Where have all the good swaps gone? Hosts needed for new ideas

[Maniah]

if any of the swaps were newbie friendly and allowed people with no feedback to join, I would have joined a few.. But.. No feedback = no participation So I just watch.

[ViciousJupiter]

Hannaliten and I are hosting a Mythology swap atm : http://mlparena.com/mlp/index.php/topic,286314.0.html

I'm not sure what your idea of a "good swap" is, but there several swaps going on right now.  Steampunk just finished taking signups the other day.  The Love Swap had an epic list of participants, so did the Cherry Blossom swap.  I'm sure once they are over there will be a lot more swaps too.

[Sarahlacewing]

if any of the swaps were newbie friendly and allowed people with no feedback to join, I would have joined a few.. But.. No feedback = no participation So I just watch.

Aw you could do some private trades to build up your count?

[kaoskat]

I honestly haven't noticed people not joining swaps. There are 2 swaps with decently large participant lists going on currently even. I've even seen members who rarely, if ever, join swaps signing up. I'm sorry you've found few that appeal to you, but I'm sure there will be some soon.

[Maniah]

if any of the swaps were newbie friendly and allowed people with no feedback to join, I would have joined a few.. But.. No feedback = no participation So I just watch.

Aw you could do some private trades to build up your count?

I actually have done some It just takes time is all. I'll have a handful of trades soon enough. Then I can do swaps. Woo!

[NoDivision]

There is a difference between life circumstances coming up that get you behind and getting behind just because you're not motivated or keep putting it off, though. I've never known a swap host to get mad if you have something serious come up that takes you away from ponies, but if you can't reasonably commit to giving your best effort to meet swap deadlines you shouldn't sign up for swaps.

There have been way too many instances of people just vanishing or flaking out or needing tons of harassing to get their swap poines done, and from what I understand a lot of those cases are simply people being irresponsible and not keeping up.

I think Creampuf takes the right course of action. You know you probably will have things compe up, you aren't sure you'd be able to meet deadlines, and so you don't sign up. A lot of people aren't that responsible about it. They sign up when it's something they can't really commit to. So if strict rules and requirements put off the people who can't really commit to the swap, I don't see anything wrong with that.
 
 
 
ALSO... if there was a DC/Marvel comic swap, I'd be alllll over that.

[Sarahlacewing]

There is a difference between life circumstances coming up that get you behind and getting behind just because you're not motivated or keep putting it off, though. I've never known a swap host to get mad if you have something serious come up that takes you away from ponies, but if you can't reasonably commit to giving your best effort to meet swap deadlines you shouldn't sign up for swaps.

There have been way too many instances of people just vanishing or flaking out or needing tons of harassing to get their swap poines done, and from what I understand a lot of those cases are simply people being irresponsible and not keeping up.

I think Creampuf takes the right course of action. You know you probably will have things compe up, you aren't sure you'd be able to meet deadlines, and so you don't sign up. A lot of people aren't that responsible about it. They sign up when it's something they can't really commit to. So if strict rules and requirements put off the people who can't really commit to the swap, I don't see anything wrong with that.
 
 
 
ALSO... if there was a DC/Marvel comic swap, I'd be alllll over that.

Mostly I agree although I wish people would accept alternative forms of feedback.  Some do but especially when we were all stuck with that 'pending' feedback before the thread.  I couldn't do anything even though I was qualified.

[NoDivision]

I think pending arena feedback was almost always taken into consideration for swaps - you just had to find the place on the feedback thread where people left feedback for you and link to it. Feedback on places like ebay is harder to justify as it doesn't really relate to the way a swap works. I know most hosts will consider it if you are a feedback short or something, but it really doesn't make sense to accept it in place of arena feedback for people who've never done any swaps or any transactions on the arena.

[TickledPink]

I think the stricter rules were warranted. You don't tell your boss "oh I'll come to work whenever" you go in when you are scheduled!!  I don't see why it's so hard to get swaps done on time, since you are usually given way more than a month to get things in!

Life. Short and sweet, life has a way of sneaking up on you in a way that affects your creativity and time to make a pony.

I think we all enjoy swaps with the best intention of doing a fantastic job and giving a wonderful gift but if I have to choose between dealing with life events or making a pony, the pony loses.

it's also on of the reasons I swore off the swaps....even doing personal trades is difficult with life getting in the way.

That being said I always check the swap posts and offer advice and generally stick my nose in. Even if I won't be making a pony for it I can always help a fellow artist with tips and advice.

Oh trust me, I know that very well. I guess I"m just super serious about it because I'm used to working some pretty insane deadlines and I stress myself out super bad making sure that they get met! LOL

But I'm with you Creampuf, If life gets bad enough, the ponies come last. Always. Which is why I haven't been joining swaps as of late because life just wasn't letting that happen.

[Sarahlacewing]

I think pending arena feedback was almost always taken into consideration for swaps - you just had to find the place on the feedback thread where people left feedback for you and link to it. Feedback on places like ebay is harder to justify as it doesn't really relate to the way a swap works. I know most hosts will consider it if you are a feedback short or something, but it really doesn't make sense to accept it in place of arena feedback for people who've never done any swaps or any transactions on the arena.

Note I said before we had the thread.  There was quiet a stretch there were people without a thread were waiting for their feedback without the benefit of the temporary feedback thread.  The point is is a person reliable in their commitments.  I feel like extensive ebay, etsy, mlp trading post feedback demonstrates a commitment to reliability.  But many probably do share your opinion that such history is not valid.

I guess I just feel like it hinders the influx of new people.  You cant buy because people think you are going to open cases against them.  You can't sell because peopel think you are too foolish to accurately represent yourself and your product.  You can't trade because if you haven't done work here you are obviously not reliable enough to be trusted.

[jupiternwndrlnd]

There is a difference between life circumstances coming up that get you behind and getting behind just because you're not motivated or keep putting it off, though. I've never known a swap host to get mad if you have something serious come up that takes you away from ponies, but if you can't reasonably commit to giving your best effort to meet swap deadlines you shouldn't sign up for swaps.

There have been way too many instances of people just vanishing or flaking out or needing tons of harassing to get their swap poines done, and from what I understand a lot of those cases are simply people being irresponsible and not keeping up.

I think Creampuf takes the right course of action. You know you probably will have things compe up, you aren't sure you'd be able to meet deadlines, and so you don't sign up. A lot of people aren't that responsible about it. They sign up when it's something they can't really commit to. So if strict rules and requirements put off the people who can't really commit to the swap, I don't see anything wrong with that.
 
 
 
ALSO... if there was a DC/Marvel comic swap, I'd be alllll over that.

I have to agree with you, and add that if life comes up, communicating with your swap host is always the best course of action. If you don't let anyone know that life has taken all your pony time, then they have to assume you have just dropped off the plant.

also comic swap FTW!

[NoDivision]

I don't think many people hold buyers and sellers to the same standards as signing up for a swap. Sales and purchases have a level of protection built in if you go throuh paypal, so that's different. So you can build up feedback that way. But swaps and trades are different - there is a level of trust that is involved since there is no way to take action if someone does not follow through.

All of us had to start at the begining with no feedback and work our way up to get it. I don't think it hinders anyone, it's just part of the process. That's why we have newbie friendly swaps and suggest people do private trades.

[StrawberryMeadow]

A little off topic, but I'm in the middle of a DC custom right now, good to know there will be people who will appreciate her when she's done!!!

[NoDivision]

A little off topic, but I'm in the middle of a DC custom right now, good to know there will be people who will appreciate her when she's done!!!

Yes! I'm a huge DC fan, I know there are a lot of other DC fans lurking around Can't wait to see it!

[heftysmurf76]

I'm not sure what your idea of a "good swap" is, but there several swaps going on right now.  Steampunk just finished taking signups the other day.  The Love Swap had an epic list of participants, so did the Cherry Blossom swap.  I'm sure once they are over there will be a lot more swaps too.

Like I said, I didn't mean to imply that the current ones aren't good, I simply did not find them as appealing. It was too broad a generalization I guess.
But I did consider your Mythology swap, I'm just not that into Mythology and have also done one before...and THAT'S not to say I think swaps that have been done before are boring either...I mean I did mention the standards i.e Adult to baby swaps, etc

Please don't misunderstand, I'm not implying there shouldn't be stringent deadlines and rules, I'm GLAD there are, it makes folks (present company included) take the deadlines even more seriously. I just wondered if that was why, never meant for it to come across that I thought it was a bad thing.

I honestly haven't noticed people not joining swaps. There are 2 swaps with decently large participant lists going on currently even. I've even seen members who rarely, if ever, join swaps signing up. I'm sorry you've found few that appeal to you, but I'm sure there will be some soon.

I dunno, I remember a time where there were like 6 or 7 different swaps in the "Gauging interest/Taking sign ups" category, and now I'd say its 2 or 3 in there at a time on average. I wonder if the reason there are so many participants in the current swaps isn't because there are so few options...I don't know, I'm just guestimating, it's not like I have any data to back this up, just conjecture tinged w/my opinion

I'm sure there will some soon too , and I hope this discussion helps spur someone into action...

Doesn't someone want to host that Comic Book swap by now?