So now that Beer Trading threadshitting is back in full-effect ...

This is sort of why I support the idea of a mod also being someone who trades.

 

Wait, what are we talking about? I'm just talking about replying to a thread. I think that someone can post whatever trade offer they want (as long as it's beer-for-beer), unless I'm missing something.

So in that case the question would be what replies are allowed to that thread, and "This batch is infected/recalled" would obviously be allowed, while "You're an asshole for posting this" isn't.

 

Serious question... are there users that do not trade but also religiously follow the forum? I have made about 25iish trades in the last year and even I feel like I don't see all the trade threads despite frequently it. If you don't trade I'm not sure why you would spend a lot of time in that forum. My point here is that it would be hard to mod a forum you know nothing about considering almost all issues are due to people asking crazy things.

 

my examples were "things a person may point out, and be accused of threadshitting."

so like

1) FT: mirror mirror 09, ISO: some beer

reply: "just so you (and everyone) knows, that vintage has infection issues, announced by the brewery themselves."

threadshitting? is it better to just message the OP? ???

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2) FT: my local brewpub's first bottled beer, ISO: that bourbon county stout you flipped about when you found the only one left on the shelf

reply: "i've been to that brewpub many times and it sucks."

reply: "those beers are sitting on the shelf, why would someone trade bourbon county for it?"

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about (2), notice that many (most?) of us think it's fine to trade My Shitty Local Brewery's beer that sits on the shelf for bourbon county (or for anything at all). but is it okay to let the newbs w/ BCBS (who shit their pants when they lucked out enough to see a real live bourbon county stout) know that the offer may not be so enticing if you know more about the brewpub?

i think both are clearly threadshitting (in (2) i mean, (1) i'm sort of undecided, but i lean toward "announce infection or recall or whatever in thread, it's fine"), but why are they not "trying to help the community"? if you think someone's misrepresenting something's rarity or the demand for it or something, why is that different than thinking someone is trying to trick people with an infected batch? shouldn't we all be able to google "abyss 2009" and know about the infection issues? isn't "those beers sit on the shelf, you know," just as neutral a fact as "that beer is probably infected, you know"?

 

A large part of modding involves reviewing threads reported by others. You don't necessarily seek out every inappropriate thread yourself.

 

I would consider these both thread shitting, however I think this is fine:

reply: "I'm not sure if you are going to be able to get this done, your beer is quite a bit more accessible than BCBS and the last release was a few months ago."

 

Pahn, why is #1 not obviously okay under my definition? Alerting people to infection issues (whether it's the OP or potential trading partners or whatever) is always legit. #2 is obviously threadshitting, ISO:FT isn't the place to post your opinions of beer.

However, I think the reply "That's unlikely to happen, you might want to consider adding" is probably fine. The key thing is intent, your examples the intent is clearly not to be helpful, while in my phrasing right here it is. You might add "Don't give your opinion on the likelihood of the trade happening unless asked" but I think that's up to the Bros to decide.

 

They don't religiously follow the forum but they look at it. I stared at it from time to time for about 6 months and that's how I got my bearings on what was worth what and I never thought I'd start trading...but I did. I see what you mean though and it is a valid point, they could find themselves not knowing what the fuck is going on if they know nothing about the forums like some n00bs that have been on the site for awhile but are new to trading and post idiotic offers.

 

Why not just forgo the freaking opinions...BM those. If you wanna post, post facts like that one is sitting on shelves, the other one is gone from shelves and sold out in hours. The people involved in the trade can decide for themselves how they wanna take that info

 

Blah. No context means there would be way too many misinterpretations. Get people who are reasonable AND know what they are talking about with regards to trading. It doesn't seem like those things have to be MECE.

So I guess I'm in the, "pick someone who trades" camp.

 

I did the same thing as you. The real question is are there long-time users who are also quite active on the forums that just happen to not trade but also frequent the forums. I could be wrong, but that seems like a relatively rare user.

 

it's sort of hard to differentiate "suggesting (publicly? why?) that a trade may not get done," and "telling everyone in a roundabout way that the OP's beer is not as rare / in-demand / etc as the OP thinks it is."

lots of people respond, even to your nice versions, "let the crickets tell the OP they're making a mistake." also, "so what if someone trades BCBS / KBS for the common, non-barrel aged version of some beer whose barrel aged version is highly sought after? live and learn." (i mean--while this is not too likely but i can imagine variations of it--someone trying to trade normal speedway for KBS, making the "OMG I GOT KBS!" guy think he's getting "that hot shot california beer people talk about.")

and maybe it is fine if that stuff happens (speedway's great, after all). but where's the line between that and learning about infected vintages? abyss 09 is a pretty specific thing to go after. i don't know.

i guess i just don't see how opening the door for the good can close it for the bad, or vice versa, without a lot of moderator discretion. but moderator discretion means needing 1) really educated-in-trading people, that 2) aren't biased (so probably don't trade), which is a dilemma.

 

This is exactly why I think people should be able to lock their own threads. I like to hear peoples opinions of my trade. I'm not afraid of someone telling me my offer isn't perfect. I'd leave my threads unlocked. You don't want opinions, you could lock your thread...

Simple. And saves a lot of headaches on moderating.

 

We only need ten or so of them You and me used to be those users...I'm betting there's more than you might think.

 

FT: funky buddha no crust (that's probably 1+ yr old and handbottled, but won't say that), ISO: rare beer from as in-demand a brewery as funky buddha

(immediate self-lock)

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i think that's one of the main self-lock worries. i'm not sure too many others (deadbeat traders / ebayers?).

edit: and a funny thing about that example, is "what batch of no crust is it?" threadshitting? the thread definitely isn't getting done if the OP is like, "i don't know, i traded for it 6 months ago." but it may get done if the OP just says (honestly!) "i don't know." what about when the questioner mentions that handbottled low (for us USA people) ABV brown ales don't last very long? is that "clear threadshitting"?

 

I guess but personally I like it when there is a beer I don't know all that much about on a FT or ISO and I open it and there's info on the beer right there or I can ask for some info about it on there since the OP has it or a lot of the people clicking know about the ISO beer(s) or have them.

 

I agree, this would be one major problem with that...

 

Haha true we both WERE those people. But we came over to the dark side. I know lots of people lurk, but I would guess most long-time lurkers take the plunge... "everyone's doing it man!"

 

Yeah, but then you could just report the thread.

 

Haha, not necessarily since they may not have the budget or be able to justify the added expense to themselves or they're just happy with what they have. If I lived in Cali near some of the great breweries or Portland, I wouldn't trade. I also only started trading because my friend from WI brought back some FFF and bourbon county coffee and vanilla when they were released and I was like holy shit!! I'm really missing out on some good stuff from not trading...so I took the plunge.