Block Specific Users From Offering on Trade Links

[skyie]

You get so many offers? Because I tried trading 3-4 CBs and didn't even get a nibble.

 

Just write "No Pms" and "Offers other than what is listed will be declined" in big block letters.

 

Also, okay you are trading a 4th gen but don't want to go lower than 3rd gen? I've been seeing this a lot from shimmersle/tinsel in trades where everyone always wants to go higher. What does that leave? Not a lot of people that will actually trade.

 

Finally in OT and not at youPlease if you are trading don't hold out all day on deciding whether to accept or reject an offer

 

 

[tjekan]

Please if you are trading don't hold out all day on deciding whether to accept or reject an offer

In relevance to this thread though, if you're making a "shot in the dark" offer of an item the person who's trading didn't ask for, you can hardly expect a quick response. Even if the person thinks they might accept it if they don't get what they're really looking for (something I know I've done on more than one occasion), they're certainly going to want to wait around for at least a day to see if anyone offers their real wishes first.

Edited August 12, 2013 by tjekan

[Tawanda001]

Going slightly OT again, but there are also plenty of people who put up offers and simply let them set until the offer expires and they keep whatever they were offering. If what I offer is something so bad you'd rather just keep the egg, please use decline so I can use those eggs in other trades.

 

Also I am one of those people who will change/upgrade an offer frequently. When i first see the offer I might only have one egg slot, but over the next several hours i may have more slots free up so that I can breed or collect more things to sweeten the deal. I'd hate to have a cutoff of three times, especially since you can't always PM the person you want to trade with.

[Syleye]

I wanted to point out a potential problem with this suggestion other than people may or may not agree with its usefulness. TJ cannot at this time put in a system that allows us to simply block users on the forums, so I question whether or not a more complicated system such as this could be implemented.

[eritated]

I'm not sure how that would solve the problem.  The issue seems to be:

 

1.  People who offer what a player doesn't want -  So after the first offer was rejected, what's to stop them from just changing to a different egg that is also most likely not what the person trading wanted?

 

2.  People who troll trades - But there's an entire AP full of eggs that they can pick up, offer, dump, and then do the same thing all over again.

 

The thing is that everyone is going to know exactly how the system works, so whatever kind of ban their is, if it's based on something easily gotten around then what does the suggestion prevent?

I see where you're coming from, as I've had offers where they offer 4 things, A, B, C, and D, all of which I don't want, and when I decline, they swap out egg D for egg E, also which I don't want, and repeat. So maybe, after three tries, any offer that contains eggs A, B, and C are auto-declined/banned?

 

Although with the trolling thing, most trolls won't go through the effort of getting new eggs to "troll" with. Usually they just offer the same thing repeatedly, so I don't see this being too much of a problem.

 

I wanted to point out a potential problem with this suggestion other than people may or may not agree with its usefulness. TJ cannot at this time put in a system that allows us to simply block users on the forums, so I question whether or not a more complicated system such as this could be implemented.

Yes, but this suggestion is for the actual site, not the forums ^^'

[skauble]

What if we just had two types of decline.

 

The first type could be a "This is not what I'm looking for exactly, but I'm interested in seeing another offer if you have one" kind of thing. This would be "decline offer".

 

The second could be more of a "I'm not really interested in what you're offering and I'm not really looking to negotiate." This one would stop further offers from that player. This would be "end negotiations".

 

That could serve a number of purposes. One, it's a way to invite further offers. Right now decline is just a "No", and most people won't offer something new. This is actually a way to get the wheeling and dealing started that we currently lack because the only way to communicate is through the forums an lots of people aren't members/don't want to PM.

 

The second is that it doesn't carry the negative baggage that a ban carries. It's simply a definite not interested by indicating you don't really want to engage in negotiations rather than that they, or their eggs, annoy you.

Edited August 12, 2013 by skauble

[Cecona]

And then you have people like me that couldn't care less whether or not the dragon is CB or "insert gen number here" or has some kind of special lineage. This whole thing is elitist if you ask me, a kind of "first world problem". Why does it matter so much to people what generation an egg if or if it was CB. I saw a trade once for a purple nebula hatchling, asking for any other color nebula. My friend was in need of a purple neb so I offered up my green neb thinking it would be so simple and I could make my friend so happy. But the offer was declined and I got a very, very angry and rude message from the person about how I was stupid and a ** for trying to offer a non-CB dragon.

 

I'm one of the majority that really can't get those eggs people deem special and valuable, and when I try I get shot down because my dragons are "crap dragons". Do any of you realize how utterly pointless this is? I was insanely lucky to get a bronze tinsel from the AP and you people are whining about getting a shimmer that is 100% identical to the one you are offering except it has one or two more generations? These are PRIZE dragons, dragons that probably shouldn't even be allowed to breed but they do. I would compare this problem to the rich and privileged being given the power to jail the homeless simply because they asked for change one too many times.

 

If you really have such a big problem with the less privileged offering eggs with the hopes that maybe... just maybe they will get a "good" dragon, then be more clear and not rely on the tiny text in your signature which not everything can see or possibly even read to inform them. Tell them yourself in a nice way. Tell them that while you appretiate the offer, it's just not what you were looking for and ASK THEM TO STOP IN A NICE WAY INSTEAD OF TRYING TO MAKE THEM GO AWAY!

 

-A rant from one of the 99% of dragon cave. (lame I know but you get the idea right?)

[love_HP]

Cecona, if you get a rude message, report it to the mods.

And don't be upset; tinsels are not hard to find in the AP, I got at least 3 of them in a not very long time. If you need one PM me, I have another spare tinsel hatchie.

 

 

I believe that the block after 3 times thing must be used together along with commenting on trades.

 

Example:

A put a shimmer egg up for trade. B offered a CB balloon. Without comment you can say the reject and re-offer is an adjusting process. But if the comment on trade is available, A commented on B's offer saying "I need 4 CB hatchies", and maybe B will get 4 hatchies and offer again. And if B offered that same balloon again and again, it can be considered trolling and not adjusting or whatever.

Q: Why don't you specify you want 4 CB hatchies in the post?!

A: Not everyone uses the forum. Some may use EATW's market or other trading places.

Edited August 12, 2013 by love_HP

[eritated]

And then you have people like me that couldn't care less whether or not the dragon is CB or "insert gen number here" or has some kind of special lineage. This whole thing is elitist if you ask me, a kind of "first world problem". Why does it matter so much to people what generation an egg if or if it was CB. I saw a trade once for a purple nebula hatchling, asking for any other color nebula. My friend was in need of a purple neb so I offered up my green neb thinking it would be so simple and I could make my friend so happy. But the offer was declined and I got a very, very angry and rude message from the person about how I was stupid and a ** for trying to offer a non-CB dragon.

 

I'm one of the majority that really can't get those eggs people deem special and valuable, and when I try I get shot down because my dragons are "crap dragons". Do any of you realize how utterly pointless this is? I was insanely lucky to get a bronze tinsel from the AP and you people are whining about getting a shimmer that is 100% identical to the one you are offering except it has one or two more generations? These are PRIZE dragons, dragons that probably shouldn't even be allowed to breed but they do. I would compare this problem to the rich and privileged being given the power to jail the homeless simply because they asked for change one too many times.

 

I love it how just because I'm one of the "rich and privileged", according to some, that I'm not allowed to make a suggestion because OH NOES, there's people with worse "problems". So? Just because there are people with lesser dragons, doesn't make my suggestion any less valid.

 

If you don't care about the lineage of the dragon, why are you whining about not being able to get "good" ones? Just because you don't have any "good" dragons, doesn't mean it's the fault of the people who do. You're still relatively new, so of course you're not going to be able to get everything right away.

 

If you really have such a big problem with the less privileged offering eggs with the hopes that maybe... just maybe they will get a "good" dragon, then be more clear and not rely on the tiny text in your signature which not everything can see or possibly even read to inform them. Tell them yourself in a nice way. Tell them that while you appretiate the offer, it's just not what you were looking for and ASK THEM TO STOP IN A NICE WAY INSTEAD OF TRYING TO MAKE THEM GO AWAY!

 

Please don't yell. I've done nothing wrong here. It was pretty clear what I wanted/didn't want, so if someone else offers something that I specifically said "do not offer", I should be able to block them, even if it is just for a short period of time. How am I supposed to tell them myself? I'm not going to PM them saying "You're offering bad dragons on my trades, which I specifically traded I don't want, so please stop."

-A rant from one of the 99% of dragon cave. (lame I know but you get the idea right?)

 

Why are you assuming that 99% of DC is agreeing with you? Where did you get this statistic?

[WinstonGA]

Why does it matter so much to people what generation an egg if or if it was CB.

 

Because there is nothing else to do with the dragons once they grow up except breed for lineage pictures. Once you've gotten a few of each breed - then what? Leave the game or figure out some goal of some type, usually lineage related, whether it's "4 cb pairs of everything + freezies of every stage" or "an arrowhead containing every 2011 tinsel" or just "big 2-breed checker" or whatever. An egg that's not exactly the background to fit into the picture being built isn't going to be usable.

 

Lineage is the only thing that makes the difference between 2 eggs of the same breed (well, that and gender).

 

... which is why you see people requesting some very specific lineages and generations. Some are simply collecting one form of wealth, others are looking for a certain fit into their own breeding plans. And DC is very very definitely a game of "you need money to make money", and how you get that money is usually lucky catching or simple longevity-plow-through-it or friends/gifting.

 

Now, the above doesn't in any way excuse rudeness in replying to you. But it's why certain eggs are just completely useless and a waste of scroll slots to someone with a breeding plan or a goal.

 

[RainDear]

And then you have people like me that couldn't care less whether or not the dragon is CB or "insert gen number here" or has some kind of special lineage. This whole thing is elitist if you ask me, a kind of "first world problem". Why does it matter so much to people what generation an egg if or if it was CB. I saw a trade once for a purple nebula hatchling, asking for any other color nebula. My friend was in need of a purple neb so I offered up my green neb thinking it would be so simple and I could make my friend so happy. But the offer was declined and I got a very, very angry and rude message from the person about how I was stupid and a ** for trying to offer a non-CB dragon.

 

I'm one of the majority that really can't get those eggs people deem special and valuable, and when I try I get shot down because my dragons are "crap dragons". Do any of you realize how utterly pointless this is? I was insanely lucky to get a bronze tinsel from the AP and you people are whining about getting a shimmer that is 100% identical to the one you are offering except it has one or two more generations? These are PRIZE dragons, dragons that probably shouldn't even be allowed to breed but they do. I would compare this problem to the rich and privileged being given the power to jail the homeless simply because they asked for change one too many times.

 

If you really have such a big problem with the less privileged offering eggs with the hopes that maybe... just maybe they will get a "good" dragon, then be more clear and not rely on the tiny text in your signature which not everything can see or possibly even read to inform them. Tell them yourself in a nice way. Tell them that while you appretiate the offer, it's just not what you were looking for and ASK THEM TO STOP IN A NICE WAY INSTEAD OF TRYING TO MAKE THEM GO AWAY!

 

-A rant from one of the 99% of dragon cave. (lame I know but you get the idea right?)

Cecona, a lot of players really don't care about whether an egg is CB, messy, inbred or whatever, especially when they are new. They just want to collect all the dragon breeds and types. Unfortunately, the forums tend to teach people that CBs, low gens, PBs or whatever is "desirable" and anything else is not. You might have a better chance trading on the fansites rather than the DC Forums. You might run into some of those who are more focused on getting the breeds they lack.

 

Some members are open to breeding more "desirable" eggs for you. Some have that in their sigs, some don't. You can try pming a polite request to some members to get such eggs.

 

As I said, this suggestion is something I would never use. If I have a trade up, I want to know if anyone is interested. Someone who offers something I don't want or pms me about a trade has a chance of me gifting it to them if no one else shows interest.

[Cecona]

I love it how just because I'm one of the "rich and privileged", according to some, that I'm not allowed to make a suggestion because OH NOES, there's people with worse "problems". So? Just because there are people with lesser dragons, doesn't make my suggestion any less valid.

 

If you don't care about the lineage of the dragon, why are you whining about not being able to get "good" ones? Just because you don't have any "good" dragons, doesn't mean it's the fault of the people who do. You're still relatively new, so of course you're not going to be able to get everything right away.

 

 

 

Please don't yell. I've done nothing wrong here. It was pretty clear what I wanted/didn't want, so if someone else offers something that I specifically said "do not offer", I should be able to block them, even if it is just for a short period of time. How am I supposed to tell them myself? I'm not going to PM them saying "You're offering bad dragons on my trades, which I specifically traded I don't want, so please stop."

 

 

Why are you assuming that 99% of DC is agreeing with you? Where did you get this statistic?

If the suggestion directly effects those that aren't as lucky and makes it harder for them to try and get better dragons, then there is indeed a problem with that suggestion. I can just see so many people abusing this, and many people like me that want better dragons but don't have anything will be blocked simply because our offers aren't good enough.

 

Good dragons also mean rare dragons, the dragons that rarely pop up but everyone wants, it doesn't just have to do with it's lineage or generation. And most of those rare dragons are bred and people want something better for them. I've never once seen a silver egg in the AP, and every single time I try to grab a good egg, someone else got to it first. I see people hoarding these dragons like mad, and if you don't have a fast enough connection no one is going to show you sympathy. They just say "too bad for you" or something along those lines.

 

And the 99% thing is not an actual statistic, it's a reference to an American problem where 1% of the population is rich, and has more money than the 99% of regular people combined. The saying "I am the 99%" came from this and I was simply making a reference to how most people on DC can't get good dragons like you.

[Cecona]

Also I'm not new. I joined back in 09, and had so many more dragons than I do now, but when I returned a lot of them were gone. I honestly don't know where they went and I've been trying to rebuild my scroll.

[whitebaron]

I wanted to point out a potential problem with this suggestion other than people may or may not agree with its usefulness. TJ cannot at this time put in a system that allows us to simply block users on the forums, so I question whether or not a more complicated system such as this could be implemented.

forums are third party software, where tj would have to learn the ways and loopholes first before changing anything - if he actually has the rights to do so, which I did not check. (it depends on the licensing model of the software)

 

thus, even such a simple suggestion might take a long while to implement, but on the other hand: dc is his site, so here its entirely different.

[Nectaris]

forums are third party software, where tj would have to learn the ways and loopholes first before changing anything - if he actually has the rights to do so, which I did not check. (it depends on the licensing model of the software)

 

thus, even such a simple suggestion might take a long while to implement, but on the other hand: dc is his site, so here its entirely different.

TJ said in the earlier thread that blocking users on the forums would require an upgrade to the forums(and many have emphatically stated that they don't want that to happen), this version of invision doesn't have the capability.

[Ha-Ki]

I keep wondering why anyone would feel insulted or angry about an offer they do not want - it's just an offer, so simply don't accept it? I don't think we need a block option.

 

I am definitely against notifying the person that they have been blocked, that just causes drama and we don't need that. So anything like "You cannot offer on this trade again because you have been blocked" should not find its way into the cave.

 

Edit: Didn't read the most recent posts before answering, my answer refers to the starting post of this thread. Hadn't noticed the discussion had turned into a discussion about forum software

Edited August 12, 2013 by Ha-Ki

[skauble]

If the suggestion directly effects those that aren't as lucky and makes it harder for them to try and get better dragons, then there is indeed a problem with that suggestion. I can just see so many people abusing this, and many people like me that want better dragons but don't have anything will be blocked simply because our offers aren't good enough.

 

Good dragons also mean rare dragons, the dragons that rarely pop up but everyone wants, it doesn't just have to do with it's lineage or generation. And most of those rare dragons are bred and people want something better for them. I've never once seen a silver egg in the AP, and every single time I try to grab a good egg, someone else got to it first. I see people hoarding these dragons like mad, and if you don't have a fast enough connection no one is going to show you sympathy. They just say "too bad for you" or something along those lines.

 

And the 99% thing is not an actual statistic, it's a reference to an American problem where 1% of the population is rich, and has more money than the 99% of regular people combined. The saying "I am the 99%" came from this and I was simply making a reference to how most people on DC can't get good dragons like you.

There is a legitimate case to be made that there should be an alternate way of getting rarer eggs than justy the race that is hunting in the caves. But that should be it's own suggestion. The fact is that even though I'm not in favor of a blocking system, per se, it's probably not going to affect your chance to get eggs in trades, because if someone was willing to block you, they most likely wouldn't have accepted your trade if there was no blocking.

 

As for people never giving anything to anyone in this game, that's not true at all. For instance, my niece loves making Neglecteds and she gives them away to players trying to get them all the time. In fact, there's so much gifting now that I, personally, think that it's somewhat degrading the trading economy for things like bred metallics, uncommons, and commons.

 

As for the Prize dragons, I agree that they're a problem, but that's nothing to do with the players, but because there were so ridiculously few given out. But the people who have them aren't playing the game wrong. If there are issues in the game then they need to be fixed in-game, not by arbitrarily forcing players to not pursue their goals.

 

As to the blocking idea, I'll just restate my idea from above, before we veered off into other territory.

 

I think that this might be more easily solved by allowing people to reject a trade with a decline link that sends back a message that is something along the lines of "The current offer has been declined, but the trader is open to further offers" or they can chose the permanent decline link that sends a message back that says something like, "The trader has declined your trade and chosen not to pursue negotiations".

 

Except that the messages would be better when they were written by someone that hasn't been awake for 44 hours.

[eritated]

If the suggestion directly effects those that aren't as lucky and makes it harder for them to try and get better dragons, then there is indeed a problem with that suggestion. I can just see so many people abusing this, and many people like me that want better dragons but don't have anything will be blocked simply because our offers aren't good enough.

 

Like skauble said, if someone declined your trade and blocked you, they probably wouldn't have accepted something else that you offered, and just declined again.

 

Good dragons also mean rare dragons, the dragons that rarely pop up but everyone wants, it doesn't just have to do with it's lineage or generation. And most of those rare dragons are bred and people want something better for them. I've never once seen a silver egg in the AP, and every single time I try to grab a good egg, someone else got to it first. I see people hoarding these dragons like mad, and if you don't have a fast enough connection no one is going to show you sympathy. They just say "too bad for you" or something along those lines.

 

Not necessarily. I consider my Bluna dragons "good" dragons, and those don't rarely pop up, and most people don't desire a lot of them. Not everyone breeds just for the purposes of trading. I gift a lot of the rares that I breed, especially the babies from my 3rd gen Shimmers. Please don't assume everyone keeps or trades everything they breed and are greedy hoarders. After all, there's no such thing as hoarding on DC ;D

 

And the 99% thing is not an actual statistic, it's a reference to an American problem where 1% of the population is rich, and has more money than the 99% of regular people combined. The saying "I am the 99%" came from this and I was simply making a reference to how most people on DC can't get good dragons like you.

 

"Most people"? It certainly doesn't seem that way. Lots of people (it seems. Please correct me if I'm wrong) have at least one CB or 2nd gen metal, 5th gen or less Shimmers/Tinsels (I don't consider 4th or 5th gen Shims/Tins worth much, but I know the majority do).

 

I keep wondering why anyone would feel insulted or angry about an offer they do not want - it's just an offer, so simply don't accept it? I don't think we need a block option.

 

I am definitely against notifying the person that they have been blocked, that just causes drama and we don't need that. So anything like "You cannot offer on this trade again because you have been blocked" should not find its way into the cave.

 

Why not? You can block member on the forum, and when you try to PM someone that blocks you it says:

This member has chosen not to be contactable by the board Messenger

 

This personal message has not been sent

I suppose we couldn't put a message like that with trade-blocking, but I'm sure we could think of a nicer message than "You have been blocked!!"

 

I get annoyed when people offer something I do not want, because my trade posts are always quite clear about what I want, and my signature clearly states what I don't want. That's why am annoyed when people offer things I don't want/ask for.

[Cecona]

There is a legitimate case to be made that there should be an alternate way of getting rarer eggs than justy the race that is hunting in the caves. But that should be it's own suggestion. The fact is that even though I'm not in favor of a blocking system, per se, it's probably not going to affect your chance to get eggs in trades, because if someone was willing to block you, they most likely wouldn't have accepted your trade if there was no blocking.

 

As for people never giving anything to anyone in this game, that's not true at all. For instance, my niece loves making Neglecteds and she gives them away to players trying to get them all the time. In fact, there's so much gifting now that I, personally, think that it's somewhat degrading the trading economy for things like bred metallics, uncommons, and commons.

 

As for the Prize dragons, I agree that they're a problem, but that's nothing to do with the players, but because there were so ridiculously few given out. But the people who have them aren't playing the game wrong. If there are issues in the game then they need to be fixed in-game, not by arbitrarily forcing players to not pursue their goals.

 

As to the blocking idea, I'll just restate my idea from above, before we veered off into other territory.

 

I think that this might be more easily solved by allowing people to reject a trade with a decline link that sends back a message that is something along the lines of "The current offer has been declined, but the trader is open to further offers" or they can chose the permanent decline link that sends a message back that says something like, "The trader has declined your trade and chosen not to pursue negotiations".

 

Except that the messages would be better when they were written by someone that hasn't been awake for 44 hours.

You are definitely right about people being generous- after my initial post someone super nice and awesome just gave me a gold and silver tinsel, as well as a bronze shimmer. I'm still all giddy about it; but having been on the opposite end of one of these "your offer isn't good enough trades" and trying multiple times to offer them something but being repeatedly rejected I just have a very strong opinion about the blocking trades thing. Not everyone is a troll or being annoying when that happens, they are just really desperate for that dragon and are giving everything they can for it, even if it may not be enough, in hopes it might actually be accepted.

 

I'm just against all forms of blocking and think declining is enough.

[eritated]

You are definitely right about people being generous- after my initial post someone super nice and awesome just gave me a gold and silver tinsel, as well as a bronze shimmer. I'm still all giddy about it; but having been on the opposite end of one of these "your offer isn't good enough trades" and trying multiple times to offer them something but being repeatedly rejected I just have a very strong opinion about the blocking trades thing. Not everyone is a troll or being annoying when that happens, they are just really desperate for that dragon and are giving everything they can for it, even if it may not be enough, in hopes it might actually be accepted.

 

I'm just against all forms of blocking and think declining is enough.

If someone is that desperate, they can always go to the multiple gifting threads. They may have to wait a bit before they receive the requested egg, but it's certainly better than annoying people by offering unwanted eggs/hatchlings on their trades.

 

Every person with a new scroll, which doesn't have that many dragons, will get rejected in the beginning because they don't have many (if any) desired dragons. That's just how it is.

[ZzelaBusya]

@Cecona - You know, I understand that people may be desperate and all, but I have always regarded ignoring what people say and offering things they have specifically asked not to offer as very impolite. A troll or not, I don't think a person who does that deserves to be given something special, even if they hope for it and want it a lot. It's common courtesy to read what people say before any actions, I'd say.

 

But I still think that a whole option to block users is unnecessary. Invalid offers can be annoying, but declining isn't difficult at all. Also, when I notice that a person keeps offering things I don't like again and again, I simply leave their offer there, to annoy them too a little, sometimes such offers "hang" there for days. X)

Edited August 12, 2013 by ZzelaBusya

[Cecona]

That may be true for trades that are asking for something specific, but those trades that aren't and are more like "make an offer/any offer" are what I've had a problem with.

[eritated]

@Cecona - You know, I understand that people may be desperate and all, but I have always regarded ignoring what people say and offering things they have specifically asked not to offer as very impolite. A troll or not, I don't think a person who does that deserves to be given something special, even if they hope for it and want it a lot. It's common courtesy to read what people say before any actions, I'd say.

 

I agree with this 150%.

 

That may be true for trades that are asking for something specific, but those trades that aren't and are more like "make an offer/any offer" are what I've had a problem with.

Those aren't the trades we're talking about, though. We're talking about when someone puts up a specific want/don't want and people disregard it.

[Ha-Ki]

Well, blocking someone on the forums is a whole different thing - it's just an option in the already-existing forums software. Whereas adding it to the game would require a lot of coding.

 

I get annoyed when people offer something I do not want, because my trade posts are always quite clear about what I want, and my signature clearly states what I don't want. That's why am annoyed when people offer things I don't want/ask for.

 

Have you ever thought about the fact that there are a lot of non-native speakers around that might simply have not understood your post? Or people that don't read signatures? Or have them turned off?

 

Besides, I have checked your 3 most recent trade posts, and in one of them you ask for "offers" and list two things, which sounds to me like "that's what I would absolutely love, but I will look at all offers". In another one you state "offer what you feel is fair". In the last one you are being really specific, but that's one out of three.

 

Maybe you should reconsider your phrasing in your trading posts instead of asking for a blocking feature, at least for me they don't seem as clear as you claim them to be (no offense). I see a lot of people adding "don't offer anything else" or "all other offers will be declined" to their trading posts. Have you tried that?

[Syaoransbear]

Please don't yell. I've done nothing wrong here. It was pretty clear what I wanted/didn't want, so if someone else offers something that I specifically said "do not offer", I should be able to block them, even if it is just for a short period of time. How am I supposed to tell them myself?

"I am not interested in Shimmers higher than third gen. Please do not offer higher gens in trades"

 

That isn't clear. For new members especially. 'higher' generation makes people think of a family tree where the 'lowest' generation dragons are at the top, and are actually HIGHER.

 

Perhaps saying "Only accepting 1st-3rd generations" would be better.

 

And I also agree that having it in your signature is a bad idea. It would be better to post that you only want dragons from gens 1-3 every time you post a trade. I ignore everyone's signatures because they are usually some quote or something else very irrelevant to this website.