Esgaroth Marketplace clean-up

[FM]

I see A LOT of "bump" posts, "updated" posts 4-5 times in a row without a single response in-between, people opening 3-4 threads and spamming the first page, thus leading to EVEN MORE "bump" posts, and I'd like to actually propose a clean-up measure.
I think we could change the rules a bit, to make it a more friendly Subforum, and limit Topic Creation to a maximum of 1/user. In your topic, you organize things as best as you can, list haves, list wants, whatever. The topics themselves will continue to go up as people are interested in what they have to offer, so no need for "bump" or "updated" posts (people can check in the main post when it was last updated anyway). Also, this adresses quitters, as their threads will simply fall to the bottom naturally.
Then, we could auto-link trading pages to each user's profile (or teach them to put it into their signatures), and w'd have a much more easy to navigate trading forum, as well as a lot less spamming to deal with (both in moderating terms AND in terms of users who want to check out what's available). We could also instruct people to input the sets they H and/or W on the topic's title, making it even easier to skim through (heck, we could even add a search option to that forum alone to filter out whoever doesn't have what you're looking for, I could point out a site with a similar search engine, where you can even search for specific cards to either get [searching for people who HAVE it] or dump [searching for people who WANT it]).
Thoughts?

[Kralik]

Most of that could be done with the help of some active mods, though the last search engine bit would take some programming that I won't have time to make a priority. I steer clear of that subforum as a whole as it generally leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[TheJord]

Who wants to take the Marketplace as there pet? We should implement new rules and have it enforced to clean that place up

[Kralik]

GCCG is Kralik's pet...

[FM]

I'd volunteer, no problem.

[TheJord]

Go for it FM. I'll help if you need any

[Kralik]

As long as we're talking about rules:

I've never like the idea that there are commercial "big-time" sellers in the Marketplace. I feel that these parties should get their own website/shopping cart. And if they already have such a website, TLHH shouldn't be free advertising.

I really like the idea of of the marketplace being a place for "normal people" to buy/sell/trade, not businesses. Sort of like eBay used to be before it went downhill.

[TheJord]

Do we want to agree on some new rules for the Marketplace then?

[Kralik]

10% commission on sales to support TLHH?

[FM]

Ok, I'll lay down a few rules and post them here so you can chip in. After we're done, I'm posting them on The Golden Hall so people can adapt. After that (I'll give everyone a week or so), I'm not sure I will go through the trouble of merging everything not done myself, or just delete excessive threads to save me some trouble, I guess it'll depend on how much work the USERS actually get done. Then, I'll keep a close eye on the marketplace (and the rules will be displayed there).

[FM]

Ok, so here's what I've got so far (not in "formal" formatting yet, of course):
-No stores (if they want to advertise, they can take it up to Kralik and work something out with him, otherwise, no);
-One thread per person;
-No "bump", "updated" and other such posts;
-Tutorial on how to link your thread to your signature, making it easier to get there;
-Standard titles, basically depicting sets you H and sets you W (and also, if you're selling, adding $ to W);
-If you desperatly need a card to finish a deck or collection, POST ON YOUR OWN THREAD, this will bump it up and call a little attention to it (this can be done ONCE, if you can't get immediate attention to needing the card, it means people either do not have it or are not willing to trade it to you - also, put an "ad" in your signature saying you need card X);
-If your topic gets no love (nobody posts on it) for 1-2 months (need help on the time frame), THEN you can bump it ONCE (same deal with needing a card, meaning a smart trader can bump his topic twice, if he STILL gets no interest, he needs to update the Topic - possibly leading to a desperate need of another specific card, thus bumping it again);
-Desperate need for a card means DESPERATE NEED FOR A CARD - if this becomes a new, recurring way to bump a thread, the thread CAN BE DELETED (sure, the user will get a PM about it and can make a new one, sticking to the rules - another thing that can bea buse, deleting and re-creating topics, which will ALSO be adressed it happens a lot.)
-Formatting (sure, the post is yours, but without method, it'll spark no interest, so I figured we should post a "sample" trade sheet for people to use).
Thoughts?

[Elessar's Socks]

-No stores (if they want to advertise, they can take it up to Kralik and work something out with him, otherwise, no);

I think a list that's allowed to remain in some form would be helpful (maybe doing something with the outdated one in the useful resources thread), although there's a chance anyone in charge of it would end up being pestered.

Also, the policy should cover whether links are acceptable in signatures and trade lists.

-One thread per person;

Agreed.

-Standard titles, basically depicting sets you H and sets you W (and also, if you're selling, adding $ to W);

I think this is too strict. I'd ask that titles not be obnoxious (e.g. using all caps, excessive exclamation marks, strings of bizarre characters), with mods making the final call.

-No "bump", "updated" and other such posts;
-If you desperatly need a card to finish a deck or collection, POST ON YOUR OWN THREAD, this will bump it up and call a little attention to it (this can be done ONCE, if you can't get immediate attention to needing the card, it means people either do not have it or are not willing to trade it to you - also, put an "ad" in your signature saying you need card X);
-If your topic gets no love (nobody posts on it) for 1-2 months (need help on the time frame), THEN you can bump it ONCE (same deal with needing a card, meaning a smart trader can bump his topic twice, if he STILL gets no interest, he needs to update the Topic - possibly leading to a desperate need of another specific card, thus bumping it again);
-Desperate need for a card means DESPERATE NEED FOR A CARD - if this becomes a new, recurring way to bump a thread, the thread CAN BE DELETED (sure, the user will get a PM about it and can make a new one, sticking to the rules - another thing that can bea buse, deleting and re-creating topics, which will ALSO be adressed it happens a lot.)

Some trades are conducted through PMs; if anything, topic starters shouldn't be penalized for keeping discussions off their threads.

Maybe shorten the time limit to something like 10 days, and then you can bump for whatever reason.

[FM]

The idea behind standard titles is to make a "search" engine possible (you search for the sets you want to get/get rid off with ctrl+f).

[FM]

Any more input?

[Elessar's Socks]

Still mulling over the bump/update time limit, as that would affect traders here who AFAIK this isn't really directed at. I'm thinking 10 days might work for bumps, but that's too long for updates.

I'd wait to hear what others have to say, as I feel more strongly about thread spam.