Am I a stalker?

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Originally Posted by PerkyCox

The Last Helpers Tab is a frequent common denominator for this kind of unwelcome targeted buying, as is the Recent Contributors list and even the NH chat log, which allows kicked-out angry farmers to come back to the former neighbors for as long as it takes 99 new chat messages to push the former neighbors off the angry farmer's chat log. If the chat is static on the angry person's farm, they could come back at will, presumably forever, with no way for the harassed neighbors to stop them.

These are things that folks are asking be looked into, and changed.

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Exactly... when the person is gone from the hood, why can't their chat go too?

@ Nick, This is not about trading items. I will give it a try to explain the frustrations which many players have:

Lets say you have a really really really nice collection of premium wines. And u have more then enough money, so there is no financial reason why u would need to sell any of these wines.

Ofcourse u could think in a verry selfish manner: 'I dont need any money and all these premium wines are mine, Im not going to sell them to anybody!. And If I ever choose to sell them anyways. Then it doesnt matter to who as long as I get my money!.

But u could also think diffrently: 'I dont need any money and all premium items are mine. I know these wines are so nice and rare, that I would never just sell them just for the money. But....I love my family and friends and I know they have a verry hard time getting any of these rare and nice wines. And because my friends and familiy are my everything!, I would put some for sale so they have the option to buy some of them. Not because I need money, but because I want to share these super nice wines with the people I love.

Now lets imagine I have several verry nice friends who come by once in a while. And they all grab one or two bottles of choice. Then all are able to enjoy this nice wines. And knowing the fact that I brought a little joy to the lifes of my friends, Just makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. Ahhhhh. Nothing can beat that.

But now imagine that one person (who is not somebody you chose to be friends with), comes and grabs all wines, before any of your friends had the chance to buy any. Then your friends are sad because they dont have the option to get this premium wines and you are sad because you are not able to share with the people you love!.
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So lets stop the metafor, and translate back to hay day. Many people have a wish to not have to sell to anybody, but beeing able to sell products and tools to a specific audience (Friends, neighborhood).

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How could this be realised:
- Another RSS. This RSS has no advertise option and can only be opened by people from your neighborhood or people from your friend list.

- Tabs in current RSS. Public RSS: everything u sell can be bought by anyone. Private RSS: Only people from your neighborhood or from your friend list can acces.

- Private slots. Last 4 slots are marked in special color. Products in this 4 slots are only visible for people from your neighborhood or from your friend list (with option to expand slots at 10 diamond per slot).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nick[Supercell]

IMO there's nothing wrong with it per se, but different ways of looking at it (as it is, is by design). I don't think we have any plans to make any changes to it, but never say never.

I still don't get your point - if you put something on sale, why does it matter who buys it if it wasn't meant for a friend (trading)? You sell it for a reason, and if you don't care who buys it, why does it matter?

Cheers,

Nick

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sparkly888

No one ever complains about their shop being constantly cleaned out of full price wheat and tofu dogs.

However there are those who like to load their shop with more desirable goodies for their friends and neighbours.
Neighbourhoods have the ability to communicate so people can tell their hoodies when they have loaded their shop with goodies.

I agree that there is no such thing as a "stalker" in the game.
And as many ways as it seems that people can define the term "stalker" there are ways of making your shop less appealing to eager shoppers.

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Sparkly, while I am hesitant to use the term "Stalker" here, there are circumstances where a person can feel uncomfortable, creeped out even. I re-created this experience myself to help a fellow forumer, and was more successful than I imagined (my daughter's farm).

These people do not CARE what is in your shop. There was nothing appealing in that shop. I kept full price veggies, plenty of wheat and if I had tofu dogs to throw out, I would have (lower level farm). I felt like the only thing I could do was to stop farming, which is the point where I could emphasize with the forumer.

Haystacker offered to help anyone who wanted to see how it feels.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wussypuss

Exactly... when the person is gone from the hood, why can't their chat go too?

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Or have the former NH chat log only be visible to the kicked-out farmer for 24 hours after their next log in, in case the neighbors have left a message for them.

When the sad decision to kick someone out (I HATE that term) must be made and done, we always leave a kind word or explanation for our soon-to-be-former member, many of whom have rejoined us.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PerkyCox

Or have the former NH chat log only be visible to the kicked-out farmer for 24 hours after their next log in, in case the neighbors have left a message for them.

When the sad decision to kick someone out (I HATE that term) must be made and done, we always leave a kind word or explanation for our soon-to-be-former member, many of whom have rejoined us.

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BTW, the experiment that I carried out involved joining the hood. There was not much chat, so I left the hood after 18 hours. The trouble was that the leader seemed to resent my leaving and harassed me because I left. It does not make sense to me, but it happened.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wussypuss

Sparkly, while I am hesitant to use the term "Stalker" here, there are circumstances where a person can feel uncomfortable, creeped out even. I re-created this experience myself to help a fellow forumer, and was more successful than I imagined (my daughter's farm).

These people do not CARE what is in your shop. There was nothing appealing in that shop. I kept full price veggies, plenty of wheat and if I had tofu dogs to throw out, I would have (lower level farm). I felt like the only thing I could do was to stop farming, which is the point where I could emphasize with the forumer.

Haystacker offered to help anyone who wanted to see how it feels.

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That is interesting.
However what I see is that you had a guaranteed buyer for anything you might choose to sell. Which I don't find disturbing at all.

I also think those those kinds of overeager shoppers are pretty rare.
Because clearly everyone's barn and silo space are limited. Who would actually fill their barn with full price tofu dogs except just before a Visitor Event?
Wonder how many eggs they would buy. Lots available in the paper even if my chickies couldn't keep up.

I have been creeped out occasionally by repeat shoppers whose avatar made me feel uneasy. But of course that was entirely within the rules.

If I recall Haystacker did volunteer to show anyone what it felt like but requested lots of premium items. I can change my store loading strategy pretty quickly.

I guess I just have a hard time understanding this because my selling strategy is not really conducive to attracting stalkers. Unless I am deliberately trading I advertise every time. And my shop is cleared in seconds. Said "stalker" would have some competition from regular random DD shoppers.

Regarding trading, I trade with my mini farm quite a lot and have done so successfully many times even when others are actively buying in my shop.

I would actually enjoy such a challenge. Just don't expect me to not advertise.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Killercheese

Off topic question:

Do you run the forums? Are you the leader?

Lol sorry if this is wrong and breaking the rules...

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We have no leader per se but I am very familiar with forums (in particular vBulletin) and thus I fiddle around with settings when needed. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Haystacker

Ok, if u still don't see anything wrong with it, then I don't have any more ways of explaining to u and any further attempts to do so will be fruitless. Just know it's been discussed at great length throughout the years and have been a thorn up the u know what for some. And there's a reason why it's being talked about til this day.

U and ur team have the power to make these threads go away once and for all. Brainstorm. Have a nice day :)

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If any changes will happen, we will let you all know! :)

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Originally Posted by LetTheMusicPlay

Nick,

If it doesn't matter who buys from an RSS, why does the game identify the purchaser with their farm name and avatar?

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If we'd remove the avatar, we'd get x-amount of complaints about it.

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Originally Posted by LetTheMusicPlay

It probably would have been much easier to mark all purchased stalls with an anonymous "sold" sign. But there was probably actual consideration and design work invested in showing the purchaser's identity.

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So, when your friend buys anything, you'd like that to be anonymous as well?

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Originally Posted by LetTheMusicPlay

Identifying the buyer didn't happen by accident. Since it's by design, there must be a rationale.

Could it have been because showing that an actual fellow player made the purchase provides a greater emotional reward and more satisfying game experience (under many playing conditions)?

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To make it more social. Simple as that.

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Originally Posted by LetTheMusicPlay

Now, if knowing the buyer's identity is a positive experience for some, then isn't it possible that - in other circumstances - it could be a negative experience?

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There's always two sides to everything. Showing avatars and names has been there from the very beginning and that's how it is. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LetTheMusicPlay

There are and have been backdoors - beyond those access points designed into the game - that allow players to have long-term access to a farm. Having the same person buy everything in your store for weeks or even months is a uniquely irritating experience. It feels as if you have an ever-present parasite that's employed you, against your will, as a feeder farm. If you play inconsistent hours, then it's even odder that they show up quickly regardless of when you put things up for sale. That means they're pretty much always "there" lying in wait. It's an unpleasant vibe that could border on creepy and disturbing.

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Again, my question here is - what harm does it make if a person buys all the goods? That's the point right? To sell, and get the reward?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LetTheMusicPlay

Players critique lots of things in the game:

- not getting decorations as game prizes
- machine colors
- the lack of universal, consistent diamond-spending controls
- lobsters taking too long a time to slide out of the pot :smirk:
- etc. etc.

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These are not on topic but would be nice to talk about them in a separate thread.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LetTheMusicPlay

But it seems only when players express a desire for greater controls over who may visit their RSS, are those players asked to justify their preferences and suggestions with the Great Wall of "Why?". Also, these opinions are often unfairly characterized as trying to control other players or create new game rules, when they're not. They're requests to further reduce the time we spend on last helpers tabs or to be able to opt out of leaderboards and recent contributor lists.

And to that, I ask: Why?

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Because players, in general, who complain about the RSS being emptied are players who use it as a trading feature. Like I said, it was never intended to be one, and never to become one. If we change that, nobody knows. Maybe, maybe not. If we would, it would be redesigned completely anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PerkyCox

Nick, from what I have read it matters a great deal to some farmers who feel targeted by aggressive or punitive shoppers.

These folks DO care who they sell to, and when a shopper is sitting at home with your shop open all day, staring at it, buying anything that appears no matter what it is, as much as is put out, it's creepy and scary. Collecting the coins is not the point. Sometimes it's about intimidation, power, control, and even in some sad instances punishment for folks who are just trying to play their .

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As I said before - if you put anything on sale, it is up for grabs. That's how the game was designed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PerkyCox

Other farmers have posted about this kind of behavior being inflicted upon them as punishment by the shopper, for kicking the shopper out of the NH, for the seller leaving the NH, etc. That IS personal, and it is deeply distressing to folks who have experienced it.

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That implies to trading, which the RSS is not about.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PerkyCox

People sell (and buy) for lots of reasons, and sometimes they DO care who gets the item.

Now that folks have joined together in NHs, we like to sell things to neighbors to help them. An aggressive determined unwelcome shopper destroys that pleasant aspect of the game for the seller.

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Again, not meant for trading.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PerkyCox

Aggressive shoppers of the type I am describing make it impossible to direct anything to a neighbor. The Raven mailbox is a poor substitute because of the item limits and cool down periods.

The Last Helpers Tab is a frequent common denominator for this kind of unwelcome targeted buying, as is the Recent Contributors list and even the NH chat log, which allows kicked-out angry farmers to come back to the former neighbors for as long as it takes 99 new chat messages to push the former neighbors off the angry farmer's chat log. If the chat is static on the angry person's farm, they could come back at will, presumably forever, with no way for the harassed neighbors to stop them.

These are things that folks are asking be looked into, and changed.

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So, removing last helpers would resolve it all? "Make the game great again"? I seriously doubt it as many find it super useful.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sparkly888

No one ever complains about their shop being constantly cleaned out of full price wheat and tofu dogs.

However there are those who like to load their shop with more desirable goodies for their friends and neighbours.

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Sigh... Again, that's trading which the RSS was never meant to be.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 007ich

@ Nick, This is not about trading items. I will give it a try to explain the frustrations which many players have:

Lets say you have a really really really nice collection of premium wines. And u have more then enough money, so there is no financial reason why u would need to sell any of these wines.

Ofcourse u could think in a verry selfish manner: 'I dont need any money and all these premium wines are mine, Im not going to sell them to anybody!. And If I ever choose to sell them anyways. Then it doesnt matter to who as long as I get my money!.

But u could also think diffrently: 'I dont need any money and all premium items are mine. I know these wines are so nice and rare, that I would never just sell them just for the money. But....I love my family and friends and I know they have a verry hard time getting any of these rare and nice wines. And because my friends and familiy are my everything!, I would put some for sale so they have the option to buy some of them. Not because I need money, but because I want to share these super nice wines with the people I love.

Now lets imagine I have several verry nice friends who come by once in a while. And they all grab one or two bottles of choice. Then all are able to enjoy this nice wines. And knowing the fact that I brought a little joy to the lifes of my friends, Just makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. Ahhhhh. Nothing can beat that.

But now imagine that one person (who is not somebody you chose to be friends with), comes and grabs all wines, before any of your friends had the chance to buy any. Then your friends are sad because they dont have the option to get this premium wines and you are sad because you are not able to share with the people you love!.

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I hear ya, and that's trading. :) We have a trading system in place for that. No, you can't trade certain items, but that's all about keeping the balance in the game.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 007ich

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So lets stop the metafor, and translate back to hay day. Many people have a wish to not have to sell to anybody, but beeing able to sell products and tools to a specific audience (Friends, neighborhood).

--------------------

How could this be realised:
- Another RSS. This RSS has no advertise option and can only be opened by people from your neighborhood or people from your friend list.

- Tabs in current RSS. Public RSS: everything u sell can be bought by anyone. Private RSS: Only people from your neighborhood or from your friend list can acces.

- Private slots. Last 4 slots are marked in special color. Products in this 4 slots are only visible for people from your neighborhood or from your friend list (with option to expand slots at 10 diamond per slot).

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No new RSS is needed, we have a trading system in the game which players can use.

Cheers,

Nick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wussypuss

Haystacker offered to help anyone who wanted to see how it feels.

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The offer still stands :)

#2UPJLPOR....anyone who has a great shop, sells frequently, and don't seem to understand how it feels to be stalked and raided...add me now. I can make it a game within a game and personal mission to snatch up all ur goodies consistently, to the point of annoyance. Tell ur neighbors to forget about coming to ur shop cuz I plan to leave them nothing. And I'm not talking about wheat or tofu dogs either. U can delete me after 2 weeks. Let's do it! :)

Guys,

We are again back at "re-designing" the RSS to be a place where you can trade and sell items to your friends/neighbors. As I have said many many times before, there are no current plans for that. If we re-design the RSS someday, that's a different story. We gave you guys the option to trade within your NH. There's a feature for that.

Now, I'll close this thread as this is again beating you-know-what.

Cheers,

Nick