As an active player, I’ve noticed that trade chat, as it currently stands, is increasingly revolving around large-scale flipping/reselling, and I wanted to see if something can be done about how this affects the overall trade environment and newer players.
Some concerns I’ve seen raised and experienced myself repeatedly include the following:
- Trade chat being dominated by large “trade walls” comprised of goods obtained from flipping
- Good deals being purchased almost instantly and relisted/flipped shortly afterward
- Newer or smaller players feeling discouraged from participating
- Trade chat increasingly feeling more competitive than community-oriented
I understand that the current system of trade chat has its own respective limits that are generally understood by players, that it allows buying and reselling, and treats trade chat as an open "free" environment with some do's and don’ts in the trade guide. However, I do wonder if there are ways to practically improve trade chat in ways that would make it less aggressive, more welcoming for new players, and less centered on constant flipping/reselling.
A few possible ideas (in no specific order):
- Encouraging more concise trade messages to reduce spam walls (For example, introducing a line or character limit in trade chat to prevent long posts in the form of the player knowing beforehand how their message will appear in the chat before they send it to avoid a distorted message after the fact [I.E. "Character limit has been reached"])
- Discussing community trade etiquette more openly amongst the community somehow
- Finding ways to make trade chat feel less intimidating for newer players
- Finding the sweet "middle ground" that satisfies both casual and competitive traders
At the end of the day, we all enjoy FarmRPG because it's a game and community we've all grown to love. I’d simply love to see trade chat grow in a way that encourages more players to participate positively, fairly, and discourages any excessive buying/reselling/flipping.
Comments
The subject line should be corrected to "Remove and/or Address Scalping/Reselling/Flipping in Trade Chat." I understand that the word "predatory" might not strike a chord too well with some, and so I intended to remove it, but I already submitted the post without making that change.
Submitted on May 11th 2026 by angelo6030