This isnt a server problem its a people problem, people take out loans they cant afford and agree to outrageous contracts.
People are dumb, what can you do?

 

I have an idea. We should make a sticky that advises borrowers how to go about borrowing. Parts the sticky can include not to take out loans to pay off others, not to take loans unless you're absolutely certain you can pay them back, don't agree to contracts with outrageous fees and more.

While as @RyanBlocks2 said, we can't stop people from being dumb, and loan scams are an issue we'll always unfortunately have to deal with, we can try educate borrowers and potential borrowers on the risks of borrowing money and tell them what not to do when taking loans.

+1 to better guidelines. I believe things are consistently enforced, however.

 

I do see where you're coming from, however I don't think that idea will show much support from the player-base, as many players like to be compensated for late payments. I guess you could include something in the sticky saying "If you wish to lessen the risk of getting scammed, it is advised that you don't include late fees in your contract." or something along the lines of that.

Late fees won't be removed obviously, as it's for one, a private agreement between two players - The said players are ultimately responsible for what they agree to, and two, as I've said, many players like to be compensated for late payments, and sometimes it backfires against them.

I do agree that late fees should be consistently enforced however. The staff policy regarding late fees should be made clear for the player base.

 

I think that considering this is a game where we are technically all supposed to be enjoying our recreational time, it really is a problem that lately people have been really out for blood as far as late fees go. Giving predatory loans is a behavior that makes the experience of playing ecc less enjoyable and should be at least limited to a vague point of reason so a bunch of silly people who didn't think things through or got busy irl aren't banned and thrown into gruesome repayment plans to be unbanned. More players is a good thing. Practices that make it a lot more difficult for other players for simple mercenary gain is bad for everyone and should be reined in. Predatory loans of a certain magnitude are illegal in the real world economy.

 

Although I don't think it's possible to completely cover everything with guidelines, it should at least define upper limits for loans and late fees.

As I posted here:
https://www.ecocitycraft.com/forum/threads/help.143778/#post-789612

 

That post perfectly lays out guidelines for responsible lending where you can expect to get paid back rather than get the player banned. Retooled I believe it could be used to define what an illegal predatory loan is in ECC.

 

Brainstorming results:

-make a sticky or sub-forum where players can record if they have loaned to someone. That would be beneficial because it would be useful to know if someone is in debt when you give them a loan

-make rules based on late fees. ex. not exceeding the value of the payback

 

That is an excellent idea as this sticky/subforum would be able to be used by potential lenders in the same way as a "credit check" functions in the real world. It would allow users to see what debt someone already has and it would prevent many of the long chains of users scammed by one extremely foolish or trolly user who then ends up quitting forever or appeals their ban and everyone has to wait months to be repaid. Because obviously one loan with reasonable terms is a great idea for a lender to take money but in ECC there is currently no way to determine how much debt a user may already have taken out short of asking every single other user if they've given them a loan.

I'm also going to tag @Nicit6 here as he is no longer staff so hopefully it isn't as rude to do so and because I believe that regulations for lenders is something he may be interested in.