This comment is the inspiration for the creation of this thread.
Let's all recall a time when one of the most prominent businesses on the server was a bank owned by @Mecharic , known as Mechbank. Along with some other businesses, I would probably rank it as one of if not the most successful player run business this server has ever seen. It was quite impressive what Mecharic achieved, considering his bank was run completely off of player created facilities, as in, he did not use in game features, nor did he have backing from the staff that insured he wouldn't be scammed. Yet he pressed on.
Until he couldn't maintain the bank anymore. Whether or not it was lack of time or lack of interest, it is known that lack of staff insurance was a deciding factor in terminating the bank. It is a shame that something as vital as a bank of all things, in a medieval environment, was not able to survive indefinitely.
That is why I am here today to propose a few solutions and rules that would help promote player run businesses, and would hopefully alleviate some concerns on whether or not a player should consider creating his or her own business.
Allow players to write their own binding contracts
Currently, most players include a clause at the end of their application for services rendered, that usually says something along the lines of:
This is fine, but it only allows a business owner to either deny service based on rules broken, or to report a player is they broke an already existing server rules, such as griefing, excessive stealing, etc. This does not allow business owners to report a player for scamming if they are trusted in good faith to say, repay a loan, and allow the owner to recoup their losses. This will only allow the scammer to be banned. Which is better than nothing; one less scammed out of the pool of potential customers. But it does not help promote player business, since they can't recoup losses.
What I am suggesting, is to allow business owners, on their public threads on the forums, to write their own binding contracts that states:
· What services they tend to render, and what action can be taken against them if they fail to render said services if payment by customer has already been made.
· What punishments can be given to a potential scammer if they do indeed scam the business owner out of money/goods
Take this for example as to what a player written contract may look like:
What is different about this contract is that it allows for punishment of a player for scamming, and allows a player to recoup their losses from said scamming, not previously covered by staff at this moment. The latter part of the last sentence is the most important part, as failure to protect the individual is what is hurting player driven business.
Now that a contract has been written, and a player seeking services has signed it, what happens now? Well, nothing unless a rule outlined by the owner of the business has been broken. Then, a report is filed with a direct link to the post citing that the contract was signed, and the staff do two things:
· Determine if the contract is valid and fair. I decided that allowing the staff to do this on a case by case basis was a better idea than making a process to have contracts approved with the staff, as the latter will create more staff work like approving war declarations did. This does allow players to possibly write abusing contracts, but I believe the staff will be fair and just in determining what is and isn't an overreaching contract in the context of a player's rights. If the contract is found to be unjust, the business owner is notified and suggested to make changes, and the player who scammed is banned, but losses are not recouped.
· If the contract is determined valid, the player is banned, and losses are returned to the business owner so he or she can continue business.
Create a blanket rule to cover business owners
Moving away from the idea of player written contracts, the staff could also create a blanket rule that states that scamming in regards to a player run business will result in punishment and the owner's losses being recouped from the offending player's funds.
· What problem exist: Player run businesses are not protected by the server, and are at the mercy of scammers.
· What will fix the problem: Outlined above.
· What will result from fixing the problem: An influx in player run businesses now that their ventures are sensibly protected.
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