MarketPlace

Hi, I like your project idea, but there are concerns of officially endorsing a product when it can potentially pose a risk of naïve users re-using their MapleRoyals credentials on a third-party website. As you know we don't typically allow advertisement of other websites on our platforms, and this is something we have to consider. Do you think this can be resolved somehow, or handled in a less unsafe manner?

 

Helloo Joong. Our website will encrypt all user input, which includes credentials. We will define our own privacy rules and implement AES256 for an extra layer of encryption. Not even I will have access to user credentials.

We will put up disclaimers (stating that we're a 3rd party and have no affiliation with the official MapleRoyals website or client) and warnings to urge users not to use the same credentials, but at the end of the day, we can't control what login info they choose. We can only do our due diligence when it comes to data security.

However, this is why I tried so hard to get a hold of one of the developers and try to encourage you to be involved. For one, I was pretty sure we aren't allowed to advertise 3rd party websites within the confines of a privately own business, and two, even though we are super excited about the whole project and how it gives MapleRoyals an edge, if you don't think it's safe, then we must abandon the project.

 

I'm curious if that will work for you or not. A fee would probably be a turnoff for people. I would suggest ads instead, but you might need to have that cleared by the developers.

 

Good call out. I don't think I even thought of ads until just now that you mentioned it. Although I don't think people would appreciate ads even if the developers approve of it, and I truly believe the benefits of the tool far outweighs the hassle of having to pay a couple apples per month.

 

I mean I'll just speak with my gut and say this sounds like a third party info poach scam. It does save people a ton of money and time on owls, but owls are a fair service fee. It will also thrash the market, making pricing much more competitive and cutthroat

Unless this was on the royals site I wouldn't use it

 

I have no issue with you wanting some kind of gains from this project. Though, I don't think people would appreciate the apple tax instead of ads. If you're a web developer, you should use this as a portfolio project and forget about the apple/mesos fee.

 

it sounds like selling 3rd party service for in-game meso, which may fall under the RWT. I would rather ask for a donation instead of a monthly fee

 

A donation request (or ads) would be closer to violating RWT than asking for in-game mesos or the monthly apple(s) as aforementioned because they translate to real currency. But you're right in pointing out the grey area of this.

 

That would be short-sighted and wouldn't benefit me in any way.

I'm not a website developer. I do a lot of business transformation. If there is a way to improve a business, I try to get it done.

Update: I would like to add that how and if I'm getting compensation for this is not one of my concerns right now. My top priority currently is to create a working prototype for me to test.

To me, the MarketPlace tool, or BasilMarket, doesn't quite constitute as a "real world" product or service since it's more like an extension of the game, but ultimately, that's not for me to decide.

I agree!

 

Yes to everything you said above except there will likely be a monthly meso fee for using the service because the upkeep of this service will be a full time job. I simply cannot justify doing this any other way, especially when the mesos translate to, really, nothing tangible for me in real life. The website will cost real money, time and effort, all in the name of wanting to bring convenience and quality of life improvement to the players in the server while giving Royals a competitive edge.

I do this because it makes me happy to see an operation improve, to see things progress for the better. I do truly hope this will prove to be an innovative initiative that will benefit the server as well as its players, but if the Royals staff believe this is just a project for my own benefit and therefore I should not be compensated in any way, then there is really no reason for me to continue. If you can appreciate it, I will continue, if not, all I can do is back off.

 

On another note, if you consider the maketplace service as a real-life service since it costs real money to host and operate, and therefore meso compensation might be considered RWT, then we would consider real money donations, and Ads as an absolute last resort. If we look at warframe.market, they accept donations through Patreon,

Either way, I respect my time and my time is worth something. I hope you can respect my time as well.

 

Take the following words as a potential users instead of staff opinion:

If you charge a monthly fee, I simply won’t use it. Why would I use your platform when I have access to forum market thread and FM in-game for free. It sounds harsh but it’s the reality.

Maybe check out how Dann is working on his project. I think he is on the right track in development
https://royals.ms/forum/threads/int...me-page-feature-proposal.188645/#post-1104368

 

It's not harsh - I think it's valuable and honest feedback, and here is my answer: even if you wouldn't use my platform as a seller because of the fee, you would probably still use it as a buyer.

Even if we were to charge a meso fee, it would only apply to those who make item postings. As a seller, the meso fee would be extremely minimal compared to the amount of mesos you would make from merching. Think of this as transferring the cost of finding an item from the buyer to the seller. Instead of the buyer paying for Owls to find items, the sellers are the ones to pay because they are the ones making the profits. Similar to credit cards, it's the businesses that pays the credit card merchant fee, not the cardholder.

I've had the pleasure to meet Dann and take a look at his project, which I wholeheartedly support. He also looked at my project and was excited about it, to the point of wanting to add my platform onto his website.

While it's not in my place to say how much money, time, and effort his website requires of him, I can with mine, and if the 'right track in development' means performing a free service where only one party benefits, then I would kindly withdraw from my offer.

 

And I think that's fine, if users are allowed to donate in-game meso or real-life currency, or run Ads (which is not likely since the viewerbase is so tiny), I can work with that.

While it's important to understand what I can and cannot do, I want to stress the fact that this is very much still just an idea and nobody knows if the community will like it until it's in practice. I've seen a lot of success for this type of platform in other games but you can never tell. I can only hope for the best, but if the community tries it and deems it not necessary, then it'll just go away and we'll go back to the way things are right now.

 

Quit the drama. It’s very unnecesary to post this here.

 

You do not need to add more salt onto wound...