TOPIC: XP for sale on Ebay??

If each of the codes were tied to a specific time slot (not just a dungeon), they could input at the end what difficulty that time slot was run as. Then when you enter your code on the website, the XP could be locked down to the difficulty that was actually run.

The same could be done for deaths prior to room 7 but that would be a bit more tricky (and probably not worth the effort).

Chris Von Wahlde wrote: Would there be a way to put a time limit on the codes. They have to be put in by the end of GenCon or Monday. That would all but eliminate Ebay sales.

Any time frame short enough to eliminate Ebay sales would also be particularly punishing on players who travel, or come down with Con Crud and end up worrying about little but 'not dying' in the days following (minor hyperbole present, but when I'm fighting off The Plague post convention, worrying about getting my codes entered within a few days of getting home isn't a high priority).

Also, it doesn't seem to be a common occurrence, from a cursory ebay search. Might be a bit of an overreaction to put such a short time restraint on experience validation when compared to the tens of thousands of runs that have happened over the years. If there were dozens or hundreds up for grabs, sure, but this is the roundingest of rounding errors.

If they really wanted to crack down on this, my thought is that there'd need to be a way for people to sign up for an account before their run, and the exp is associated with that account directly after the run ends. This would involve a lot of infrastructure (pcs/tablets/something on hand for volunteers to set people up, slow down the finale as someone has to log exp earned into each account one at a time, etc) and would add layers of inflexibility to participation (while we should all endeavor to show up early for a run, if someone is running late and doesn't have an account, do they miss their slot? Hold up the run? It'd be messy under good conditions, let alone the well oiled machine TD needs to be to keep everything going).

Something to keep an eye on, sure, but just about any reaction at this point to a single sale would be an overreaction, imo. The exception would be if TD feels strongly enough about it, to add the previously mentioned "NOT FOR RESALE" markings to the cards. Otherwise, frankly, I don't see what business it is of ours. The card is given, people can do with it as they please. This is public, but I found an experience card laying around at Gencon, could have entered it if I wished. I could have given it to a friend. Selling an item like this is, to me as a consumer, no different from selling off tokens or other nick knacks.

Yes, it may be against the spirit of the game, but not everyone cares about their immersion or the sanctity of the system, and if it's not illegal or explicitly forbidden (and clearly labeled), I don't see how it's reasonable to enforce that desire on others.

Someone tried selling a 2016 Adventurer's Guild badge as well. Surely that too is against the spirit of how limited those are supposed to be, at least by my recollection? There's a volunteer token up as well, that strikes me as considerably against the spirit of a reward for service, to be passed onto someone just because they have the money?

Which kind of comes down to the crux of the matter; True Dungeon is a heavily monetized system. No, I'm not saying it's 'purely pay to win'; wits, skill at sliding, memorization, puzzle solving, all incredibly valuable. But the existence of the secondary market seems fairly indicative of the popularity of people paying for advantages. The "PYP" feature; pay a bunch to be guaranteed something awesome. What makes experience cards a step too far in a game/business strategy built out of people paying a lot of money for a wide variety of items and privileges already?

Does it really matter if someone sells an xp code on ebay? It's on the honor system and does not effect anyone.

Cavor wrote: Does it really matter if someone sells an xp code on ebay? It's on the honor system and does not effect anyone.

See my previous post. It does affect some of us who like to know our rankings on the XP list.

Chris Von Wahlde wrote: Would there be a way to put a time limit on the codes. They have to be put in by the end of GenCon or Monday. That would all but eliminate Ebay sales.

This wouldn't work because what about the first time players or players like my wife? The first timers would have to log on to create an account. Being that they are at GenCon they might not have access to the Internet or are too busy playing to even want to waste time logging onto the Internet to create an account.

Then there are people like my wife who apparently no longer have an account here because she hasn't been active on it for over 3 years. LOL!! I discovered that out Sunday night when I tried to input her XP for her. Seeing that Jeff will be busy for the next few weeks I'm not going to email him about it until then. Assuming I even remember weeks from now.

I tend to fall on the side of, this is pushing a panic button that doesn't need to be pushed.

It is one being sold, with no bids on the auction. Clearly there isn't a big market for them.

I appreciate all the reasons why its bad, but standing in the line for xp entry sucked really bad also.
Also the cost to implement a better solution, if even possible as Matt pointed out, would be prohibitive.

A few of these being sold isn't going to majorly upset the XP ranking. Who knows, if it is sold, the purchaser could be someone who lost their original card and is just trying to get the XPs they are owed.

As far as limiting input time for xp, I say nay. As a person who purposely keeps a full schedule at the Con, and then has to jump right back into real life as soon as I get home, I don't want to have to worry about a clock ticking on something that doesn't really impact my life.

I enter mine at GenCon on my iPad.

Matthew Hayward wrote:

Aaron Hydrick wrote:

Matthew Hayward wrote:

Aaron Hydrick wrote: It would require a good bit of work and testing up front... but a scanning system could be set up to be almost automated... barcode based... like materials management soft/hardware...

It definitely should be looked at more closely...

The problem is how to associate the XP with the right person.

People need to enter their forum credentials or email or something, and there needs to be a way for new players to sign up.

It could be tied to their badge barcode... or some kind of barcode... then back to scanning

How?

First off - Gen Con doesn't offer exhibitor any way to interact with their badge barcodes. If they did it wouldn't be free.

But let's assume they cross that bridge, so, they scan a barcode, and know a player is: "Alice Ames" whose GenCon email address is "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.".

What should happen if Alice doesn't have a TD Forum account?

What should happen if Alice has a TD forum account whose email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.?

What should happen if This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. has a TD forum account, but it is associated with Frank Ames, who shares This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. email with Alice?

Basically the problem is your XP is tied to your True Dungeon forum account, and has implications on what you see in the forum, and what you can order from the store.

There is no reliable way to identify everyone's TD Forum account from their Gen Con badge.

Never intended to imply it would be easy or trivial... However... As long as TD had an easy way to access a file from *some kind* of standardized I'd code... I think a lot of the headaches associated with managing XP could be made more manageable and also could guarantee a bit more integrity...

Again... NOT making an argument for or against... Just thinking out loud about possible alternatives to the current method...

Jeff321 wrote: If each of the codes were tied to a specific time slot (not just a dungeon), they could input at the end what difficulty that time slot was run as. Then when you enter your code on the website, the XP could be locked down to the difficulty that was actually run.

The same could be done for deaths prior to room 7 but that would be a bit more tricky (and probably not worth the effort).

As with any "fix" to the problem... NOT trivial... But a good solid idea.

Ro-gan wrote:

jedibcg wrote: Is anyone really worried that some other player is getting hardcore xp when they do normal? Xp for me is just a way to remember what I did. If you want to out in something you didn't do I don't care. Again that is me and maybe others do care. I would rather get through epilogue room fast then make someone doesn't 'cheat' at xp.

Two things on this:

1) There are quite a few people here (me included) that take pride in our rankings on the XP list. I think I'm still in the Top 50.

And, silly as it sounds, I still regret making the last minute decision not to attend True Realms a few years ago to get more XP. XP was handed out, correct? Although, XP is not the only reason I regret not attending. I heard how great it was and have been kicking myself since.

If person(s) are selling TD XP then how fair is it for the buyers to jump ahead of others on the XP list? Yes, I know they can't catch up to the TD Lifers, but for those casual players that can only afford 1-2 Runs every other year? How fair is it to them to slip further down the XP list because some are buying XPs?

I know a lot of you don't care about the XP list. Some of us do, though.

2) Selling XP, to me, is the same as if there was an imaginary RPG System that kept track of characters and their XPs. Like in Hackmaster from Knights of the Dinner Table. There were stories written dealing with players leveling up characters for the sole purpose of selling them for others to use in Hackmaster Tourneys. These tourneys and results went into a data base system (like TD). I know this is a far stretch from TD's XP system, but it still applies somewhat. It does boil down to selling XP should not be allowed. But, there is no way TD can prevent something like this when players enter their XP into the system on an honor system.

Besides going back to the old days and having a backlog a "mile long" I don't have a solution.

Generally...
Yes.

I used to enter the XP for players at GENCON.

I suggested the use of a scanner, one person to scan in the XP for people at TD. The player than can select whatever they wanted for as their run.

I thought they stopped doing the entry at the epilogue because the wifi/tech was breaking too much and/or it was just to slow for players to enter their information (basically in the 12-minute window until the next team). The current system is far easier to administrate.

The easiest thing would be to do as Ed suggested and clearly mark them Not For Resale. Maybe Not Transferrable also. Bury some legal script in those forms signed at the beginning that you agree not to resell the XP from the run. Anyone caught doing so can then be legally pursued and it isn't just some morally objectionable thing.

Everything else proposed either sounds like it would slow down the epilogue or create a bunch of ridiculous hoops to jump through.