cna i haev free stuf?; a tcg_exchange n00b guide
Congratulations! If you're reading this, you've just become a member at tcg_exchange! But before you delve right into the exciting world of collecting and trading cards, there are many things for each player to learn. This guide is designed to help you make the most of your time while playing the game.
Although this guide is organized in a step-by-step format, each step does not necessarily need to be followed in this exact order. They are listed in this way because I feel that this is the most logical progression from getting started to becoming comfortable with the game.
Before doing anything, you should familiarize yourself with everything about the community. This type of trading card game is the first of its kind, so chances are you've played nothing like it before.
A great place to start is at the community's profile, which lists all of the communty's important pages. Be sure to read the introduction, rules, FAQs and guide. These pages explain exactly how the game works.
I also recommend checking out the other game pages listed on the profile, because it's nice to be able to see exactly what the instructional pages are referring to. Learn the exchange rate at the card exchange. Know the difference between a Rank B certificate and a Rank R certificate. Learn who the moderators are. See who else is playing the game. Leave no stone unturned! :D
An "outsource community" is an LJ community in which you archive your mastered decks, trading logs, activity logs, and anything else that doesn't need to be on your main card post. If you intend to play this game for a long time, you will need an outsource community. Cards and logs pile up fast, and your f-list may not appreciate you constantly making tcg-related posts, especially if they're not interested in playing.
I call the archive community an "outsource community" because typically a player will use his or her main journal for the main card post. There is nothing wrong with creating a community for everything related to tcg_exchange, including your card post, and some people have done this. However, it is my personal opinion that putting a card post on your main journal is more likely to draw the attention of your f-list, and there are rewards for referring people to the game ;)
It's easy to be overwhelmed in this game if you're not organized. Here are some tips to stay on top of things:
Bookmark important pages. There are certain pages that you'll be visiting more frequently than others, so make it easier on yourself by making them a simple click away. I definitely recommend bookmarking your own card post, the Affiliate List, Card Exchange, Certificate Exchange, Event Badges and Deck Mastery.
Use tabs. You might want to have your card post handy while you're browsing other players' posts. Browser tabs make it easy to have multiple pages open at once.
Organize your cards. Community policy requires you to save your cards and upload them onto either your own server or a free image sharing site like Photobucket. So when you save your cards, put them in a place you can locate easily. You might want to create folders for the decks or series you are collecting; whatever works best for you. The same goes for uploading; sites like Photobucket often let you organize your images with folders, so make sure you have a separate folder specifically for your cards.
If people are going to be looking at your card post frequently, don't you want to make it as easy as possible for them to find what they need? Here's how:
Watch your colors. Avoid super bright colors in your table. It's hard to read anything if the background is neon green. The standard template has a grey color scheme. You might not find it very exciting, but notice how easy it is on the eyes.
Keep everything together. Ideally, your card post should contain everything that other players need to see in order to trade with you, like the decks you're collecting, your certificates, and the cards you're trading. However, LJ entries have character limits, so once you start accumulating lots of cards it may be difficult to keep everything on one page. You can move some cards to your outsource journal in a "keeps" page, but if you've split up your card post so much that a person needs to open 5 or 6 pages before deciding if he or she can trade with you, that may be more inconvenient than organized. Before you decide to move some of your cards to another page, do what you can to reduce the size of your post-avoid using unnecessary decorative images, simplify the table coding, and archive your logs regularly.
Alphabetize your trade pile. It's easier for players to find what they want if your cards are in alphabetical order. It's also easier for you to find a specific card if someone asks for it in a trade.
Be wary of different browsers. Not everyone uses the same internet browser. If at all possible, check how your card post looks in a few different browsers; if it looks okay in one but not another, try to figure out why and fix your post accordingly. For example, table coding doesn't always cooperate with Internet Explorer. If images are put next to each other in a table, the table expands sideways and the viewer has to scroll sideways in order to see all of the images. The fix for this is to put a space between each image tag; IE will then recognize the table's size limits and the lines will break accordingly.
exchange_trade is the official trading community where players can list the decks that they are collecting. It is very helpful for finding other players who need/want the cards that you have to trade, and it helps other people find their way to you. Make sure you join and watch that community! When posting:
Use the tags. List all the decks you are collecting in the tags field. That way, when someone goes to the master tag list and clicks on the name of a deck you are collecting, your post will show up.
Don't forget the link! Sometimes we get so excited about what we are collecting that we forget to include the link to our card post. Don't forget ;)
Keep it updated. Make sure the list of what you're collecting stays current, especially if you list the specific cards in a deck that you're missing. Few things are more disappointing in this game than thinking that you have a card to trade and, upon going to the card post, finding out that the person already has the card.
Re-post sparingly. In the interest of saving every member's f-lists, avoid repeatedly posting to exchange_trade. If you've used the tags, someone with the cards you need will find you. Instead, edit your old post when you make changes and include a note that states when you last updated. If you feel that a new post is in order because your interests and/or priorities have changed, make sure you delete or untag your old post.
I suppose this is another way to say "follow the rules and don't cheat," but being fair also involves playing the game in a way that gives every player equal advantage when trading.
State your policies clearly and stick to them. Each player can decide how they will use their certificates or in what circumstances they will trade away certain decks. Whatever you choose to do, make sure you do what you say. For example, if you state that you will use a certificate for anyone who brings you a card from "x" deck, don't refuse to cert when someone offers you that card.
As another example, if there are multiple offers for the same card before the card's owner can respond, the general rule is first-come first-serve. However, if you choose to handle multiple offers for a card by accepting the best offer instead of the first, make sure this policy is stated on your card post and be consistent about it.
Respect others' policies. If other players choose to handle a situation differently than you and their way is within the limits of the community's rules, don't criticize them about it or tell them to do things differently. You have free choice for certain things, and they should have the same choices.
Also, don't expect others to make exceptions for you just because you ask extra nicely or something ;) If a person says that they're not trading away any of cards from their future decks, don't pester them for those cards.
One offer per card. Don't go around offering the same card to different people at the same time. In the end at least one person is going to be unhappy with you.
Good manners can go a long way when you're dealing with people. It's not necessary to say "May I please trade this x card for your y card?" In fact, it's pretty much considered standard in this community to simply say "X card for y card?" when offering a trade. However, it's a good idea to say thank you when a trade is completed. Not only is it polite, but it lets the other person know that you acknowledge the completed transaction.
And when you request something at the Card Exchange, Certificate Exchange, or Card Shop, it doesn't hurt to say please. :)
Be patient. Being polite also involves recognizing that people, including the mods, have lives outside of tcg_exchange. Don't expect all trade offers or all prize claims to be answered immediately after you post them.
The way to get more cards for trading is to contribute to tcg_exchange's affiliated communities. Remember: The more you contribute, the more cards you receive. So whenever you're in need of more cards, what should you do? Contribute!
Know your limits. Of course, we can't expect you to participate in everything every week (but if you can, that's great!). Rather than making icons for 15+ communities one week and then none the next week because you're burnt out, pick out a few communities that you would like to participate in regularly. This way, you'll have a steady flow of cards coming in every week. Also, remember that most affiliated icontests offer cards for simply voting, which takes much less time and energy than making icons. While the prizes for voting are generally smaller, it is better to get some cards than none at all, so if your time is very limited you can focus on voting in more communities instead of submitting to a few communities.
BE TIMELY. "On time" means putting your prize claims in before the "New Week" comment appears on the affiliate's prize page. In other words, the time to put your claims in for a particular week in an icontest is while the week is still open. An icontest week lasts from the beginning of the submission period to the end of the voting period (when results are posted).
I cannot emphasize this enough. LATE IS BAD. Imagine you have just finished washing a mountain of dishes. You are relieved that you have finally finished the job, when someone walks up to the sink and drops in another dirty plate. It's irritating, isn't it? It's the same when someone submits a claim for a week that has already ended. Please don't do it. The only exceptions are prize claims for winning in icontests, since those do not need to be confirmed by affiliate mods.
Submitting claims early is also not a good idea. Mods will not answer your early claim until the correct week anyway, which makes it more likely for your claim to be overlooked because it will be buried in last week's answered claims.
Having trouble claiming on time? Here's a tip: Fill out your claims as you contribute. Open up notepad or other text-editor and make a template for your prize claims, like this:
Journal:
Community:
Contribution: (always include the week number and contribution link!)
Date of Contribution:
Choice: (if applicable)
...and just fill in the sections as you go so that you can just copy and paste the claims into the prize pages right away. Another tip: Make templates for every community and every type of contribution within each community. That way, all you have to do is copy/paste the link and change the week number and date. Then just copy/paste into the correct affiliate prize page! Doing this as you do the contributions ensures that you will never put in a late claim.
Be accurate. Typos happen; it's a fact of life. It's always a good idea to double check your claims before hitting that "Post Comment" button. Always check that the community for which you are posting, week number, contribution and contribution links are correct. If you make a mistake on the date, don't worry about it, it's not super important.
If you're claiming a choice card and you want to change your choice after positing your claim, try to do so before the week ends. Also, please edit/re-post claims sparingly. Every time some one edits a comment, mods get an extra notification in their email inboxes that doesn't thread with the rest of the prize claims.
Keeping good records is essential in this game. It helps you keep track of what you've done and it helps mods verify your activity when you claim events like trading 2000+ times.
Number your trades and contributions. It's a lot easier to number your activity from the very beginning than to go back and count what you've done every so often. Your contribution count is separate from your trade count. You should also know what can and cannot be counted:
Placements in icontests, card exchanges, certificate redemptions, card donations and lotto purchases do not count as contributions. Do not include them in your contribution count.
Trades with Card Spirits and gifts you receive do not count as trades. Do not include them in your trade count.
Multiple cards traded for multiple cards count as multiple trades. 1 Special card traded for 2 normal cards (and vice versa) counts as one trade. For example:
2 normal cards for 2 normal cards = 2 trades
1 special for 2 normal cards = 1 trade
2 specials and 3 normal cards for 7 normal cards = 5 trades
Also, gifts you give count as trades.
Check your card count. You can't exactly number your cards like trades and contributions, so you'll have to count your cards once in a while. Add to your total as you receive new cards for contributing; this is usually a fairly accurate way to keep track of how many cards you have. Tip: Make your card table wide enough for 10 cards to fill one line. It's easier to count things in groups of ten.
Link everything! Each trade and contribution should be linked to the its respective comment thread. This is needed for verification purposes, plus you'll be able backtrack if your mis-typed something in your logs.
Keep backups. Make a backup .txt file for all of your tcg-related posts. You never know when browser, computer or electrical problems will interrupt you in the middle of editing your card post. Also, the "Delete Entry" button is dangerously close to the "Save Entry" button. If you're one of those trigger-happy game players like me, it's best to play it safe.
Now that you've learned how to play the game (and play it well!), it's important to keep up! While you don't need to be available to trade 24/7, you'll need to be fairly active. If you let trade requests and prize claims build up, it is very time consuming to catch up. People are generally more likely to make trade offers with those who are known to respond regularly.
If there are certain time periods when you cannot be present to update your card post and respond to trades, be sure to declare a hiatus. This lets other players know to refrain from offering urgent trade requests.
Periodically, the community has activity checks. If you do not respond to these, you will be removed from the member list and will have to start all over again if you want to keep playing! Therefore, make sure you are watching tcg_exchange for updates and news.
That's about it! If you ever have questions, check the community's FAQ and guide! If you still can't find the answer, ask! Have fun!
credits: hybrid-genesis for textures. characters/series (from top to bottom): purin fon/tokyo mew mew, yukino miyazawa/kare kano, yuki sohma/fruits basket, kahoko hino/la corda d'oro, hagumi hanamoto & ayumi yamada/honey & clover, yuya fukushima/love berrish, maria minamino/minto na bokura, touya/shinshi doumei cross, tamaki suou/ouran high school host club, minako aino/codename wa sailor v, kobato hanato/kobato. all images colored by xx_lotus_xx.