Beer Trading Update Log (2015)

As you may have noticed, there's been some changes to beer trading on BA as a result of recent threads and mod discussions concerning the current state of beer trading on BA.

The goal of these changes is to essentially tighten up the beer trading community.

And here's what's changed so far:

• As of yesterday, you must agree to our rules before you're able to participate within AND view the beer trading portions of the site. (Protip: If you can read this, you already have.) I actually started this the other day, but it's now fully integrated on all pages and forums; making it a private section of the site.
• This privilege is now tied to warnings, which may result in your access being revoked temporarily or permanently.
• You can now view your warning history in a tab on your profile page. It applies to all users (not just traders) and will influence any future actions taken on your account. (Protip: You don't want warnings on your account.)
• A Bad Traders sub-form has been created and past threads moved. This will make it easier for people to track these types of threads, and I'm working with the mods to come up with a quick sticky guide for creating bad trader threads too.

Much more to follow ...

And thanks to everyone for their feedback.

 

Update: New Posts
As these forums are now private, I just re-enabled their being displayed in the New Posts feed; located in the Forums sub-navigation. http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/find-new/posts

 

Update: Leave Beer Trading
Joined by mistake? Need to take a break? No longer interested in beer trading? There's now a button on the main Trading and Your Trading pages sidebar (Beer Trading Stats block) that'll allow you to leave. You can always join again.

 

Bug Fix: Find Member
There was an issue that essentially disabled using the Find Member search on trading pages. It's been fixed.

 

New Rules
The following items have been added.

• No "what's the value of beer x?", "what would it take to get beer x?", "what can I get for beer x?" or similar threads.
• No cross-posting.

 

Major Update!

• You must verify your account and re-agree to the rules to participate in the Beer Trading forums/system.
• Users who've yet to verify their accounts have been removed from the Beer Trading group until they do.
• All user trading stats are intact, but they won't be visible for users who don't verify + agree.
• Added "Don't trade with unverified users." under the Beer Trading Rules Tips section.

 

Update: Delinquent Feedback

• Added a new trading stat: Delinquent Feedback, to help track and show users who owe others feedback.
• Delinquent Feedback = trades over 30 days old with partial feedback.
• For now, if this stat is > 0 a non-dismissible alert is shown with a friendly prompt for the user to leave some feedback.
• Delinquent Feedback is also shown in Beer Trading Stats sidebars.

I'll be tweaking this a bit, but it's a start.

Removed GOOD/BAD Lists
Generating these sidebar lists on the main Trading page wasn't optimal. They were adding 1+ seconds to the page load; adds up quick with a lot of traffic. I've removed them for now and plan on optimizing them for better performance.

 

And more updates ...

Pending & Delinquent Feedback

• Added a new stat: Pending Feedback; the total number of feedbacks owed.
• Pending Feedback alert/reminder is now running and is dismissible.
• Both stats are only shown if they're > 0, and only Delinquent is shown to all users.

Open Trades with No Feedback

• Daily purge reduced from 90 to 60 days.

Edit Feedback

• You can no longer edit feedback that's over 60 days old.

 

Update: Editing/Deleting
Retooled the permissions in all ISO:FT forums. Time limits for editing/deleting have been removed.

 

Update: Editing/Deleting
Permissions reset to the default; 15 min window to edit / delete. This will stop users spamming with the same offer and deleting older posts to skirt around reposting time limits.

New Forums

• ISO:FT (Intraregional) - Beer trades that ship within a region, nation or country; excluding the USA.
• In-Person (International) - In-person (IP) international beer trades.
• Renamed ISO:FT (In-Person) to In-Person (United States)

 

Update:
We're seeing far too many people join and jump right into the ISO:FT forum without reading anything. Laziness aside, part of the reason for this was the way the forums appeared on the main Forums page. So I converted the Beer Trading forum category into its own grouping of sub-forums under "Subcultures" to create some flow and keep things a bit more tidy. It also allows us to drop important threads right into the main Beer Trading form for all to see.

For those who don't like this, here are some tips:

• Use the Sub-Forums pulldown (right under the Beer Trading listing) when viewing the forum list.
  
• Bookmark your Beer Trading forums of choice.
• Keep multiple browser tabs open.
• Trading (main site nav) > Forums

Viewing the sub-forums in the app works great now too.

 

Update: Editing/Deleting

• Option to delete has been revoked for ISO and IP forums.
• Time limit to edit has been extended to unlimited.
• Added a "Closed" prefix. Simply edit your thread's title and set it accordingly.

 

Update: Replying in ISO:FT and IP
Replying is now a privilege. Replying is now a privilege

I'll be emailing everyone who currently meets the criteria.

Update: Sort Threads by Last Message
Is the new default (like most other forums). This will help us better track and monitor replies.

 

Updates: ISO:FT and IP

• Replying has been fully disabled. The playing field is once again even. We tried using posting as a privilege, but well-over half the people who were replying failed to do so properly. I also grew tired of dealing with users who felt they were entitled to reply, and users who didn't understand why they couldn't reply because they didn't read the updates.
• You can now Delete (and still Edit) your posts at anytime. I recommend using the Delete option when your offer is closed; it'll save your Inbox.
• The "Closed" prefix as been removed (not needed if you can delete), few were using it, and IP forums didn't support it; causing a lot of confusion.
• Inbox limits have been increased to 500 (from 250) for Verified (accounts) Traders (and you agreed to the terms) to offset replies being disabled.

And a great byproduct of removing a huge chuck of the rules due to replying being disabled means less warnings, less bans, and less users throwing temper tantrums over their inability to follow the rules.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/beer-trading-rules-tips.229/

 

Update: Deleting/Editing Posts
We brought it back, but it got abused and now it's gone. Due to the 72 hour repost rule, we saw a significant increase in users who used delete as a way to get around the rule. This resulted in an increase in mods issuing warnings and a subsequent increase in users throwing hissy fits over not being able to handle disciplinary actions for not following simple rules.

• Unlimited deletion AND editing of posts has been revoked. Both are now the 30 min default, so think before you post.
• The above has been applied to all ISO and In-Person forums.
• The 72 hour repost (same or similar) rule is still in effect. Offenders will be issued warnings and subsequent actions on accounts may be applied for repeat offenders.
• I'm exploring solutions for indicating if an offer is closed and will post further updates in this thread.

 

Updates:

• To view the forums, users need to be verified traders.
• No "message me for ratios." or similar wording in offers as been added to the rules.

Reminders:

• Don't trade with unverified users.
• Using your inbox as an auction house is subject to banning without warning.

 

Update: Editing/Deleting Posts (again)
It was unlimited, but people abused it to get around the 72 hour repost rule so we set it to 30 mins (default). After a month of trying the default, people abused it by posting "similar" posts. Not only did this result in a rise in warnings and busted users throwing temper tantrums, but it was penalizing the whole who follow the rules. So now you can edit and delete at will again. Feel free to adjust your offers as necessary by editing them or delete them when they're closed.

Note: There will be extreme penalties for those who use the delete option (still visible by mods) to repost and essentially bump their offers should get stomped on with warnings. And the 72 hour repost (same or similar) rule is still in effect.

Apologies to all of you good traders out there for having to put up with all of these updates. We're trying, and we appreciate your patience and support.

 

Update: The Return of the 30 Days Rule
Due to far too many new users simply not reading / following the rules, users must once again be a member for at least 30 days before joining the beer trading community. The hope is that they'll take the time to familiarize themselves with how things work before participating.

All associated pages have been updated to reflect this change.

Note: Users who currently don't match this criteria have been removed from the beer trading group until the criteria is met. This is an automated process, so please don't message us about being added to the group. And your trade history (if any) will reappear once the criteria is met.

 

Update: 72 Hour Repost Rule Clarification
Due to confusion around this rule, we've clarified it for those who couldn't grasp the concept of reposting trades (or similar trades) for the same beer.

You may only list a beer once every 72 hours.

And deleting (still viewable by mods) to essentially bump will result in action taken against the offending user.

 

Updates:

• Many of the Beer Trading forums are once again only viewable by verified traders in good standing.
• Added a Completed Trades forum to clean the general forum and make completed trades easier to find. See: How to Create a Completed Trade Thread for more. We'll see how it goes and adjust as needed.