I believe this topic has been sufficiently discussed and that staff are aware of the issues this topic was created to address. I am personally satisfied with the discussion and believe the issues and solutions proposed are being considered by staff. I am of course unable to stop you if you'd like to continue discussion by posting a new reply but I will personally not be contributing.
Inspired by the discussion in this thread.
Before proceeding please remember to keep discussion on-topic and civil.
The issue
• Lack of official tutorials or resources that are immediately available to users.
• New users may not know about the existence of or know how to navigate trade/value help threads.
• Both new and existing users not understanding common trading practices, how important trading is to the site, how to analyse trends, and how user-made values work.
• Both new and existing users easily fall for scams.
Solution suggestions
1. Official tutorial on: scamming practices and how to avoid/identify them, what user-made values are (demand) and how they influence trading, the importance of pet values, common trading practices.
2. Official introduction to help threads, how to navigate them, what they can be used for, how existing players use them.
3. Improve "Trades" page with links including these official resources.
Elaboration on suggestions
I am emphasising the importance of official resources due to the unreliability of user information and the significance of official resources. Being official parts of the site instead of fragments of information tucked away in a discussion thread, the information included will be a confirmed reliable source and easier to access.
Possible concerns: This does NOT mean creating a neat list of confirmed pet values. What we need is a guide, an introduction, anything that addresses the inevitable features of this site. These resources would NOT include any information that would sway trade values, nor would they include accusatory information.
The scamming problem needs to be addressed on days other than December 18th. There needs to be an official guide on how to spot when you are being scammed. Scamming practices are very well-known on this site among its existing active users. I am sure staff are aware of scamming practices as well, if not it's easily sourced from the community.
Possible concerns: This will never include a list of users or any sort of information that would "warn" users off certain players, even if they are known to scam through external communication channels. Similarly above, this would not include accusatory information.
The official introduction to help threads could include:
The "Is this a fair trade?" Thread (easy to reference since it's already a pinned resource)
The 'How much is this pet worth in C$?' Thread!
The “How much is this pet worth?” Thread!
"How Much Is This Item Worth"?
These are just the threads addressing value, other helpful threads like Guide to CS Rarities could be included either in the same or a separate guide.
The introduction would include information such as: describing the purpose of the thread, what sort of questions to ask in the thread, how users may format their advice, potential issues users may see in the thread (e.g. low quality advice and how to identify it, advising users to seek out multiple opinions), etc.
This would NOT include user-made lists where user-made values are taken into account, though this should be a topic addressed in the guides.
Possible concerns: Linking is a big concern since threads get remade, avoided by using other methods like screenshots or simply describing the thread. The "link" to these threads would be a link to the Chicken Smoothie Discussion board, since those threads are all in that board. The threads not made by staff would be addressed as user-made, and all threads would be addressed as user-run, to avoid concerns about treating the threads as confirmed sources of values.
For users who are trading, the "Trades" page is a heavily frequented page. Placing a link on this page to trading-related resources puts them in a place that is readily available and hard to miss. Currently, users must seek out trade help on their own but first must know about those resources for help. New users (or even existing users) may not know about the existence of such help threads, and further may not have a full understanding of the advice or knowledge they are given. The link will lead to/include the aforementioned guides and any other information pieces.
Possible concerns: Currently, I cannot think of any concerns regarding this suggestion.
For all these resources, the goal should be to encourage players to do their own research, use the sources of information given to them, and take care when trading. By giving players the knowledge they need to avoid being scammed the problem can be reduced. This would also improve trade quality, reducing the amount of unfair trades sent out due to a user's lack of trade knowledge. I hope this can help tackle other problems as well such as the inflation of trade values or the spreading of misinformation. Having users more equipped to handle their own issues I hope would also put less pressure on staff.
