[ACCEPTED] Remove Name Request Thread

So my feelings towards the name request thread vary. As name sellers we actively spam post our "buying EVERY rare name possible" messages as often as we can. We want new sythe users who might have a rare name to sell it to us, and not to the other guy. So for that it serves its purpose. However I don't believe anyone ever finds their "dream name" by posting on there. Instead, they are greeted by several serial ban evaders who roam that thread looking to prey upon new and inexperienced traders.

You post looking for the name "God" and guess what, two day old sythe user "Vader McGee" contacts you saying it's your lucky day and he has your name. He asks you what your bank is, and what the max you would pay for the name is, and then he proceeds to scam you.

Read the "how to trade safely" thread? Know about using a middleman? Well guess what, Mr McGee over here is more than happy to use a middle man! In fact, he'll even let you choose which one, AND he will pay for it! How generous of him. You see where I'm going with this...

Without this section it does force newer users to have to contact name sellers directly, whether they are selling a name, or looking to buy one. But the amount of people it will save from getting scammed I feel far outweighs that inconvenience to them. Without this section, these scammers would have a much harder time sliding into DM's with their potential victims. Nobody would message Mr. Mcgee directly, as he has no thread, no post count, and has been a member for a week. But by posting that you are looking for a specific name, it gives him all the excuse in the world to message you.

I don't know if there is a way to filter who can and can't post on that thread, if you could allow members with a certain post count or join date to actively post, and give the new guys an "error; try contacting the name sellers directly" message. I know the active name sellers like having it to generate traffic, but personally I'm getting really tired of seeing the same vaders preying and profiting off new members who don't know any better.

Thoughts?

 

[S]

This suggestion is akin to multiple DNS threads.

Increased market barriers, and market intervention is not going to happen. If anything, it stagnates growth.

The bottom line is that, there always will be scammers/vaders, and the best we can do to combat said issue is proactively educating users on safe trading practices. Ultimately, it's up to the individual in question to do their own due-dilligence prior to any trade.

 

I definitely understand that. I just see this thread as serving no purpose other than ultimately benefiting the scammers. Yes, it falls on new members to educate themselves, but I think the community can do better than that to help them as they get accustomed to the site.

 

Definitely see the issue and have actually experienced it myself when I first joined. When someone comes into my Discord looking for a name I immediately let them know about scammers pretending to own a name after they post in the name request channel, and tell them to make sure they receive an in game PM as screenshots can be tampered with.

Yes us name sellers always spam it, including myself. I am trying to get a few specific names and I see why that can be good to others as well. People you might not know can actually provide information on if the name is banned nfs or they can provide contact to the owner.

It's up to the mods because there are many pros and cons. Us name sellers do like traffic but I see the relevance of the name request thread 100%.

 

[Spazz]

I feel this is just the nature of names, most people won’t find the name they want because the vast majority of names on RS are NFS. They are exciting to have and people make mistakes in pursuit of them but its not an excuse. People who want something specific, actually want it, will post in the thread because obvious reasons, or contact a big seller. Also, I browse the name section often and I see people ignoring the request a name thread often. Not gonna lie it feels like uneccesary spam for a new thread EVERY time someone has an interest, deleting the thread will only make it worse

What they should really do is stop allowing people to request 100 specific names in the thread. Feels less like asking for a specific name when I see that and more like people just advertising that they’re buying literally anything rare. You can make a thread for that. The thread gets abused by big name sellers.

Getting rid of this won’t stop any scams in my opinion. If you get scammed its because you’re either an idiot or someone trusted took advantage of you. We’ve all been new here, and I personally have almost never been scammed because its not that hard to avoid if you practice proper trade practices. Scammers will always be around and I just don’t think removing the request a name thread will make a difference. I think it will just add more spam to the forum.

Our real problem in the name forum is the people who post “selling rare name pkerxxx69, anyone interested?” Some peoples idea of a rare name is just out of this world lol

 

The thread doesn't really serve the purpose it's intended to because like you said, most names are NFS (banned, bound, lost, sniped, or just not for sale by owner). I deal with multiple people DAILY telling me "so-and-so approached me with an amazing list, should I trust them? They have the exact name I was looking for!" But unfortunately not everyone has the knowledge to ask a bigger seller, and those are the one's who lose a lot.

Scamming is going to occur regardless, yes. But I feel like simply removing this thread is going to make it a lot harder for these ban evaders. How else are they going to reach out to new, inexperienced members looking to buy their dream name? Are they just going to message every member randomly asking if they want to buy their names? That will probably get their account banned or DNT'd before they could ever execute their scam.

The people who post a new thread directly onto the forum requesting a name are the people who don't read the rules anyways. And they are the ones who will be scammed. Is it their fault? Maybe. But I still think we can do better as a community to help even the biggest of noobs from losing money to these guys who literally make a living off stealing RS wealth from others.

If this name request thread was locked with a simple message saying "Please do not post requesting a specific name, you will be targeting by scammers. Instead try reaching out to trusted name providers to see what they have or if they have any information about the names you are looking for", I can promise you it will save a lot of people at the end of the day.

I will keep going out of my way to try and warn those I see or anyone who asks me for help directly, but I browse the scammer threads often, and see it in the market discords, that even I can't preemptively stop everyone.

 

[Spazz]

I appreciate the effort you’re putting into helping new users but, if you delete the request a name thread, the only way to request a name will be to post a new thread, or ban requesting a name altogether which wouldn’t make any sense.

People will be targeted the exact same way.

I agree with warning users more prominently about not getting scammed, specifically in relation to the name sales market. I just don’t agree with how that warning is worded. Trusted name sellers shouldn’t get extra promotion by staff for free, thats unfair. Even if nobody is mentioned specifically, its not clear who “trusted” name sellers are and we wouldn’t want people falling for donations=trust.

If you want extra promotion, pay sythe for ad space.

 

The name request thread IS extra promotion for us, and clearly that's not what I care about hence me trying to get it removed lol. Like i said in the OP, I spam it as much as I can. We all do.

There's no need to BAN requesting a name. And just because the thread is around now doesn't stop most people from spamming the name forum anyways looking for specific names, that mods have to lock.

Maybe there is a different way to handle this, but currently I'm seeing this exact situation happen multiple times a day. And the sole reason for it is because of that thread.

 

[Spazz]

Like I said, extra promotion by staff, not by posting in the thread. Putting a message in the thread (Only staff can do this) would be promoting “trusted” name sellers, nobody else gets this privilege.

Anyways, I don’t disagree with you, I’m just pointing out that your solution means moving name requests to separate threads or banning them altogether, or bending the rules for a few privileged users. Needs a new approach, what that is exactly I’m not sure.

 

I support removing it,

it seem's rather redundant to me as you can already just post a thread if you are in search of an name

 

[Harry Potter]

I support removing it,

it seem's rather redundant to me as you can already just post a thread if you are in search of an name

Well the whole point of the mega thread is to prevent the forum being clogged with tons of different posts with users looking for x name. It's consolidated into one this way.



It is pretty ridiculous how many people attempt to spam though. I posted in the thread once about a week ago and received 4 DM's nearly immediately of people claiming to have one of the names but they never want to meet in-game to prove it :thinking:

 

[g3rb3rlife]

I don't think removing the thread will do much to keep scanners away from sythe, they will just find victims through other means.

 

[RSwilliam]

I don't think removing the thread will do much to keep scanners away from sythe, they will just find victims through other means.

It won't keep scammers away, But it will remove one outlet they can scam from.

 

I'd support the removal of the thread. There are probably way more scammers/vaders looking through it than legit people. Requesting/inquiring names could either be done through PMs (from well-known name sellers) or separate threads. The latter would still invite scammers, but there could be added rules such as showing proof of ownership when contacting potential buyers.

 

[RSwilliam]

Just a thought, instead of removing the thread, Make it so only "Trusted Namesellers" can view replies to the thread. Just locking behind some type of barrier would prevent a lot, Even if it is just post count or join date, Maybe even sythe gold? Just an ideal.

 

[Pendulum]

We have updated the Name Request Thread V4 rules to limit users from posting once per page

The effectiveness of this thread is surely up for debate, but it does possess valuable information on the status of names. Its main function is to get rid of threads designed for buying a specific name and instead keep it all compiled into one thread. Users can search through a list of their desired names to see if anyone might know something about it.

Much like every section, scammers will target newer users. We have several stickied posts warning users about Discord impersonation. Its up to the users to practice due caution when trading.

Thanks for the suggestion, this has been accepted to a degree