"Borrowing" Items

[MontyPython]

Originally Posted by papajchris

My example was way over the top but okay lets bring it down a bit. You save up all your money for years and you are finally getting your first car. You go to the dealership and you give him the money before you drive off with the car. Well the dealer takes your money and says you never gave them anything. So your left with no car or money, and they got your money. So by Geno's belief its a win win because the dealership got free money and the person learned a lesson in trusting people....

The only way you get scammed on Era is if you're an idiot and don't use the trade systems put in place for your own god damn good.

So here's how it'd really go in your scenario:

You save up all your money for years and years and you are finally getting your first [car/gun]. You know about itemtrade and the mall systems. However, you decide instead to trust Honest John who's lurking in a dark alley on the corner of Broadway and Martin Luther King Street. He promises you the car/gun, and he also says he'll throw in a free candy cane. Good god, this surely is the nicest man in the game! You've been admonished by the server (and, if you're asking around - friends and random jackasses) to use the safe itemtrade/mall systems already put in place. But Honest John refuses to use those, claiming he's got a bit of a limp and can't quite make it all the way to the mall.

What's the smart thing to do there? If you actually think trusting Honest John who's refusing to do a safe trade is a good idea, I think Geno might be right. You do need to learn a lesson. Common sense + the pre-existing trade systems should prevent any scamming from happening at all.

As for the lending shenanigans, there's absolutely no reason why the staff should have to deal with lends. It's something that's not supported by any system in place on the server, therefore it should be lend-at-your-own-risk/know-who-your-real-friends-are (hint: they're not on your buddy list) kind of thing.

Besides, that kind of thing is just asking for some biased/corrupt PR to try to abuse it. PR's friend gets a bad trade, begs for him to reverse it. PR does, and then tells everyone "it was a lend, k? the other guy is lying." Or you'll get players claiming a PR watched a "lend" that never really happened, and assuming this staff member cares enough to check, he/she'll waste tons of precious time finding out he's bluffing.

Either make an automated system to allow lending (not worth it at allll in my opinion), or just let people lend at their own risk. We're over concerned with players getting upset here. If you're a ****ing idiot and lend your **** out everywhere, it's your own damn fault if you lose it. We don't need to shove out the bottle and pacifier every time someone cries over a stupid mistake.

Regardless, Geno makes a valid point that's true for both scamming and lending messes: You get burned once, and unless you're extremely stupid/gullible, it won't happen again.