Consider Removing Trade Cooldown

[DragonCoffee]

While I am certain there are reasons for adding this cooldown, I am unsure what they could be and have been frustrated ever since this was added.

It was mentioned in discord that trade was being abused, though abuse is using a mechanic in an unintended way that is giving others an unfair advantage. An example of this is players using helis to get onto dome: it is not intended, and not everyone can utilize the heli in the same way, providing some players with an unfair advantage. Trade, as far as I know, does no such thing. While, sure there may be unintended uses of trade, but since every player has access to them it is not giving others an unfair advantage since everyone has the same access to trade.

Having to wait 5 minutes in-between each trade is such a long period it simply discourages any trading. If you mess up a trade or forget an item in the trade you have to wait 5 minutes. If you want to trade with two people there's a 5 minute delay. If you want to craft something for someone they have to wait 5 minutes to get the item back after sending you materials.

If there is serious abuse that is going on allowing players to gain an unfair advantage over others by using no trade cooldown, than please communicate this so we understand the reason behind the cooldown implementation. If this is not the case than can cooldown be reduced or removed entirely?

I do a lot of trading in (EU) Survival since I am typically giving materials away or crafting items for people that need them, but since adding this cooldown it has seriously discouraged me from giving back to the community as I did before. If a cooldown is a must, can there be a way to bypass the cooldown by paying points? Or have a reduction in cooldown for buying VIP? Or even have a separate item in the shop for removing this cooldown?

Thank you for reading, and feedback on this would be appreciated!

[Aurora]

I don't know about abuse issues on trade, but having players going around the map, use player shops and create a player-run economy is a positive thing. If players can just sit in their base and spam /trade (with no limits on using the command) I think it ruins a big part of the social gathering on PvE servers and makes the shops that players build all but irrelevant, pretty quickly into a wipe.    

Trade has been borked for a  bit  -- and because the trade fails, people go to player shops to obtain something in game (i.e. actually make an effort to get it) and  that gives players, like me, who spend a lot of time building public spaces and shops  a reason to keep doing it. I think the /trade unfairly favor players who have a team and time accumulate large quantities of materials/loot quickly,  compared to solo players who rely on their shops to earn scrap/items to play out the wipe.

While probably not the popular opinion here, I'd prefer to see trades be allowed within teams only for that reason and have a higher cost when the trade is not with a teammate (i.e. max trades per day, increased cap per use, or increased cool down). 

[DragonCoffee]

10 hours ago, Aurora said:

I don't know about abuse issues on trade, but having players going around the map, use player shops and create a player-run economy is a positive thing. If players can just sit in their base and spam /trade (with no limits on using the command) I think it ruins a big part of the social gathering on PvE servers and makes the shops that players build all but irrelevant, pretty quickly into a wipe.

I can understand this perspective, and I do see your point, however: when it comes to me looking to craft items for someone, give freebies to a newbie, or just trade more than 12 items the 5-minute cooldown is an active deterrent to /trade. Sidepoint: if /trade is advertised as a part of the rich economy when looking at the server connect screen, but then adding a cooldown to discourage use, is that not at least slightly counter-intuitive..?

I think shops are great for when players are offline and need a way to get help or resources when there are not others that are online to assist, but (again, from my perspective on EU survival) when players are online, having a cooldown makes long-distance trading/assistance a hassle rather than a inherent component of gameplay. I have made well over 30 vending machines in a shop every wipe I have played and all of them have seen use without /trade cooldown. Vending machines are not irrelevant, but a method of offline trading or trading for players that would prefer to avoid the social component of gameplay.

Allowing players to spam /trade is a method for players to have a different approach to gameplay. Those that would prefer to focus on economy rather than material gathering. Why punish players that enjoy that playstyle? Why is this such a bad thing? Different people have different ways of playing the game and allowing players to do what they wish, rather than only allowing a specific approach, limits gameplay audience and may drive away some players.

10 hours ago, Aurora said:

I think the /trade unfairly favor players who have a team and time accumulate large quantities of materials/loot quickly ...

... I'd prefer to see trades be allowed within teams only for that reason and have a higher cost when the trade is not with a teammate

Again, I see your point here, but taking the viewpoint that trading favors teams is irrelevant to trade cooldown. Whether or not /trade existed has no impact on this advantage. If there were only vending machines on the map this advantage would still exist and as such I do not follow why /trade should have these associated costs.

At the end of the day adding a cooldown to /trade is a mechanic designed to limit use. If this is the intention as this mod is providing unfair advantages or going against Death's vision for the server, than so be it. However, if this is giving no specific advantages over other players (as in, only a select few players are able to abuse these mechanics while others have no such ability), than my request remains the same: Please consider removing/reducing trade cooldown.

Sorry for the long post! I just wanted to comment on a few points

[Death]

The cooldown is designed to gate use to encourage players to engage in face to face transactions. Trading is not intended as a tool, but a feature to be used as needed. This also prevents players from camping monuments and being able to trade items to a teammate for storage.

Expected usage: DOH!, I forgot my axe at my base, can you trade me one?
Expected usage: I'm dying of hunger, can someone help?

Unexpected usage: I'm selling an axe, trade me
Unexpected usage: My inventory is full; let me trade you so I can keep farming

The 5-minute cooldown was set in place to get players used to having a cooldown, and will eventually be increased. With the new system, the trade is not over once you click accept. As long as both players stay in the trade, you can trade as many items as possible.

Additionally, we do not advertise trade as part of our rich player economy. It's listed as a feature.

[DragonCoffee]

Thank you for your input @Death!

If this is the vision you wish to have going forward than so be it. I appreciate you taking the time to read over these points and consider this from a different angle, but as your decision remains the same I will not press the issue further.

I enjoyed the lack of a cooldown while it existed, but it seems I will simply have to get used to the new change.

I appreciate you communicating your reasoning, and I hope this change has the desired effect!