1:1 Project
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[edit] Overview
The 1:1 Project is a group of Magic: The Gathering Online players who seek to facilitate casual trading through the use of automated trading bots. The premise behind the concept of 1:1 is that users are allowed to take any one card in exchange for another card of the same rarity. This allows players to trade undesired cards for different cards, in turn facilitating the development of new decks or the completion of collections without the need to spend money.
[edit] Members
The core members of the 1:1 Project are as follows:
- vitalogy (founder)
- shimari (programmer)
- doneagle (programmer)
- TriangleFish (bot runner)
- gabotirio (bot runner)
There are also several other 1:1-affiliated people who are not considered core members. These include:
- Araxen (1:1 channel moderator)
- Reuben (former bot runner)
[edit] Bots
The 1:1 Project relies on automated trading programs, or bots, to conduct trades with players. There are currently nine bots in the 1:1 Project, most of which are given names which represent the rarity of cards which they trade:
- Common_Ground
- Commons with Nature
- Free Tibet
- Uncommonly_Cute
- Uncommon Sense
- The Botfather
- ElectricLadyLand
- Basic Needs
- The Shining
The bots trade use algorithms to evaluate trades. All bots, with the exception of The Botfather, trade on a quantity basis where a trade is approved if the number of cards offered by both parties is equal. The Botfather, which is the first and only 1:1 Project bot to trade rares, instead trades cards based on value. The bots are programmed to preferentially select cards which they have fewer copies of to enhance collection diversity.
Cards are assigned point values based on the quantity that the bot has in stock. Whenever a user trades, a rating is generated by subtracting the total value of cards given to the user from the total value of cards taken from the user. This provides a coarse metric for determining a user's behavior; users with higher ratings typically give better cards to the bot than the ones taken, and vice versa. Users with a rating exceeding a predetermined value qualify for Premium Status (explained below), while users with negative ratings are subject to being banned from using the service. In practice, however, banning occurs very infrequently.
Premium Status is a reward given to users whose ratings exceed predefined thresholds. By default 1:1 Project bots withhold (that is, set untradable) cards which the bot only has one copy of. These cards tend to be more valuable and desirable than others in the bot's collection. Whenever a user with Premium Status trades with the bot, that user is permitted to trade for these cards which are normally set aside.
In addition, users may donate cards to the bot out of good will or in order to increase their rating score.
[edit] Success
As of January 2007, the 1:1 Project has logged the trades of about 900,000 cards. Its most popular bot, Free Tibet, has traded more than 275,000 cards with a total of over 3700 unique users.
In early 2006, due to the high volume of donations, the bot Free Tibet gave out as many as 12 free cards every month to users. However, as the Project's popularity surged and the level of donations declined, this number was reduced in order to keep the level of giving at a sustainable pace.
[edit] Competition
The Project's initial success has led several other players to introduce their own bots. On some level, many of these resulted from their owners' desire for personal gain and trade at ratios other than parity (for example: 4:5, 5:6). Some of them trade 1:1 but reject trades which would be disadvantageous. In contrast, a few other users have set up bots which mimic the 1:1 bots in function and apparently generate no profit (for example, Panimu's bot Æther Cards, which trades 4 common cards for 4 common cards with no restrictions).
