Couple of questions regarding a thread I'd like to start

[SillySilenia]

I noticed that all of my posts which offer some insight in either Neopets' economy or virtual economies in general tend to receive some interest and likes. I do have a fair bit more information, insight and opinion on such things I would happily share with/explain to folks here on TDN, but generally the threads in which I make my economy-related posts are more narrow in their scope and it wouldn't do for me to derail them.

 

Thus, I believe a larger thread about economical insight regarding virtual communities and more specifically Neopets might be a good idea. Especially because I suspect a good many posts will be essay-like in style and length. (Well, 1-3 pages in MS Word would be... not exactly outside the realm of possibility, in any case). Some of it will be relatively general (supply-demand within a closed virtual economy, for example) in scope, others will likely be more narrow ("influence of real life seasons and holidays on non-seasonal items on Neopets", for example).

 

However, I was wondering about a few things:

- Would TDN staff be okay with me creating such a thread so long as I take proper care not to unduly influence the market*, make clear the differences between fact and opinion, certainty (not that there are many if any) and likelihood and if so, does TDN staff have any requests of me beyond those mentioned below?

- Which (sub)forum if any would be best for placing such a thread?

- Is there any chance I could get a waiver regarding the double-posting rule for such a thread and such a thread alone?

(This would be so as to allow me to set up the first post as an index of a kind, possibly split up larger pieces over two posts to allow for better readability and to allow me to post about a new topic (within the broad scope, of course) if/when I have a new piece written regardless of if anyone has posted since my last post or to answer a question I may have overlooked just before posting without being confusing by answering a question or request for clarification in a post that is otherwise about a very specific topic.)

 

*For example, I will refrain from mentioning specific items or very-small-groups of items as much as possible except in those cases where even all of TDN's members starting/stopping selling or buying a specific item would not have a significant impact--e.g. items that the majority of people neither possesses nor possesses the funds to buy, such as specific stamps; items that are "money-tree/rubbish-avatar food" because even if no new items of that kind were added to the economy, it'd still be more-than-saturated for a few years (such as dung and old rotten sandals), items that have a fixed price no matter what (Baby Paint Brushes) or that everyone is well-aware of (codestones, red codestones, dubloons, certain neggs) unless absolutely necessary.

 

I also won't give any specific advice when it comes to investing in items or restocking beyond broad descriptions of item groups ("gourmet food"; "avatar items", "rare stamps") and will make up non-existing items if I need to give specific examples not belonging to one of the above-mentioned categories.

[carlyle]

I would be interested in such a thread, even if it only provided another perspective on the Neopets economy beyond my own thoughts of the game.

 

If your thread were to be a discussion, then it should probably go in the Neopets Debate section. Otherwise, I am inclined to say the Neopets General Chat over the Help section as no specific questions are being asked.

 

Obviously, I don't speak for the staff, but I feel that as long as you make reasonable statements in your posts, you should be fine. If the market was driven into a panic by a post you make here, then I think that the market could be toppled by anything else, so it would not be your fault. I think that your judgment is clear enough to keep you from causing trouble.

 

Good luck! :)

[Ruto]

As far as asking for permission to start any kind of thread, as long as it doesn't break any forum or Neopets rules or encourages breaking them, feel free to go through with it. I don't think you'll be in any danger of influencing the market, so no worries there.

 

The best forum for this kind of thread would be Neopets General Chat, as it isn't strictly a debate--it's just your insight on the matter.

 

A few of us talked over this and decided to go with no on the double-posting waiver, as the problems that you described can be easily solved without having the bend the rules. If you're concerned about your pieces being too long or having multiple topics to address, you can put them on an external site and link to them from your first post. There are a number of sites able to display your pieces, like Google Docs, that would allow for organization as well.

 

If people have expressed interest in your insight on Neopets' economy, then I think you won't have any problems with needing to double post in order to bump your thread. We just can't allow special exceptions for subjects that don't require immediate attention.

 

With all that said, I hope you enjoy sharing your pieces.

[SillySilenia]

As far as asking for permission to start any kind of thread, as long as it doesn't break any forum or Neopets rules or encourages breaking them, feel free to go through with it. I don't think you'll be in any danger of influencing the market, so no worries there.

 

The best forum for this kind of thread would be Neopets General Chat, as it isn't strictly a debate--it's just your insight on the matter.

 

A few of us talked over this and decided to go with no on the double-posting waiver, as the problems that you described can be easily solved without having the bend the rules. If you're concerned about your pieces being too long or having multiple topics to address, you can put them on an external site and link to them from your first post. There are a number of sites able to display your pieces, like Google Docs, that would allow for organization as well.

 

If people have expressed interest in your insight on Neopets' economy, then I think you won't have any problems with needing to double post in order to bump your thread. We just can't allow special exceptions for subjects that don't require immediate attention.

 

With all that said, I hope you enjoy sharing your pieces.

Okay, thank you for taking the time to answer. Yes, I figured that it would most likely not be a problem for me to start such a thread, but I figured that since I had to ask a few other questions anyway, I might as well ask that too.

 

True, there's not that much risk of accidentally influencing the market as a whole. However, if one's careless, they may cause an impact on a single (or handful of) item(s). Speculation can be dangerous in real life--speculation in a virtual closed economy can be even more so. ('course, that'd require me to post something a bit more widely than TDN, most likely, but I figure rather safe than sorry)

 

Okay, Neopets General Chat it is. Yes, it was mostly debate vs. general I was wondering about. Help popped up in my mind as well, but that looks to be more for asking help than a general thread that may give some help.

 

As to the waiver, fair enough. You're right, I can link from sites like Google Docs. Didn't think of it because I'm too used to forums that are iffy about any outwards link, I suppose.

 

Thank you! I expect that I will.

 

Carlyle: Happy to hear you would be interested. =) Looks like you were right about where the thread should go. True, if I can crash the complete market, something is very wrong already anyway (and while the Neopian economy is not exactly stable, I would not say it's that unstable either), though I was worrying more about the impact on specific items, which still is not that likely but within the realm of possibility if one's not careful.