[APPROVED] OMM Rank Update

[Pirate]

The staff team would like to hear the community's opinion on the current state of the OMM rank. We, as staff, feel that it’s outdated and that becoming an OMM has guidelines that are too stringent. In addition to it being outdated, the rewards are little to none. If you would be so kind as to vote on the poll above and voice your opinion, we would greatly appreciate it!

If you would like it to be revamped, if possible list some changes you would like to see.

This is a complex question. You state that the staff team feels the rank is outdated - in what way do you guys feel it is outdated? I'm not against changing the requirements or even the general connotations the rank holds, but I'd like to know what concerns staff have about the current state of the rank so that any suggestions I make are relevant ones.

You also state there is little to no reward for being an OMM - do OMM not charge for their services? As far as I'm aware, that's pretty much the only reason people have worked up to that rank in the past.

Its outdated as in, it's almost impossible for anyone to obtain the rank anymore - the majority of the OMM's are not very active in trading, and the process is too difficult for any other member to make it into the ranks of being an OMM. The little to no rewards compares to other "ranks" on sythe that are awarded for their services/dedication to sythe.

 

[Sypherz]

Not sure exactly what you're asking, a little more context would be helpful. That said I haven't really heard of someone using an OMM in a long time, but the role of a middleman still seems reasonably important to the market. The rank awards a reasonable amount of trust but the process of getting it seems antiquated. I don't really see a solution to this other than a revamping of the middleman awarding process (with higher checks on who gets to keep the rank if inactive.) or offering a site-implemented escrow/feedback kind of situation which clearly won't happen.

 

[Talon]

Would rather the rank be re-vamped than removed completely. Interested in seeing the role become more viable to work for

 

[Sillymonkey]

This is a complex question. You state that the staff team feels the rank is outdated - in what way do you guys feel it is outdated? I'm not against changing the requirements or even the general connotations the rank holds, but I'd like to know what concerns staff have about the current state of the rank so that any suggestions I make are relevant ones.

You also state there is little to no reward for being an OMM - do OMM not charge for their services? As far as I'm aware, that's pretty much the only reason people have worked up to that rank in the past.

 

[Sillymonkey]

Its outdated as in, it's almost impossible for anyone to obtain the rank anymore - the majority of the OMM's are not very active in trading, and or the process is to difficult for any other member to make it into the ranks of being an OMM. The little to no rewards is just throwing ideas for the community. Other "ranks" on sythe are awarded for their services/ dedication to sythe

Thanks.

I am definitely for an overhaul of the requirements - because yes it's definitely near impossible to meet them these days (they were already extremely difficult back in the day haha).

One idea would be giving the rank to veteran market users with a high volume of trades under their belt - and a proven track record for following safe trading practices as shown by those trades (lack of valid complaints/reports against them, stuff like that).

As far as rewards, other than possibly having a set monetary % that an OMM is obtaining per trade they partake in, I guess there could be a special rank associated with how long they've been an OMM or how many trades they've conducted as an OMM.....I'd lean towards the trade done as an OMM, as it is an incentive for someone with the rank to keep facilitating trades rather than just gaining the rank to use as status in the market.

One reason I suggest having an official percentage that OMM charge per transaction is to prevent undercutting....why bother getting OMM when someone is just going to take 4% instead of 5, or provide free OMM services when they can be bothered to be available? That sort of thing.

Just some simple thoughts that people can hopefully build off of.

EDIT:

I should have taken a look at the poll numbers before posting haha.....if the rank is to be removed, surely something should be given to the people that have already obtained it. The process behind getting the OMM rank is pretty insane haha.

 

[Superfluous]

I'm strongly in favor of removing OMM - we don't give "status" ranks for anything that doesn't benefit the site (mods/bondholders) other than middlemanning for some reason. There's absolutely no reason why middlemanning shouldn't be governed by a competitive market, and it seems inconsistent to hold a subset users to a different standard than others (see recent OMM demotions). The whole thing is antiquated and lame and should be removed.

 

[Sh33dy]

Remove it completly.

-Most of ppls once they obtain rank at first they are active after certain time they go inactive and just sit on that rank [perfect example: Bogdan dubt he mmed 5 trades / proceed 5 donations in total this year]

-Rank is not backed by anyone incase of scam [so OMM is pretty much same as MM aka USE AT YOUR OWN RISK]

 

[Beast]

Revamp it, have 1 official middleman for each section, just how you have sectionals
Reason why? Being an expert in that section & having the role you would be able to increase the price you charge for the MM service.
To point out one specific section, it will be the name section, would love to see an OMMs in this section that actually handles transfers, as this really is the main concern at this time for that market.
Accounts, many mm’s don’t do accounts, so get one that does,

just add 2-3 OMM’s per section imo & I would even go as far to say, the OMM should be held at a higher standard of trust? Right? Well to trust someone, they should have “Something” to lose, in my opinion this is where giving your personal identification comes into play, aka a verification process.
This can be as simple as just providing some type of ID
I would also like to see perhaps a deposit that the omm’s would need to make, adding onto a “have something to lose” factor.

this is just my take on it, I think being 100% transparent with staff should not be a problem if you want to be held at a higher standard of trust in the community.

 

[Beast]

but your OP sounds like it was written by an 8 year old

Staff feel it’s outdated, the rules are too strict & the reward is not worth the effort
if you can piece that together from this stamens there:

We, as staff, feel that it’s outdated and that becoming an OMM has guidelines that are too stringent. In addition to it being outdated, the rewards are little to non

then perhaps you should not comment.

That was extremely straight forward, and pirate is also asking for the community to open up & give their ideas & suggestions.
Which you’ve failed to do so, so far.

 

[Devil]

I wholeheartedly agree with @Sh33dy & @Superfluous's comments. I personally don't care if the rank gets removed as the most active middlemen presently aren't OMM and it's been that way for it feels like 2 years. Since @Mootrucks & @Dunworry were MM'ing (the last 2 great OMM) imo. I then read what @Beast wrote and can totally see some of those ideas taken and developed in a revamp process. So I'm not opposed to it being revamped, I think it would be an interesting undertaking in one of the more important roles on Sythe.

I voted to remove the role because of my first point. The most active and used MM are not OMM. Just trusted members of the community who genuinely like making sure people don't get scammed which is what it's all about and should only be about.

Thanks.

 

[Madz]

The fact that two OMM applications still are being voted for since december last year, really seems to lack something about the rank. Don’t know if it is the absence of some admins being highly inactive or what.

 

[David]

If the rank is revamp, everyone need to loose OMM and apply again.

but I would prefer if the rank is removed completely.

 

[Hahanerd]

No I like having OMM. I am in favor of possibly revamping it though.

 

[Gladiator]

We've seen the inability of several OMMs losing their ranks recently because they were inept at sending a correct PM (which lead to users getting scammed). Moreover, those with the ranks have for the most part been extremely inactive and some have been rank sitting for years.

I'm in favour of having it completely removed, however if it must stay because of public vote then there needs to be a complete revamp, which should include a fresh application for all; including the current OMMs.

 

[BlackBlasses]

I'm in favor of completely removing the rank, because I think that sythe is currently at a stage where we don't need Official MM to increase the amount of trades and we also have a lot of highly vouched regular MM.

However, if we were to revamp it I would like to suggest that we change two major things:
- defined requirements, but let either all users, or staff only vote on the apps (the voting process currently consist of OMM voting on new apps which I find flawed, because you can directly capitalize on MMing trades and less competition is desired)
- re-vote on the current OMM after a year of time to ensure that no OMM is inactive for more than a year

 

[S]

This can be as simple as just providing some type of ID
I would also like to see perhaps a deposit that the omm’s would need to make, adding onto a “have something to lose” factor.

Never going to happen.

As many above me have stated, the process to become an OMM is antiquated. Circa 2011, when free trade returned, and the market was not as saturated/dominated by a handful of market giants, OMM's were utilised, alongside MM's. Notably, more so due to the sheer quantity of trades occurring between all relevant parties (inclusive of all respective market traders, i.e., new users, established members, etc) - this has dropped significantly (in terms of trades where an OMM/MM is requried), and as aforementioned, the need for OMM's for all intents and purposes, has become obsolete, due to established traders acquiring most business.

I'm in favour of removing the OMM rank, and or, revamping it, with a fresh application process for both current OMM's and new applicants.

 

[DesireX]

I've seen it many a time "I wan't to use official omm" half these people are inactive, let the market determine who is trustworthy through competition like @Superfluous said. Scrap the rank

 

[Amy]

I personally don't feel there's any need of an OMM rank. No offense but the current OMMs just feel like the same as the other MMs but they charge a premium.

The goal of a MM should just help facilitate a trade out of goodwill instead of aiming to charge people.

 

[Kaesar]

Scrap it it's pointless is my first thought, people know when they load up a page and look at the views/comments/replies/vouches who's active or not.

 

[Wortel]

One of the reasons it’s inactive is because all of the head OMM’s were inactive. It seems however that kicking people off ranks is happening alot more than before, though sadly inactivity still doesn’t result in that.

OMM is as flawed as SVU though. The rank serves no other meaning than upping their prices.

Remove it completely.