Instructions:FAQ

• A link back to tcg_exchange;
• Your name (the name you signed up with);
• The number of cards you hold and your level (for leveling up purposes);
• Your currently held cards (it is generally a good idea to split them into current decks, future decks, things you want to keep, things you want to trade, and so on);
• Your trade logs (people you've traded with, the cards you traded and when) and activity logs (cards you have earned and when/where from). Alternatively, you can link to trade/activity logs that are in other posts;
• Any other info you deem necessary!

Q.: AHHH. That's a lot of information! How do I do all of that??
A.: You can pilfer a template here!

Q.: Why do you ask for my birthday on sign up?
A.: If it is your birthday or was your birthday recently, you'll get gift cards!

Q.: Can I have my trading post on some other site that's not LJ?
A.: Since this is an LJ-based trading card game, posts have to be hosted on LJ for easier access by other members.

Cards

Q.: What are cards? What do I do with them? How do I earn them?
A.: The cards are just pixel graphics! Each card has a unique picture, a number, and the deck name in them. If you collect all the cards from a deck, you master the deck. You can trade cards with other people to help you master your decks... and you can help out our affiliated communities or participate in the occasional games to earn more cards. That's all there is to it.

Q.: What are special cards?
A.: Special cards aren't unlike normal cards. The difference is that they're larger, the number of cards in special decks tend to vary, and special decks are all themed - either all cards fall under a specific theme, or they form a puzzle, for instance. Special cards are more rare than normal cards; for this reason, each special card is worth two normal cards in trade. Otherwise, they work the same as normal cards, and you master special decks as you do normal decks. You also earn special cards the same way you earn normal cards.

Q.: What are Certificates?
A.: Certificates are a special kind of card that allows you to pick any card you want at the certificate trading post. There are five kinds, and each kind gives you a different amount of cards.

Trading

Q.: What is trading? How does it work?
A.: Trading is simply exchanging cards you own for cards someone else owns. You can trade cards you don't need for cards you want, or you could trade cards you sort of want for cards you want more, and so on! You can trade with any of the participating members by going to their card post (linked to from the member list) and proposing a trade. Generally, you check their post, and see if you have any cards they might want (or any other trading rules they've set up), and if they have cards you want - and if so, you comment in their post with your card offer. For official purposes and ends, a trade is considered completed once the two players have posted the cards to trade, either as an image or as a text link to an image of the card(s) in question. Example successful trade. Keep in mind the player may not always want to trade, in which case you might fail. Don't pester people to accept after they've already declined!

Q.: I have a card I can't get rid of!
A.: If you have a card you can't seem to trade off, you can bring it to the card exchange, and get it exchanged for a random card. Do note you can only visit the exchange once a week, and have to follow the weekly exchange limitations explained there. Players with a high enough level may also drop off unwanted cards at the card donation center to earn rewards.

Rewards

Q.: Are there other ways to earn cards?
A.: If you help out with making decks by donating images or suggesting names, you'll win the rewards listed in the posts asking for that help (usually 1-3 random cards OR random cards from the deck you helped make). If it's your birthday, you'll receive 3 random cards, one B rank certificate, and one S rank certificate as gifts! Freebies are also handed out from time to time, so keep an eye out for freebie posts on the main community.

Q.: Why do mods have so many cards?
A.: Moderators get paid for their work to keep the community running! They get payment for making decks and for their designated posts' upkeep. How much a mod gets paid depends on how large a job they have! Payment is designed so that mods won't get TOO many cards, though. Mods also get paid only once a week.

Q.: What are contributions?
A.: Contributions are basically you participating in the affiliate communities. i.e., voting at icontests, making icons, that sort of thing.

Q.: What is TCG's policy on tie breakers? Are members allowed to claim prizes for tie breakers at affiliated communities?
A.: Members are not allowed to claim prizes for tie breakers. No prizes will or should be handed out for tie breaker voting. However, we greatly encourage that you help the affiliated communities by participating in them. You just don't get a reward for it.

Q.: What happens if I submit a claim for a week that was canceled by the affiliated community?
A.: Members who submitted or voted for contests that were canceled due to lack of submissions or other reasons will receive cards upon the confirmation of the moderator, just as you would normally. In the event that the week was canceled and the submission post was deleted, and the moderator cannot confirm nor deny that you participated in that week, the member will have to provide evidence via screencap, email, freezepage, etc. (link does not count) in order to receive cards.

Deck Mastery

Q.: How do I master a deck?
A.: You master a deck by collecting all 20 cards from that deck. Once you've collected all 20 cards, post a comment here with a link to your card post and trade log. You will be given your mastery badge, and a prize for the feat! After you've received your badge, update your card page with it, and are added to the wiki mastery list under your mastered deck (there is a list here; alternatively, you can navigate our deck list to see the list of masters of a specific deck. You can also claim an event badge if you're the first person to ever master that deck!

Q.: Can I trade cards from decks I've mastered?
A.: Not if you've already received your master badge and collected your reward. Once a mastered deck is acknowledged by the moderation, it becomes permanent!

Q.: Do I need to display mastered decks in my cards page?
A.: Not at all! You can remove the cards from the deck from your page, although they will still count toward your total card count. To keep it from getting cluttered, you can display only the mastery badge - but you have to display at least the mastery badge, or the mods won't know to count your 20 cards!

Q.: I have choice cards pending from a prize post/official post/event badge claim. Can I claim my deck mastery?
A.: Please read this for clarification.

Prize Claims

Q.: How do I claim my prize cards for participating in the affiliated communities?
A.: You can claim your cards in the corresponding prize post for that community. You can find a list of communities and the links to the prize posts here at the affiliate list.

Q.: I've claimed my prizes and haven't gotten a response yet!
A.: Confirmation from the community moderators is required before prizes can be handed out. Usually, the prizes should be handed out within no longer than one week. If you haven't received your cards after that much time, please recomment - either we missed your comment (we're not perfect) or the mods for the community haven't done their part yet. One way or the other, you will receive an update.

Q.: The mods from [insert community here] promised me a larger prize than what I got! What gives?
A.: Only the prizes listed in this community are valid. If they promised more, they lied - feel free to let us know so we can remove our affiliation with them.

Card Spirits

Q.: Card spirits? The hell?
A.: The card spirits are two cardgrubbers charitable spirits living in rashiea and mobiuswolf closets.

Q.: ...But they're collecting cards.
A.: Well, the spirits need to amuse themselves. They are fickle spirits, and their interests change on a daily basis. If they want one of your cards, they'll make offers, just like a regular player.

Q.: ...This spirit is trying to bribe me.
A.: Being fairies, they can conjure up cards with their magical powers. If they really want one of your cards, they may make crazy offers. Of course, they get punished if they step out of line, but sometimes we don't see it...

Q.: You mean they can MAKE cards? Why are they collecting, then?
A.: They would like to ask you to kindly ♥ shut up ☆.

Event Badges

Q.: What's an event badge?
A.: An event badge is something shiny you can display on your post as proof you are one of the few people to have done... something shiny. There's a variety of shiny things that will earn you an event badge - being an early contributor, being the first person to ever master a deck, hitting a specific number of trades...

Q.: Do I get anything for getting an event badge?
A.: Well, other than the badge itself, depending on how shiny your shiny accomplishment is, you may earn some rewards too. :3

Q.: Kickass. Where do I get one of those?
A.: See this here post!

Deckmaking

Q.: Can I make a deck?
A.: No. No, you can't. We have a fairly large team of deckmakers already, and quality control is fairly strict - and even if you would be able to make a quality deck, which we don't doubt, we don't really need any more help with that. But you can help by providing images for decks and suggesting names! You can earn up to 3 random cards, or cards from the deck you help out with, by just doing that.

Q.: WELL I'M A DECKMAKER. Can I make a deck? 8D
A.: You can. rashiea will give you a set of decks to be made here.

Reporting a Member

Q.: Hey! No fair! [insert name here] is cheating/being rude/starting drama/breaking the rules!
A.: If you think a member has broken the rules, please drop a comment here so the mods can take appropriate action.

Broke a Rule?

Q.: What happens if someone breaks a rule?
A.: It largely depends on the rule they broke, but "punishment" in the form of card fines or bans apply for most cases. Examples:

Moderator Misconduct

- Inappropriately paying themselves (payment revoked, card fine may apply); - Cheating (card fine of up to 90% of the owned cards* and demotion if moderate, ban if severe); - Favoritism and/or inappropriately handing out prizes (prize handout canceled, may be demoted from the position); - Disrespect toward fellow moderators and/or players (ban)

Player Misconduct

- Cheating (warning if very lightly, card fine of up to 75% of the owned cards* if more severe, ban if very severe); - Disrespect toward moderators and/or players (ban)

* Based on whichever is highest between the card count listed in the member's post and the actual card count.

Q.: What qualifies as light/severe cheating?
A.: Cheating "lightly" can refer to either accidentally doing something wrong, or unknowingly doing something wrong. For instance, accidentally picking more cards than you should've when getting rewards, writing down the wrong number of cards/trades/etc in your post, or mistakenly saving cards that aren't yours. These usually go by without any punishment and just a friendly notice/warning.

Moderate cheating is basically malicious cheating - making up trades, gifts and rewards you didn't have to fake your card count/trade count, save cards you never received to trade them/master a deck, and so forth. The punishment for this kind of cheating is a fine of up to 75% of one's owned cards if a player, and demotion from the position plus a fine of up to 90% if a moderator. Lighter punishment may be applied if the cheater in question owns up to it. If they don't and in fact try to lead the mods on, their fine instantly goes up to the top tier, because we're terribly cruel like that. In other words, don't cheat, and if you cheat, don't get caught. :D