Turnip exchange

[thatveryawkwardmayor]

can we put a moratorium on trades using turnip exchange? recently, the turnip subreddit banned it because too many people were getting scamed and the devs of the website are kinda shady.

https://www.reddit.com/r/acturnips/comments/g7l0tv

apparently, using turnip exchange may violate Nintendo’s TOS which may get users in trouble too. people on turnip exchange tend to charge ridiculous entrance fees anyway so this is something the mods should consider maybe.

 

[alitwick]

Thank you for this post! I won’t be using TE anymore in the foreseeable future.

It’s such a shame, TE was a great idea in theory. The ridiculous entry fees were one thing, but I never knew the devs were onto some shady stuff too.

 

[Llunavale]

Please be aware the only thing we as players should be weary of is how TE access player data in order to determine whether or not we're online or whether an island is online at all. This has been a particular concern of mine since finding out about the service - to my best knowledge, Nintendo don't offer any sort of API or feed that developers can use to determine if an island is online and who is on it, which means it's likely to be reverse engineered and in that case does, without question, directly violate the Nintendo ToS.

Spoiler: Regarding the other complaints about the service...

A lot of the other concerns (like the Patreon - which isn't just for TE, it's for a previously-established podcast and has probably received money for longer than TE has existed) are personal opinions on the matter and should not take precedence over the real issue here. Players being scammed - it sucks, but that's not necessarily a fault of TE. I've seen threads even on this forum of people who have ran into people who scam, charge a lot for entry or ruin aspects of their town. That can happen anywhere.

 

[Khaelis]

The first time (and only time) I used the site, I felt incredibly off. The reddit post and twitter thread basically confirmed my gut feeling of why I was feeling off.

The site isn't just a normal queue, its definitely doing some off-site stuff and accessing things it shouldn't.

 

[thegunpowderincident]

I used turnip exchange once, and it was a negative experience. The site feels sketchy, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it lose its popularity, including being banned on TBT. The TOS concerns are pretty unsettling too.. I hope it won’t cause issues with the Nintendo Switch Online accounts of anyone who used turnip exchange (including myself).

 

[ElliotAdoresYou]

yeah it’s pretty sketchy, I’ve hosted on there once and I got kicked out of my own island. I have no idea how, it just sent me back to the homepage and there’s no way to get back in as a host. I felt bad for everyone in my queue but I couldn’t do anything about it, it sucked

 

[daisyy]

very interested to see a response on this from staff... i'm honestly not sure who to believe at this point as each side is painting the other side poorly. the stalk market has great points but also stands to benefit with their own discord service and it's hard to tell if this is just blown up drama or something to be really concerned about using?

 

[Llunavale]

very interested to see a response on this from staff... i'm honestly not sure who to believe at this point as each side is painting the other side poorly. the stalk market has great points but also stands to benefit with their own discord service and it's hard to tell if this is just blown up drama or something to be really concerned about using?

This isn't really a popularity contest, it's a much more complex issue than just who stands to benefit from whose downfall. At the end of the day, if the method TE use to get information about an online island is reverse engineered or some otherwise illegitimate way of getting data from the game, it's violating Nintendo's ToS and EULA and is essentially illegal. That doesn't necessarily mean players will be punished (though who knows, right? They could issue bans to accounts willingly using a service that violates ToS - we don't know yet), it'll be TE that are punished and very likely hit with a cease and desist.

At the end of the day, it's surely a better bet to just avoid the possibility of it biting you later. I think it should be disallowed on these forums - not necessarily out of a need to control people's trading habits, simply to protect them from any wrongdoing that may come their way because of it.

 

[enjucityblues]

I got scammed almost right away and lost my liking for it completely...it's a shame because there are some really kind, legit people using it but they seem far and few between.

I say good riddance to TE...

 

[Krissi2197]

I used TE and made the queue only accessable to people on these forums... But now I'm not so sure.

What kind of stuff do you think they're accessing?

EDIT: Also, do we have any alternatives? I see people using google docs but idk how to really use that for queues.

 

[Sloom]

whoops, I was frequenting that site lol. I hope an alternative comes soon if it's sketchy. I've never been scammed on there and it's how I've been easily finding people with high turnip prices to visit (used it at least 20-30 times now). I fail to see how you can get scammed on there? I'm not saying people who say they've been scammed are lying (obviously lol) but can't you just quit the game or go on airplane mode if they try anything?

and also is it risky to use? I liked using it to easily invite people to my island without having to pm and I also liked browsing it when I had heaps of turnips to banish from my beaches.

edit: I'm an idiot who forgot to read the original reddit post. pretty sure that's answering my questions lmao

 

[niko2]

It's an easy way to invite people in your island in an orderly manner without having to PM the dodo code. A public dodo code always results in a messy experience for both the host and the guests.

 

[fallenchaoskitten]

This is something I had never thought about being a problem. I didn't think of it violating ToS.

I have used it to "test" post my island (just to see how it worked) once.
I have used it once to sell turnips as well... ok twice. Once was someone where just made the queue private for their island because it was easier than watching a thread. The second time was a rando.

I get the worry of scams... but it is sort of the user's discretion on whether or not to visit someone? Not to be harsh to those who got scammed buuuuuut
- Large fee? Then don't visit
- Wants payment before walking in? Then don't visit
- Seeeems shady? ... then. dont. visit.
- Oh, you're the host? Block off the rest of your stuff. Stand guard. It's what you do as a host.
Obviously, I wish there was a "report" tool where if more than say 10 ppl report the island it would get automatically locked.
Or if you say no fees then in the description there is clearly a fee, you could report it.
After all, people get scammed on even TBT. Thankfully we have a feedback system to publicly show how someone had wronged you to warn other players.

 

[thatveryawkwardmayor]

I used TE and made the queue only accessable to people on these forums... But now I'm not so sure.

What kind of stuff do you think they're accessing?

EDIT: Also, do we have any alternatives? I see people using google docs but idk how to really use that for queues.

the most sketch thing about TE is that they're able to access information like who and who isn't on the host's island, something that Nintendo does not make offcially accessible to us through the game or any other Nintendo products like Nintendo Online. The fear is they may be using to data to "reverse engineer" another system, data, and IP that belongs to Nintendo.

I'm not an expert and I didnt fully read the TOS but I think thats the problem here. As for alternatives I heard of people making turnip exchange apps and stuff available on the apple and android store. Never tried them tho. I personally just search the forums and twitter.

Post automatically merged: Apr 25, 2020

This is something I had never thought about being a problem. I didn't think of it violating ToS.

I have used it to "test" post my island (just to see how it worked) once.
I have used it once to sell turnips as well... ok twice. Once was someone where just made the queue private for their island because it was easier than watching a thread. The second time was a rando.

I get the worry of scams... but it is sort of the user's discretion on whether or not to visit someone? Not to be harsh to those who got scammed buuuuuut
- Large fee? Then don't visit
- Wants payment before walking in? Then don't visit
- Seeeems shady? ... then. dont. visit.
- Oh, you're the host? Block off the rest of your stuff. Stand guard. It's what you do as a host.
Obviously, I wish there was a "report" tool where if more than say 10 ppl report the island it would get automatically locked.
Or if you say no fees then in the description there is clearly a fee, you could report it.
After all, people get scammed on even TBT. Thankfully we have a feedback system to publicly show how someone had wronged you to warn other players.

thats true but I think the problem is more of a legal issue and TE devs might be using our game data info against our will for other projects

 

[Kamzitty]

This is a bummer. I thought it was odd how they were able to get our island info but didn't think of the possibility they were doing it illegally. I've visited a few islands, and hosted on several occasions through turnip exchange because TBT has been loading extremely slowly for me since the update, and sending dodo codes through PMs is a nightmare.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

I've honestly never even heard of Turnip Exchange until now, I had to look it up lol.

 

[skogkyst]

Woah, I didn't know this was an issue! Thanks for bringing this to the public attention, perhaps I will stop using this service.

 

[Khaelis]

I tried contacting the staff about this thread so they could take a look, but they really haven't responded... Oh well.

 

[a potato]

I haven’t had any bad experiences with the site, but I’ll be interested to see how things play out. I think they have gotten rid of the current visitor information, so it seems like the site is changing.

I have noticed people explaining the site incorrectly. There isn’t really an official place for entry fees; they’re treated much like they are on here. I typically don’t go to any islands requiring fees, as that seems to be a standard rule of thumb for turnips. For the most part, it’s like any other site. By opening your town or visiting others, you are risking something. Certainly, the risk is much smaller on a site with feedback, account details, etc., but it’s still possible.

I don’t mean to anger anyone here—I like Turnip Exchange but understand it isn’t...the best. I do hope it will improve, as it has truly helped a lot.

 

[Khaelis]

I haven’t had any bad experiences with the site, but I’ll be interested to see how things play out. I think they have gotten rid of the current visitor information, so it seems like the site is changing.

I have noticed people explaining the site incorrectly. There isn’t really an official place for entry fees; they’re treated much like they are on here. I typically don’t go to any islands requiring fees, as that seems to be a standard rule of thumb for turnips. For the most part, it’s like any other site. By opening your town or visiting others, you are risking something. Certainly, the risk is much smaller on a site with feedback, account details, etc., but it’s still possible.

I don’t mean to anger anyone here—I like Turnip Exchange but understand it isn’t...the best. I do hope it will improve, as it has truly helped a lot.

Its not really that, its the fact that the site itself breaks Nintendo's Terms of Service, and seemingly appears to be accessing server data it should not be accessing. With that in mind, who knows what sort of data they are collecting.

It's concerning.