Question on why the "Ancient Coin Auction Fantasy" game was closed

To any moderators:
I understand that you don't want spam from external websites, but sixbid is merely an auction aggregator with no interest in the sales themselves. You don't have to use it, but many members here probably don't receive all of the auction catalogs from each international house.

I think the average member would learn a great deal from watching the auctions more closely and having a bit more of a stake in the game by trying to guess realized prices. The discussions which would occur about coins that are outside of the usual dollar value range that the average poster participates in would be highly educational and can further improve participation in the hobby.

It isn't a giveaway contest, just a learning exercise and the "competition" element is in place just to focus posters and as a friendly scoring exercise to see who is most accurate with their research.

If this is still somehow against the rules, then that's fine, but I personally don't understand how this could be interpreted as a negative discussion.

 

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Thanks for your support, but I'm pretty certain it's futile to try to convince the moderators that none of the Contest Rules has been violated.

I'll readily admit that I'm unable to understand which rule(s) has been violated, and how that rule has been violated, but that's irrelevant. The moderators run this website and do not have to justify their decisions.

 

Yes, it's pretty clear that if you're going to set up a fantasy coin auction game based on coins available on auction websites, you'll have to inform the participants of those websites in the first place. I fully realize that Vulcan mind meld doesn't work here on planet Earth.

The interpretation of listing the sixbids website -- which simply aggregates the various upcoming auctions and makes them conveniently available -- as "spam" is, well... I'll leave it up to the readers of this thread to decide whether or not that interpretation is logical or supportable.

Don't worry, I would never expect a moderator to change his mind once he's staked out a position on a topic. I did note the following rules for this website:

Rule #1: The Moderators are always right.
Rule #2: When the Moderators are wrong, refer to rule #1.

-

 

I do have an example of when these rules are wrong.

When someone gets banned for association (doing nothing wrong)...


That has happened to me and is why I started to post on CoinTalk.


Other than that, these rules are always correct


However, I do want to bring this up (just to inform you).

The post this was a reply to was posted before the warning on the other first page.

 

It is sad, though, since there was so much support and enthusiasm for the fantasy game among those who discussed it.

 

If you felt there would be no personal gain for you from doing it the way you wanted, except for exposure, and there was no prize for the winner ; Bill and others brought up the good points, exposure to ancient coins, knowledge and grading , rarity, and lastly value. Why not a simple contest where one coin is presented at a time by an url, "imaginary money " is awarded contestants based on posts they make that adds to these good points. A member post on the design ( maybe $100 imaginary dollars), or the subject of the coin issue ( $5oo IDlrs), Past auction results ( ???), good non-copyrighted photo ( $200), Post of interest ( $50), etc. No Copy/paste of copyright materials, but some material on ancients is older than that. The person who bids ( to you ) the closest ending real auction value gets the hurrahs, or maybe someone can find a numismatic prize.

This gets away from the bad points and maintains the good ones.

Yes, I realize that you would have far less applicants, because before it was just a guessing game for most as the "fantasy money" was given to them whether they learned something or not. Yes, I realize there would be far less exposure, likes, etc. because of this, but if the real effort is to raise interest in the knowledge, value, and history of ancient coins, this would be the key.

This is just an example.

Jim

 

so much for equality and humility

 

The issue of pointing to an external website is purely academic. Personally, I won't be using the websites as I receive all of their catalogs. People can visit each individual website or use the catalogs themselves - sixbid or numisbids or any number of other aggregator websites just save a few clicks and are free for everyone to use.

It is in no way taking traffic away from CoinTalk, nor sending users to other websites maliciously. Heck, people could go to lot viewing themselves and pick up the coins to ascertain their value and make a guess; no website needed.

I look at some other contest threads with dozens of links to commercial websites (i.e. http://www.cointalk.com/threads/silver-bullion-contest.234145/ or even http://www.cointalk.com/threads/christmas-contest.219367/ which encourages users to go to a different website for their contests) and can't help but feel like there is some significant double standard being applied here.

 

The game that I created and proposed is a fantasy game, conceptually similar to fantasy sports games such as football fantasy leagues. Whatever contest is described above might be acceptable to the moderators but it isn't remotely similar to the concept I proposed, and I seriously doubt it would garner nearly the interest that my concept did.

Personally, I have learned at least as much from browsing online and actual auction catalogs catalogs, reading online and actual descriptions of coins, and doing research based on what I've learned, as I have from reading the dozens of books I own, and informational websites I've visited. The idea that the proposed fantasy game won't stimulate learning about ancient coins is just an assertion and has no basis in fact and reality.

The implication that there is some "personal gain... except for exposure" for me from proposing the fantasy game is so bizarre that I don't even understand it, and thus can't rationally respond to it. I will remain forever puzzled by what, exactly, is meant by this.

This is indeed what the whole issue reduces to: the forum dictators have spoken, they don't like my fantasy game concept, and whatever reason they give for deleting it -- bogus or not -- is irrelevant. It's just not going to happen. As we've all experienced on the playground, when someone says "it's my ball and if you don't want to play by my rules I won't let you play at all" you better believe they mean it.

 

Every forum I know has rules and people who enforce them. You play by them or find another site that allows you to do as you want. Doug is up front. Many forums would just delete it or ban with out further discussion. He has indicated that the "forum dictators" will work with you, on your basic concepts.

 

most other forums are simply useless. the reason CT is better is because the owner and the chief moderator are 2 different people. the owner does not get into moderating with people and the chief moderator no longer collects coins or has a vested interest in the proceedings. it also helps that GD does not let power get to his head 100% of the time and his opinions 99% of the time. This particular arrangement is helping CT in so many ways.

Most other forums are dictatorships and just made to boost the ego of the owner. They even go to the extent of saying that this is not a democracy completely forgetting the fact that people will only voice their true opinions in a democracy

 

and that my friend is the difference between a tyrant and a king

But dont get any ideas i am not quitting my throne yet

just an FYI you can go look on any forum on the net that concept of fairness is completely absent it is always a form of my way or the highway

 

While I realize that you're trying to be helpful, your suggestion completely and profoundly misunderstands the concept and structure of the idea that I proposed. It wouldn't work at all.

 

There are member(s) here who have indicated recently that they personally have both a coin related website and an interest in ancients coins, so that might be a better route to pursue. However they may wish a fee.

It seems rather odd that moderators were described as "dictatorial" in one of your posts, when we have been trying to offer solutions , and you still want to dictate exactly how you can run your 'contest'. Good luck finding another forum which would allow it the way you wish.

 

Well, uh, duh... it's my original concept and contest design.

Even though football is played in stadiums not owned by those football teams, I don't notice the stadium owners trying to dictate the rules of football. Two entirely different issues.

This conversation is just getting weird...

 

Are you saying your local stadium doesn't have rules about what you can bring into it? Like transparent bags, no backpacks, no seat cushions, etc Of course they do. We have the same control over what is brought into our "stadium" so your example is false. By the way , your local team is looking better than last year, so if you are a fan , Best of luck,