To see what you are missing, go to the Card Database, set your filter(s), and go. With the way things are, you have to scroll through, but you get your inventory, wishlist, and tradelist counts right there with every card printed in the results. Hopefully it will get fixed so we can sort on those columns again soon.  That was always the primary way I identified cards I needed to add to my wishlist.

127

(197 replies, posted in Announcements)

While IANAL, my work history includes time in retail management, and I can tell you that prices themselves are not protected. Stores regularly monitor their competitor's prices.  While in retail books, I had to kick my former boss (from another chain) out of my store because she was not only logging prices, but also photographing everything (back when all cameras were film-based). I regularly record retail prices when shopping, and keep them in a spreadsheet to track price patterns (e.g., big meat sale every 10 weeks).

The issue here is that we had been using an interface created by TCGPlayer to get our pricing information, so TCGPlayer controlled the terms that allowed us to use that interface.  They didn't like what was happening, so they "took their ball and went home" (so to speak).

<soapbox>

Sebi and company, rather than letting the site sit with no price information, worked hard to get something in place right away--Amazon pricing. It may not be ideal, but it was also not intended to be a permanent replacement. They've invested far too much thus far (time, money, nights, weekends, and holidays) to walk away (though I'm sure they've been tempted). It's going to take time to get things fixed with a new price source--work that needs to get done in Sebi's spare time (outside his other responsibilities in life).

Again, while I am not a lawyer (and certainly no expert in international commerce), I do believe some of the pricing resources others have mentioned may be valid options, even if those resources utilize prices from TCGPlayer.  TCGPlayer's agreement governs the direct (API) access to their pricing information.  Access to the data provided by those other services is governed by the EULA or Terms of Service each has in place. To exercise an abundance of caution, perhaps prices could be aggregated from multiple sources.

As a final thought, the reason so many people trust TCGPlayer pricing is because they aggregate prices from many sources. As this site continues to grow, I can envision other sellers wanting to sell through Deckbox. That would give us the type of pricing data that could make Deckbox the de facto and trusted source for pricing information.  We just need to ride out this storm.

No matter how shocked we were by the change... No matter how frustrated we may feel about the loss of a reliable pricing source... No matter how much any of us may feel like giving up and moving on... we need to remember that we are the Deckbox community! and we are the ones who have helped this site become a rising star. We need to take a collective breath and give Sebi and company time to do what they do. If you've been with us for a while, you'll realize just how far the site has come. You'll recall how attentive Sebi has been to comments and suggestions. And though sometimes we've had to wait longer for some fixes and features [Thanks for the vacation flag, Sebi!], he's kept the updates and fixes coming. He'll do it again in this situation. I look forward to seeing the pricing system resolved, but, more importantly, I look forward to many great days of tracking, trading, and selling ahead.

</soapbox>

128

(197 replies, posted in Announcements)

cda wrote:
migrena wrote:

What I really did not like is that there was no announcement with ETA to pricing mechanism change prior to its implementation. Or did I miss one?

This.  It was a little disconcerting to just see the prices vanish all of a sudden upon reloading one of my decklists...

Legal cease and desist letters are like that (assuming that was the mechanism used). They don't give you time for an orderly transition.

Hmmm... I still have a wishlist, so removing it is not an option. Just because I have a wishlist doesn't mean I want trade opportunities thrust in front of me all the time. I can go to the trading opportunities page when I want to look for opportunities that match my wishlist.

130

(6 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Use the AutocardAnywhere plugin.  To keep it from hijacking mouseovers on my inventory and deck pages, I add "deckbox.org/sets/" to site blacklist/whitelist box.

Would it be possible to add a button to let people expand/collapse the new content areas? Any chance we could re-order them (web 2.0)?

Not right now of course--you have other issues that are higher priority right now. I just want this one documented for when you do have time to consider it.

132

(8 replies, posted in General Discussion)

I've settled on three-section boxes for each named block. I use two-section boxes for the annual core sets (e.g., M13 and M14 in the same box).  This has really simplified things for me, as an entire block rotates out each fall (along with one core set).

That's what I've been doing with everything in the past few years (after going from single boxes to those giant five row boxes, to some other formats and things between).

For my older cards (where I do not have playsets of every block), I simply alphabetize everything in a set of two-channel boxes. Since I use Deckbox to help with deckbuilding, I don't need to sort those cards by color to browse what I have. If I want to see the cards, I just use the spoiler view.  Once I know which cards I need for a deck, I open the box, go to that section of the alphabet, and find what I need.

The only exceptions to this basic system are non-basic lands and planeswalkers. Those I keep in a holiday gift box so they are more convenient to find, and to make them quickly portable.

One tip I have for making dividers is to use rule cards topped with post-it style tab dividers.  You can get a pack of 36 of them for under $3 (less when on clearance), and they work perfectly. I always have plenty of rules cards around, and I can always grab more tab dividers at nearly any store on the continent.

133

(197 replies, posted in Announcements)

JustScott wrote:

This is incredibly disappointing.  I used Deckbox daily to track actual market prices, of which TCGPlayer is the primary index.  Sadly, I will no longer have a use for Deckbox.  Other sites display TCG prices, so I will go there, at least until if/when they stop using TCG prices as well.

So long, Deckbox.  It's been a great ride.

Don't give up so quickly. All significant changes take time.

134

(197 replies, posted in Announcements)

Best regards moving forward, Sebi.  I just got my insurance agent to accept my Deckbox inventory as the official record of my inventory, and the official record of its value.  I hope you can step away from the forums soon, so you may focus on what needs to get done.

I know some of the members of this community have volunteered their coding skills in the past. Perhaps it is time to consider some of those offers (with each volunteer agreeing that all code created for Deckbox will belong to Deckbox).

135

(197 replies, posted in Announcements)

In the interim, would it be difficult to add additional fields in the trade interface that would let members manually enter/modify prices for each trade item? That way, at least both sides would have record of the proposed price (looked up manually from a third party site) in the trade window.

136

(197 replies, posted in Announcements)

Razing_Zozo wrote:

What resources would be required to write your own code? If you can rally your loyal DeckBox followers, perhaps a crowd-funding campaign is in order? An influx of startup cash to solve these issues and launch Deckbox into a self-sustaining future. Do it now, while the coal is hot, turn our attention to a new goal.

You have a business model your confident will work, We are your #1 resource, harness the awesome power!

Go The Distance! If you Build it, they will come...

Kickstarter, anyone?

137

(197 replies, posted in Announcements)

sebi wrote:
buughost wrote:

You were doing one thing really well. Why compromise that in order to add half-baked functionality as well as diminish your ability to fulfill your original goal. I would strongly suggest polling your audience before making such huge decisions on their behalf. I understand you're the product owner, but you also don't want to leave your user-base feeling abandoned. I'm speaking not only as a user of the system, but as a UX/Usability professional.

Because we would have had to completely shut the website down in absence of a monetization strategy.

Many of us have said--many times--that we would PAY to use Deckbox--the Deckbox we've grown to love.

138

(3 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

Would you be able to provide some additional details? I just visited your inventory and sorted it by edition with no apparent issues.

I do know that there are issues with cards in inventory that appear in multiple sets (e.g., Divination).  It will show up in the sort order with the other cards in the current set (that portion being displayed in the sort order), but it will also show all other versions of the same card in that set of results, too. That's broken.

Thanks, again, all. Went 3-2 for the day. Could have used two more blood moon in the sideboard, I guess. Had some fun matches, though.

140

(2 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

I believe we had that option before (I used to export the full card database and thus had a list of all the cards I had AND all the cards I needed). I would like to see it return.

Thanks, all, for the feedback.  I'm borrowing a couple of Blood Moon for my sideboard and discovered I have a couple of Shatterstorm, so will be looking to tweak things a bit with those in mind.

142

(49 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

three_toe wrote:
darkmuse wrote:

I just want to make sure the non-vocal majority who want their inventory to remain public are thought about. I very often trade from my inventory and if someone wants to offer a good trade in my favour for something not in my trade list I'd like that to be available to them.

I don't think anyone here is asking for the removal of a public inventory option.  We just don't want it to be the only option.

Agreed. Each member should have the choice.

143

(92 replies, posted in Announcements)

Is the 6.9% figure firm? Combining that with PayPal fees brings the transaction cost to near 10%--pretty weighty. The transaction fee (sans PayPal fees) is more than twice typical merchant fees for handling credit cards.  Personally, I'd be more likely to sell if the fees were limited to not more than 3.5%.

I realize it's your business, so I don't want you to feel strong-armed away from the model you've decided upon. I'm just lobbying for the house to keep a smaller percentage of the take.

Why Ancient Grudge instead of Smelt? It costs one less. The Flashback ability doesn't matter because I'm not running green.

The Ratchet Bomb will hurt me if played against some decks, but I mostly wanted it against Affinity and tokens--tap it while it has no counters and it gets rid of all non-land permanents with a converted mana cost (CMC) of zero (0). That get's rid of Memnites, many artifacts, and all tokens.

145

(92 replies, posted in Announcements)

sebi wrote:

We've added a Vacation Mode. Find the setting by clicking on Edit Profile.

Hurray!!!

I'll do some reading to learn what some of those decks are, and will look up the cards you recommended. Thanks.

[UPDATE: My penultimate Gobbies build is ready. I'm running a few too many cards. Risk it, or what to cut?]

I've been away a while, but could use your help. There's a Grand Prix Tour qualifier not far from me this weekend, and my wife offered to send me as a birthday treat. I've been playing goblin decks for a while and am placing pretty consistently at my LGS, so thought this might be the time to try a bigger event.

Here's the deck: MOD Gobbies

It's pretty normal for tribal goblins.  My main concerns are any improvements to the main board, and input on the sideboard.  I can typically outpace most decks, but face problems with Affinity (the Ratchet Bombs are a recent add). Should I keep the Mutavaults? I'm also not very aware of the broader range of decks I might face. Anything for which to watch?

One of my boys recommended Gut Shot. Put it in? In place of what?

Thanks,

Andrew

At present, the deck builder only reflects the title and quantity of cards, and does not allow for specifying specific cards as being part of specific decks.

This change has been suggested before, but don't know if it is something Sebi plans to include in future releases. I'll let him chime in if it is something on his radar.

149

(1 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

For quite a while now I'm been experiencing some intermittent problems loading pages in a timely manner. The page loads hang while the browser is waiting for leaping-frog-studios.com. I assume it is the site that serves the banner ads.

If I stop the page load at that point, the entire page renders without  content in the banner. If I reload the page at the same point, the full page (sans banner) appears briefly before it reloads.

It does not happen every time, so it might be a problem with specific ads. However, it is frequent enough that it is annoying,  and I wanted to report it.  It's annoying enough that l created a HOSTS file entry to direct leaping-frog-studios.com to my loopback address.

I realize that diverts revenue from the site, so I hope this can get resolved quickly.

Andrew

150

(12 replies, posted in Announcements)

austine567 wrote:

I wasn't sure where to ask this but is there anyway to get the holiday promo cards loaded onto the site?

The card lists we have are through the back-end APIs Sebi uses to pull card data. Last I knew, he was using the TCGPlayer API.  There are numerous card variants that are not available due to limitations in the card lists supported by the API--it's out of our control at this time.