Trading Strategies

November 3, 2003

Open Beta has been live for close to four weeks now and with the influx of more players we get a greater variety of temperaments and strategies. This, of course, extends to the realm of trading. I thought I'd share a few thoughts on the trading experience online.

First, the online TCG brings an interesting dynamic to trading in that you don't need to stockpile cards for all your different decks. In the offline game, if you wanted to have several decks at the ready, you'd need the appropriate aggregate number of cards. Since a deck can never have more than four of a card title, in the online game, you never need more than four of a given card. The decks are simply lists of cards in your collection - so you get maximum reuse from your cards, and it's easier to collect the cards you want.

Therefore this means you have more cards to trade for the cards you need.

Here's where the attitudes of the players come in (and come into conflict).

"How much for your women?" - Jake Blues, "The Blues Brothers"

There is no standard for the value of cards. My first thought (and I was way off base here) was that a rare should be worth five points, an uncommon: three points, and a common: one point. On paper, it sounds good - until someone offered me five commons for each of my rares.

"Doh!" - Homer Simpson

If you simply consider pack distribution, then one rare is worth seven commons and three uncommons. Doing some simple math, this would mean that a rare is worth 21 points, an uncommon, seven points; and a common is worth three points.

But again I'm sure someone would love to swap seven commons for a rare.

"I said no camels, that's five camels! Can't you count?" - Indiana Jones, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"

What any valuation system fails to take into account is the need of the two parties in the trade. Additionally overlooked is the "real" value of a card - that is the demand for the card by the community in general. Not all rares are created equal. Well, actually - they are created equal, but their desirability by players will differ from one card to the next.

Valuation should only be a starting point. Players need to consider their actual needs more than just the "face value" of cards -- especially when there is no gain to stockpiling more than four of any card. Recently, a player wanted three of a common card (I had 10 in my collection). Looking over his, there was one card that I really wanted ( a rare Eomer) - unfortunately he wanted it as well. I was willing to fork over two rares and the three common cards for this one card. By pure value, I was giving him 51 points for 21 points. On the surface, this isn't a "fair" deal. But based on my needs, I was willing to make the deal. Based on his needs, such a lopsided deal in his favor wasn't worth it to him, because he placed more value on that one card than the 21 points.

So that deal was scrapped. But he still needed the three commons. Looking again, with a "what will I take even though I cannot really use it" attitude, I found a single rare card that interested me. I offered this deal for the three cards he needed. "Are you crazy?" was the gist of his response. "Three commons for a rare?" Now, pure valuation was getting in the way of each player's need.

On the surface, it was a 21-9 trade, with me on the upside. However, from my perspective, I didn't need the card I was asking for, so to me its value was cut by about half. Likewise, the other player needed those three cards. So it should have upped the value of the cards to some degree beyond their face value. This trade was more like an 11-14 - with the other player coming out on top.

Here are some final points to remember about online trading. The internet is a very difficult medium to communicate in. Not only do you lose the nuances of inflection, gestures, and facial expression, but not everyone is a fast typist. Therefore they may take shortcuts and abbreviate their comments. These two factors mean phrases can easily be misinterpreted by the other party.

Assume good intentions on your trading partner. Allow them a chance to explain their assessment of the deal and perhaps make a counter-offer. Very few people out there are out to scam anyone - and you have final say before any deal gets made. So be patient and willing to negotiate on deals. You'll have a much more enjoyable time - and need less blood pressure medication down the road.