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Post Apotheosis's Guide on how not to get Scammed
Found another guide on TLA. Considering the many scammed in ss, this should help people.

Trading

How to trade:

Trading with a player is easy. When you want an item you put out an advert in trade chat or on the forums with the name of the item and how much you are willing to pay for it. Shortly afterward, another player may PM you to say he has the item you are looking for. You agree on the final price and the meeting point. When you meet up one person pays the agreed price by selecting the other player and pressing (x) then selecting "give money". The other person then tosses the item overboard for it to be scooped up.


Items available only from players:

Some items are only available from players. In other words you can't buy them from an AI station. Some examples of items not available from a station, but available from a player, are: Vazaha Invertoblast, Faranji Energy 1 and Prismatic Conversion. So if you want to get your hands on any of these items one of the best ways to go about it is through trade.


The benefits of trading:

Trading with a player has many benefits. Firstly it builds trust. The more you trade the more people will trust you as a good trader and the more you can trust them. Secondly it allows you to get your hands on some hard-to-get items that aren’t available from an AI station. Lastly it is usually cheaper and quicker to buy a hard-to-get item from a player than searching for it yourself.


Scammers

What a scammer is:

A scammer is someone who doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain. They will either not pay but take the item, or not give the item and take the pay. There is currently a list on the Star Sonata forums of all the flagged scammers out there so it's worth checking out.


How a scammer scams:

There are several ways in which scammers scam you out of your entitlement. Firstly they wait for you to give them the money for an item they supposedly have and then run or log out. If you are in a protected galaxy there’s nothing you can do; they’ve gotten away already. Secondly the reverse happens and they take the item and don’t pay you the money. Money comes and goes but you may never see another item like that again, so this is possibly the worst kind. Lastly (but not as often) the scammer will wait in a stealthed ship near where a trade is taking place between 2 other people and then snatch up the item that is tossed over board. This is also very harsh because the two people who were trading may think the other person is trying to scam them.


Why scammers ruin Star Sonata for everyone:

Scammer take hard earned money and items away from people who may have worked very hard to get them. They break up the Star Sonata community and destroy the communal trust we have in each other. More than that they ruin the gaming experience for us all.


How not to get Scammed

Apotheosis's Tip #1:

Check on all chat: Before making a trade ask on the all chat if the player your dealing with is a well known trader or a good-for-nothing scammer. Let other people's experiences be your guide.


Apotheosis Tip's #2:

Check their character: If they have a name like “DickFace” or “Cock-Suckers-United” it gives you an idea of their maturity. An immature person is more likely to scam you than a mature person. Also check their lvl. Most scammers are low lvl F2Pers (or P2Per alts) who get a kick out of scamming the innocent.


Apotheosis's Tip #3:

Use a ship or credit scanner: If you want an item from someone who you suspect is a scammer you can use a ship scanner to see if they have the item on board. If they do have the item it may mean they are not a scammer. If you’re the one wanting the money, however, use a credit scanner instead to see if they even have enough money on them to pay for the item you have. Ship scanners can be purchased in every AI station but credit scanners are harder to come by. Try Glass Matrix if you want to add a credit scanner to your anti-scammer collection.


Apotheosis's Tip #4:

Ask if they will go first: Its always worth a try asking if they will go first. If they seem reluctant to do so they may be a scammer. A good trader will not mind who goes first but a scammer will, so always ask.


Apotheosis's Tip #5:

Tell people: If you do get scammed tell people about it. Once a scammer has been identified they will find it very difficult to make trades with players again with such a poor rep. This also works the other way around, so if everyone tells everyone else who are scammers and who are good traders the scammers will find it a lot harder to strike. This is perhaps the most important tip of all.


Conclusion

You never know when a scammer will strike or how, but if you follow these tips they will find it a lot harder. I hope this guide has hoped potential traders and experienced traders alike. The tips certainly helped me!


Thanks for reading,

Apotheosis

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Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:18 am
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Post Re: Apotheosis's Guide on how not to get Scammed
sorry i didnt read the whole thing, but im wondering if ambushing is ok?
tell the person to come to a gal, lead him out far enough, kill then scoop...
i personally see this as pirating


Tue Jul 15, 2008 3:32 pm
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Post Re: Apotheosis's Guide on how not to get Scammed
eaterjolly wrote:
after 2-4 uses it disolves but it only disappears from invintory affter it to late!!


I'm not sure what game you're playing. If you have a Gear Glue equipped on your ship when you die, (barring Crazy Glue), the glue will be lost and all your items of that tech or lower will be safe for that one time. If you die again without the glue, you may still retain your items but they aren't 100% safe anymore. My guess is that you're not equipping it at all, in which case it doesn't do a thing (except drop occasionally when you die).


Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:02 pm
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Post Re: Apotheosis's Guide on how not to get Scammed
AnilBVenkatesh wrote:
eaterjolly wrote:
after 2-4 uses it disolves but it only disappears from invintory affter it to late!!


I'm not sure what game you're playing. If you have a Gear Glue equipped on your ship when you die, (barring Crazy Glue), the glue will be lost and all your items of that tech or lower will be safe for that one time. If you die again without the glue, you may still retain your items but they aren't 100% safe anymore. My guess is that you're not equipping it at all, in which case it doesn't do a thing (except drop occasionally when you die).


i think he's thinking taht he equips 20 gg2. ok 20. after 4 deaths, the remaining 16 gg2 disappear and the 5th death makes him drop stuff

if someone manages to make that happen(to others), then i hear a massive ban asteroid crashing down on his world

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Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:23 am
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