BBQ Prophet

Rage-Inducing Forum Troll
I have recently been working on uncluttering and simplifying our Trade Forums. Through doing this, I have noticed their current organization is actually quite ambiguous. The ability to trade between games gives a user multiple options for the "correct" section in which to post an advertisement; the main issue being whether to post/look in the section for items you want or items you have. This also leads to many duplicate threads in different sections. I think better organization would improve the experience of using our Trade Forums significantly for everyone. It is not my intention to undo any already-established features like Prefixes, so my suggestion is to add subsections to the Trade Forums as follows:
  • Team Fortress 2
    • [H] TF2 Items [W] TF2 Items
    • [H] TF2 Items [W] CS:GO Items
    • [H] TF2 Items [W] Dota 2 Items
    • [H] TF2 Items [W] Steam Games and Items
    • [H] TF2 Items [W] Accounts/Cash/Other
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
    • [H] CS:GO Items [W] TF2 Items
    • [H] CS:GO Items [W] CS:GO Items
    • [H] CS:GO Items [W] Dota 2 Items
    • [H] CS:GO Items [W] Steam Games and Items
    • [H] CS:GO Items [W] Accounts/Cash/Other
  • Dota 2
    • [H] Dota 2 Items [W] TF2 Items
    • [H] Dota 2 Items [W] CS:GO Items
    • [H] Dota 2 Items [W] Dota 2 Items
    • [H] Dota 2 Items [W] Steam Games and Items
    • [H] Dota 2 Items [W] Accounts/Cash/Other
  • Steam Games and Items
    • [H] Steam Games and Items [W] TF2 Items
    • [H] Steam Games and Items [W] CS:GO Items
    • [H] Steam Games and Items [W] Dota 2 Items
    • [H] Steam Games and Items [W] Steam Games and Items
    • [H] Steam Games and Items [W] Accounts/Cash/Other
  • Accounts/Cash/Other
    • [H] Accounts/Cash/Other [W] TF2 Items
    • [H] Accounts/Cash/Other [W] CS:GO Items
    • [H] Accounts/Cash/Other [W] Dota 2 Items
    • [H] Accounts/Cash/Other [W] Steam Games and Items
    • [H] Accounts/Cash/Other [W] Accounts/Cash/Other
 
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Bottiger

Administrator
I don't think it would be a good idea to have 5 different sub-sections for each section. Why would not just make the thread prefix the "[H]"?

The reason why we have the prefixes as they are now is because the vast majority of traders do item to item trades and not cash or account trading.

And also with your suggestion, where would you put WTB threads?
 

BBQ Prophet

Rage-Inducing Forum Troll
I don't think it would be a good idea to have 5 different sub-sections for each section. Why would not just make the thread prefix the "[H]"?

The reason why we have the prefixes as they are now is because the vast majority of traders do item to item trades and not cash or account trading.

And also with your suggestion, where would you put WTB threads?
I think specific subsections would make it much easier to find what you want to find, list exactly what you want to trade and Bump your posts. Everyone involved, even those experiencing a language barrier, would be given a clear idea of the thread owner's intentions; /r/Globaloffensivetrade requires the [H]/[W] system and is very widely used and effective.
WTB threads would go in the section for the items you have to offer. For example:
  • Buying Trading Cards with TF2 Metal would go in [H] TF2 Items [W] Steam Games and Items. If the same buyer also was willing to trade their CS:GO Keys for Trading Cards, they would also make that ad in [H] CS:GO Items [W] Steam Games and Items.
  • The innumerable "I want a CS:GO Knife for my LoL Account" threads would all go in [H] Accounts/Cash/Other [W] CS:GO Items. And conversely, anyone actually wanting to trade their CS:GO Knife for a LoL Account could easily search for a buyer in [H] Accounts/Cash/Other [W] CS:GO Items or post their own thread in [H] CS:GO Items [W] Accounts/Cash/Other.
  • Anyone offering "risky" goods would go in a [H] Accounts/Cash/Other section, depending on the desired purchase, keeping them contained in their own sections where they are easily found by those searching and not seen by those who aren't interested; those wanting "risky" goods would also be easily identifiable and separate in their own [H] _______ [W] Accounts/Cash/Other sections.
Given the limited amount of characters allowed in the title of a Trade Thread, subsections would allow concise ads while eliminating duplicates and making it easier on Moderators

last year there was this one guy who placed WTB threads for CS:GO items in the TF2, CS:GO, and Steam Games and Items subboards simply because he was willing to trade stuff from the other categories for them.
My suggested [H]/[W] system would ensure that ads remain searchable and relevant to their subsections, even if similar to other ads owned by the same user. No one would get to make the exact ad in two sections on a technicality. Plus, nobody could make a Thread title long enough to truly describe a thread that applied to multiple sections anyway.

Although this number of subsections might seem excessive, I believe it would be extremely beneficial, especially in the long term. And yes, I will happily sort it.
 
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