I've seen this issue most often during the holiday season. However, it can happen anytime. I've found some post offices (i.e., those in specific cities) are worse than others.
27 2014-12-17 16:10:42
Re: What defense do you have if someone claims non-receipt? (7 replies, posted in General Discussion)
Per the rules (emphasis added):
3.1 Manipulating feedback score by any means (Fictional trades or users) is sanctioned by banning. Neutral Feedback does not affect a user's Percentile, and is to be used at a user's discretion.
Neutral feedback is not part of a member's feedback percentage. As such, it is a reasonable action.
28 2014-12-17 16:05:39
Re: Etiquette for cards lost in mail? (3 replies, posted in General Discussion)
Per the rules, the sender is responsible for proving delivery (USPS Delivery Confirmation is adequate for this). IF you agreed to send AFTER receiving the other party's cards, that other party needs to get them to you (re-shipping, if necessary) if you are going to complete the trade. If the other party is not willing to do that, open a Bad Trade Report (BTR). The mods will review the details of the case and will let you know your options for closing out the trade.
29 2014-12-17 15:55:50
Re: LOOKING FOR SYMBOL SETS (2 replies, posted in General Discussion)
This one needs to be updated for the most recent sets, but is a good start:
This one, at a quick glance, appears complete:
PlaneswalkersLibrary.com - the only issue I see with this site is that they show the Uncommon (sliver) symbol from the Time Spiral set as if it were a separate set (identifying them as Time Shifted--while there were Time Shifted cards in the set, I'm not sure if all of the silver/uncommon symbols were only Time Shifted cards).
30 2014-12-17 15:20:07
Re: v4.0: Deckbox Premium: Features Galore! (179 replies, posted in Announcements)
elpablo wrote:
Sounds like the biggest issues is Sebi can't do this on his own. I think that is problem number one. Forget anything else until there are more volunteers or something.
There's lots of smart people on this site that I'm sure could help and some would be willing to do it in their spare time if only because they love the game and use the site frequently.
I'd offer to help, but I'm not a developer. I only know enough SQL/VB to run my reports for work
Where's a project manager when you need one?
I agree 100%. If given the opportunity, I'd guess that Sebi could have 10-20 skilled volunteers within 30 days. Per his earlier post, I acknowledge that he needs to be ready to put volunteers to work, but that's the work I'd love to see him freed up to tackle.
31 2014-12-17 15:14:46
Re: v4.0: Deckbox Premium: Features Galore! (179 replies, posted in Announcements)
sebi wrote:
HikingStick wrote:Remember, however, that you chose to do most of this on your own. Many have volunteered their time and talents to help you over the years, but you've opted (to the best of my knowledge) to keep all the development work to yourself.
As an addition to my point earlier, I started a draft todo list for what I would need to do and have in place to accept external work, be it contractors / volunteers or employees, for developer positions. It is rough and incomplete, just a starting point, but I will paste it to better highlight how many things would need to be done just to start accepting external work. Bear in mind none of this is in place yet, and not for lack of wanting it, but again, for lack of time and resources:
Need to do on my end:
- code sanitization and security review to make sure access to private user data in not possible by external contributors with access to codebase
- security review for possible weaknesses in production environment access for external contributors with acces to codebase
- collaboration contracts, non-disclosure, legal documents
- documentation on code style, contributing best practices
- documentation on high level overview, and onboarding document. Best way to get started on getting familiar with the codebase.
- a code review process (and document best code review practices)
- a team task management processInformation to get from possible contributors / interviewees:
Please describe your history & experience with the following:
- security & performance best practices with server backend code
- ruby & the rails web framework, and their use in non - trivial projects (40+ kloc)
- background processing servers & job delegation best practices
- sql - and best practices of programatically generating complex filtering queries, database views
- sql - using explain to investigate performance bottlenecks
- javascript best practices for highly dynamic & custom U.I. components, mostly with server-side rendered UI updates
- experience with working & coordinating remotely, with no supervision or assistanceAdditional questions:
- how many hours a week you estimate you would be available, and the approximate time of day you’d mostly be available (in CET) for occasional feature or implementation discussions.
That's exactly the level of thinking/planning I hope you are soon freed up to do.
I do believe you have an opportunity to start building a volunteer Deckbox community, just as the way you did with Mods. Think about how the open source community has been able to accept contributions from all over while pulling them together into a bigger project. I'm not doubting it will be difficult. I just want you to consider that investing more time into strategy and planning for a bigger development community will have more long term payoffs than you continuing to jump from fire to fire. Perhaps a periodic hold on all new releases and fixes (e.g., one week in eight, one month a quarter)?
I'm no coder, but I have other business skills. As I've often said (over many years), I am at your service. I'm just an email away.
[BTW--I'm an ITIL Expert, and I'd guess that others (developers) in this community are familiar with ITIL, too. You might be surprised to find out that many who are willing to help you are already very familiar with development and service management best practices.]
As to whether or not people would be available at specific times for deployments and discussions, I believe most coders interested enough to volunteer their skills will want to be available to make sure things come off well, or to exchange information when troubleshooting an issue. As to other discussions leading up to releases, forums like these are ideal. You can post a question to a team, and they can respond during their typical day. Managing teams across time zones can be a real challenge, but, again, there are those of us who would be willing to help (without needing to draw a salary).
Keep at it, Sebi! My main concern is that you are doing it largely by yourself. Not only does it leave all the weight on your shoulders, but it increases the likelihood that you will experience burnout. You are the heart of the site--without a doubt! I just don't want to see you experiencing heart failure due to situations like this one. Instead of being able to focus on development and growth, you are out here fighting fires in the thread that announced the latest and greatest features of this site. That one simple task--handing the backlash in the forums--is something that could be handed off to another user or team (provided they're up to speed as to your vision, goals, and objectives).
I'm sure it seems like a Catch-22: you don't have time to communicate because of the time you put into development, and you lose time to development when you are out here communicating. Childbirth only happens after passing through the pain.
Again, Sebi, you're a one-man show (no offense Laura and Catinca), and you've done a fine job this far. Just realize there are many of us out here who would be willing to help you. Do you know the Hebrew/Christian holy book? The story of the Exodus? Moses was leading the people, but when he met with his father-in-law, Jethro, he was chided for trying to do it all himself (hearing every dispute among the people himself). Jethro told Moses to divide the people into groups, and to establish leaders over those groups, so he would not have to handle every dispute. There may be some wisdom there for you to consider.
Keep up the good work, Sebi. I may not be around as much now as I once was, but I am still interested in your success. Keep at it!
32 2014-12-17 05:27:27
Re: v4.0: Deckbox Premium: Features Galore! (179 replies, posted in Announcements)
I believe Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, had a good insight on pricing. He knew he could sell a specific quantity of a product at a high price/margin, but he bet he could make more money if he lowered his margins and sold more product. I believe you'll have better premium subscription revenues if you significantly drop the price.
Sebi, I really appreciate what you've made thus far. Remember, however, that you chose to do most of this on your own. Many have volunteered their time and talents to help you over the years, but you've opted (to the best of my knowledge) to keep all the development work to yourself. I can't fault you for wanting maintain control, but--imo--delegating tasks to others could have allowed you to maintain control without having to do it all yourself.
That said, look at how many are signing up and paying. If not enough, poll the community to see how many would sign up at different price points.
Would you rather have 100 users who each agree to pay $7.00 per month, or 1,000 users who pay $2.00 per month?
If the feature set is right, I'd pay $30.00/year for premium features here. If you really knock my socks off with features (and if the marketplace prices eventually better match prices across other sites and marketplaces so that my local trading partners trust them), I might even pay $40.00-50.00/year. Today, however, I don't see features that would entice me to pay even $2.00/month, much less $7.00/month.
BTW--thank you for grandfathering the "Private" inventory feature for existing accounts that had been using it.
I'm looking forward to more good things in the future. Good luck on this next leg of your voyage.
33 2014-12-16 16:42:12
Topic: Displayed edition in search results (7 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
If searching by for all cards in a set using the Edition Printed In filter, wouldn't it make more sense to show only results that matched that filter?
Example: I want to search for all cards in Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska set, so I can sort them by price, to see if it is worth picking up another set or two while the product is on sale.
When I list that edition and apply the filter, all of the cards show up, but none of pricing information is for the Duel Deck printing. To see the correct pricing, I need to go into each card's detail page and then select the appropriate edition.
WHAT'S THE POINT of filtering by "Edition Printed In" if the results do not reflect that edition?
34 2014-12-03 01:52:14
Re: Missing printings, card numbers, editions for specific cards (834 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
I have two promos that don't have promo versions listed:
35 2014-11-09 16:09:36
Topic: Commander 2014: included tokens (0 replies, posted in General Discussion)
Does anyone have a link to a list of the type and number of tokens included with each of the Commander 2014 decks? I opened Built from Scratch (Red) and got five (5) Myr tokens, but no Tuktuk the Returned. No Goat token, either.
I'm trying to figure out if I got everything that should have been there, or if i need to contact WotC.
Thanks.
Nevermind. I just realized they printed dual-sided tokens. I guess I need to move them to clear sleeves.
36 2014-09-19 22:58:27
Re: v3.7: User score changes. Imported Speed vs. Cunning, Tokens, Emblems (56 replies, posted in Announcements)
Xan wrote:
Fejjgw wrote:Also, when will khans be available? Id like to start playing with decklists, but without the cards available i cant do that via this site, which is my prefered method.
Read a few posts up. It is already available.
Fejjgw wrote:Would it be possible to add a 1 click preconstructed function? Example : If i buy a modern event deck, it would be nice to click 1 button and all those cards where imported into my inventory.
You can import a list of cards. Grab the deck list online somewhere and import it all at once that way.
Thanks for the ton of updates, sebi!
You can import a list, but it would be nice to be able to add them with all of their attributes (e.g., set) without having to edit each one after they are imported.
37 2014-09-05 21:24:15
Re: Feature: Print missing cards from deck as proxies (1 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
I believe WotC has been cracking down on proxy-makers lately, as well as proxy-sellers. Though Sebi has the authoritative answer, I'd guess that producing proxies is something he'd prefer to avoid.
I do like the idea of generating the list of cards you need for a deck. It would make in-person trading at LGSs easier.
38 2014-08-31 21:26:29
Topic: Thank you! (1 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
Just want to give a big shout of THANKS! for fixing the inventory count issues (where it was taking away from the tradelist amounts). I just added a bunch of cards and had no issues. Thanks, again!
39 2014-08-31 04:08:41
Re: Condition options suggestion (15 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
Kammikaze wrote:
HikingStick wrote:I would like to see Mint, Near Mint, Very Fine, Fine, Good, Played, Heavily Played, Poor (or something similar).
We do have something similar. The problem isn't the words used to describe the conditions, it's the definitions of the conditions.
Agreed. We need precise definitions. Photo examples (multiple for each grade) would be ideal, but may be hard to pull off (since there likely will be no perfect consensus).
40 2014-08-28 20:12:04
Re: Condition options suggestion (15 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
I would like to see Mint, Near Mint, Very Fine, Fine, Good, Played, Heavily Played, Poor (or something similar).
41 2014-08-27 23:18:26
Re: add commander as a format? (4 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
terrafrost wrote:
Commander has an official banned list:
That banned list applies only to MTG Online. On the page you reference, there is a link to the official banned list for the format, and it is the one at MTGCommander.net. Commander is a fan-developed format, so WotC does not maintain the official rules or banned list (except for that format in MTGO), though it does have legal ownership (copyright) of the term, "Magic: The Gathering - Commander".
42 2014-08-25 23:38:37
Re: Editing quantities directly from inventory pages (tab stops) (3 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
9700377 wrote:
Why use the web interface for these changes? Why not download the csv file of your inventory and make the changes in a spreadsheet editor that's well-suited for the operations you have in mind, and then re-import?
It defeats the purpose of having an online inventory system. If I have to take it offline to edit it, I might as well just keep it offline. Besides, it's something we had before that was lost when changes were introduced. I'm not the first one to ask for this to be restored.
43 2014-08-23 21:22:06
Topic: Editing quantities directly from inventory pages (tab stops) (3 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
In short, the TAB order on the inventory pages needs to change. Desperately needs to change.
We had the ability, a while ago now, to edit numbers easily via keyboard on the inventory pages (without needing to click into the pop up white screen). When that changed, a number of us asked to get that back. While we now can mouse-click into the columns to make edits, that is not very useful when editing mass quantities of cards. For example, I just sold 4,950 cards and now need to adjust my inventory AND tradelist. I'm not going to mouse-click from field to field. Ideally, the TAB STOPS on the pages would move directly from one column to the next. As it is now, if i hit TAB after adjusting an inventory number, it jumps to the card name. If I keep hitting TAB, it NEVER gets back to those quantity columns. As long as I am on one of the count columns (Inventory, Tradelist, and Wishlist), the TAB STOPS should only cycle though those columns, advancing to the next row after the final quantity column is left.
Until this is addressed, the usefulness of the site is vastly reduced for me. In fact, it's the major reason why I have not resumed trading on the site, and also has restrained me from establishing a seller account. It's just too dang difficult to manage the major changes to my inventory.
44 2014-08-06 23:58:09
Re: Lingering bug (somtimes) (2 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
Just ran into it again this evening. It only happens on cards that already have a quantity of ten or higher.
45 2014-08-06 20:11:39
Topic: Lingering bug (somtimes) (2 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
First of all, thanks for fixing default behavior when adding cards to inventory. Most often now, when I add cards, the system leaves the existing inventory numbers alone, and I can just add the quantity I want, and specify the number I want to trade. HOWEVER, the system is still acting the old way in some situations (where adding a card takes one from the tradelist count and puts it in as a "1" in the tradelist count for the newly added card).
As best I can tell, this is only happening when adding cards where I already have more than 10 (possibly 10 or more) of the card. For quantities under 10, it seems to be working fine. I don't know if it's only happening for me, or whether others are experiencing this, too.
The next time I add a significant number of cards to inventory (after Friday's draft), I will take notes about each time I experience it.
All in all, it is still better than before. Then I had to modify almost everything I entered. Now, it's about one in fifteen or twenty cards.
Keep up the good work!
46 2014-07-28 23:18:19
Re: Protean Hulk and Purphoros (11 replies, posted in General Discussion)
To the best of my understanding, all of the creatures will enter the battlefield at one time. Because of this, there will be no triggers for Purphoros' ability.
47 2014-07-24 03:51:44
Re: Ability to filter inventory by edition, including qty zero (4 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
Expanding on this, I'd like to be able to print a list of all the zero quantity cards for a set, so I'll know what i need when at my LGS.
48 2014-07-20 18:48:01
Topic: Separate price columns, filter by price (0 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
I'd really like to see the Deckbox average price information in its own column, and the "buy one now" prices in a different columm. Having both prices in one column make it harder to read, especially when sorting by price.
Also, I'd love to see another advanced filter for price (cards within a price range). Often, when trading, I need to find a card of a specific price. Having that filter option would let my trading partner scan a list of cards that are of comparable value (I have one of those--interested?).
49 2014-07-10 16:50:41
Re: How many people use deckbox prices vs. just looking up on TCG? (5 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
I'd prefer to use prices here, but am making most trades at my local game store. I find that most of my local trading partners do not accept the prices here, and we end up going to TCGplayer or using StarCityGames.
Once more people start using the site for purchases, I hope that more will trust its values as well.
50 2014-07-03 03:31:41
Re: BUG: Foil Filtering does not work (6 replies, posted in Site Discussion)
This is where Sebi is most likely to see it. He'll prioritize based on his current commitments.