Trading is how many players get items.
Why Trade[]
Players trade with other players for a variety of reasons. The building needed to craft a specific item may not be high enough level yet to make it. They may have bad luck with drops. Their building may be busy making something else. They may not want to spend the resources or time to craft the item. Regardless of the reason, people trade all day long.
Making the Trade Agreement[]
Players use both the general chat and trade chat rooms to make trade offers. A player will say they need an item and have other specific items available for trade. Trade offers can be discussed publicly in the chat or via whisper/mails. Other players can accept the offered trade or refuse it if they think the trade offer is too high or unbalanced. Haggling or making alternate trade offers is common.
Currently, the only way to make trades with other players is to use the mail system. Trades are made by attaching an item in a message and then awaiting the return mail with the agreed upon item.
Be aware that some players have taken to sending an item through the mail without first contacting the trading player with the expectation that the trading player will send the posted trade item. This presumption of a trade agreement by the player sending the mail is RUDE and doesn't take into account that the trading player might have already made a deal with someone else. If a player sends you an item without speaking to you about the trade first, don't be a jerk by keeping their item. Either send back the trade item you offered if you haven't traded it away yet or return the original attachment letting them know you already got your trade.
If YOU are someone that sends items without first making a trade agreement, don't be surprised if you meet a jerk that keeps your item and doesn't send you anything back. While it would be bad manners for them to keep it, in reality you just sent them a GIFT and they have no trade agreement with you for an exchange of goods. You cannot claim you were scammed (read the last section) if this is the case as you sent the item without a trade agreement and cannot expect anything in return.
You should always make contact first before sending any trades. This is common sense and just plain polite.
Safe Trade[]
As of June, 2015 the new option of making a safe trade was created to counteract scamming that has become more prominent due to an increase in the number of players.
In order to enact safe trade, you will open a mail window like usual. You fill in the player name and a subject like usual. At the top right of the screen you will see 2 buttons. The first is the regular gift option and you can click it to cancel a safe trade. The 2nd is the safe trade option.
By clicking the safe trade option, you will get a different screen on the right of your mail window than the regular blue box. This new screen allows you to choose up to 2 items and the desired number (up to a full stack for each individual item) that you are trading to the other player from your inventory. Below that is a duplicate location for 2 items where you will select the 1 or 2 items with the desired number that you expect in return. You can select any in game item from the menu that comes up, even if it isn't in your inventory.
Once you have selected your desired items for trade, the option to send will activate. Safe trade requires you to spend 10 sesterce to send the trade. Once you have sent the trade items, the other player will be unable to collect the items you sent until they send the desired items in the numbers you selected.
If you decide you do not want to spend the 10 sesterce to ensure a safe trade, you can click the gift option at the top to resume the old trade method and take your chances.
Once a safe trade is sent to another player, they will get mail letting them know that a safe trade request has been made. This mail expires after 10 minutes 20 seconds. If the trade expires, the sending player will get their offered item(s) back with their sesterce.
If you accept the trade, you must also spend 10 sesterce and then the item you want will go into your mail and the item you agreed to trade will leave your inventory and go as mail to the other player.
If a player declines the trade request, then the originating player will get their offered item and their 10 sesterce back just as if it had expired.
If you are trading with an unknown trader, this is a good option to avoid getting scammed.
Trade Values[]
The value of items can differ vastly from one day to the next based on supply and demand and the players currently playing. However, there are trends in trading that should be followed. Items that are very plentiful or easily gained will never be worth a difficult to find item unless you are trading mass quantities.
You should not offer wooden planks, stone blocks, entrails, fish, boar skin, or iron ore unless the other player is asking for similar items.
Example: Offering 2 boar skin to a player wanting to trade 1 rock oil is not a balanced trade and is insulting.
That being said, you should not ask for unbalanced trades either.
Example: You should not say you have 1 bone available and will take a spartan helmet in trade. This is not balanced either and most people will assume you are trolling or looking to take advantage of other players.
Where Did My Promised Item Go[]
Sometimes, especially when the game is experiencing a lot of lag and connection issues, mail can be delayed. It has taken up to 48 hours to arrive. If you are trading with a player that is known to be an honest trader and you do not get your trade item, be patient. Send a reminder whisper asking for your item. If they say they sent the item, more than likely it is possible that the mail has been delayed. This situation sucks but all you can do is assume the player did send the item and wait for it to arrive whenever the mail system stops lagging.
There is no way to determine if the player's mail got caught up in lag or if you just got scammed. If the item arrives later on, it was lag. If it never arrives, it was a scam.
Getting Scammed[]
Getting scammed (ie. the item you were promised in trade was never sent after you sent your item) happens infrequently. With the introduction of Safe Trade, this should happen less. However, if you are unwilling to spend the 10 sesterce to enact safe trade, then it can still happen. The most common occurrence of scamming since Safe Trade is the scammer requesting to "borrow" an item for a completion quest and then failing to return the item to the one that loaned it out.
Most players in the game are honest. However, some players are not. This is a rare occurrence. If you get scammed by another player, there are steps you can take to report the player.
- Screen shot all communications between yourself and the player as well as the mail showing that you sent the agreed upon item.
- Send those screen shots and your detailed complaint to Asterix and Friends game support.
While it is okay to let the other players know that a player scammed you, do not spam the chats for hours about a player being a scammer. They can actually report you for harassment as well.
If you follow these steps, wait patiently for game support to take action. More than likely, the scammer will be banned from the game. Or possibly, the mail was actually delayed and they sent the item like they said. If that is the case, you will then owe that player an apology and should do so by mail AND let the other players know in the chats that the player is NOT a scammer.