself - I think.

And finally - this is a really invigorating discussion!

Cheers!

We could alternatively go with an already established set of rules.

#1 Once you have their money, you never give it back.
#2 The best deal is the one that brings the most profit.
#3 Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to.
#4 A woman wearing clothes is like a man in the kitchen.
#5 If you can't break a contract, bend it.
#6 Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity.
#7 Keep your ears open.
#8 Small print leads to large risk.
#9 Opportunity plus instinct equals profit.
#10 Greed is eternal.
#11 Even if it's free, you can always buy it cheaper.

Rafiq

You have to admit, DS9 pretty much singlehandedly rehabilitated what had become one of the most loathed races in the ST universe. I was reading a quote by Armin Shimerman saying that one reason he took the role was to undo some of the parody-level damage he did on TNG playing ferengi.

I'm not sure that I understand why making sure that we are educating the players and not poaching others done deals means there will be no profit.

Oh and isn't freedom of speech grand!

Rafiq wrote: We could alternatively go with an already established set of rules.

#1 Once you have their money, you never give it back.
#2 The best deal is the one that brings the most profit.
#3 Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to.
#4 A woman wearing clothes is like a man in the kitchen.
#5 If you can't break a contract, bend it.
#6 Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity.
#7 Keep your ears open.
#8 Small print leads to large risk.
#9 Opportunity plus instinct equals profit.
#10 Greed is eternal.
#11 Even if it's free, you can always buy it cheaper.

Rafiq

I never noticed your unusually large ears before... although your bulbous head and shiny clothes should have been a dead giveaway.

Here's an interesting note from Wiki:

Stages of Acquisition
In addition to the Rules, Ferengi recognize five Stages of Acquisition:

1.Infatuation: An unreasoning love or attraction … "I want it."
2.Justification: Moral excuse used to explain … "I must have it!"
3.Appropriation: To take to one's self in exclusion of others … "IT'S MINE AT LAST!"
4.Obsession: A compulsive or irrational preoccupation … "Precious!"
5.Resale: The action of selling something previously bought … "Make me an offer."

Does this not PERFECTLY describe our tokenholics?

binia wrote:

Rafiq wrote: We could alternatively go with an already established set of rules.

#1 Once you have their money, you never give it back.
#2 The best deal is the one that brings the most profit.
#3 Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to.
#4 A woman wearing clothes is like a man in the kitchen.
#5 If you can't break a contract, bend it.
#6 Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity.
#7 Keep your ears open.
#8 Small print leads to large risk.
#9 Opportunity plus instinct equals profit.
#10 Greed is eternal.
#11 Even if it's free, you can always buy it cheaper.

Rafiq

I never noticed your unusually large ears before... although your bulbous head and shiny clothes should have been a dead giveaway.

Here's an interesting note from Wiki:

Stages of Acquisition
In addition to the Rules, Ferengi recognize five Stages of Acquisition:

1.Infatuation: An unreasoning love or attraction … "I want it."
2.Justification: Moral excuse used to explain … "I must have it!"
3.Appropriation: To take to one's self in exclusion of others … "IT'S MINE AT LAST!"
4.Obsession: A compulsive or irrational preoccupation … "Precious!"
5.Resale: The action of selling something previously bought … "Make me an offer."

Does this not PERFECTLY describe our tokenholics?

I'm deeply embedded in ALL five stages!

archmage78 wrote: I'm not sure that I understand why making sure that we are educating the players and not poaching others done deals means there will be no profit.

Oh and isn't freedom of speech grand!

I agree completely! Making sure players are educated and informed on values of tokens doesn't mean no profits are to be had, as I'm sure that most players will realize that dealers are still going to be trading for items below market value so that they can make a profit.

It is easy to make a profit. I follow the same rule I use in my "real" business.

Buy at wholesale (from Jeff), sell at retail (at GenCon).

The only difficult part is the one thing we can't buy from Jeff, ingredients.

And I only bought about 15 from players, most of my ingredients came from dungeon runs (Three Cheers for Horns of Plenty, Rings of riches and two sons to use them).

Isn't slave labor, ahem, Family great!