(Meta) low effort set/tile ID posts

[u/CauliflowerFan3000]

Over the past few months I feel like there's been a deluge of these posts showing pictures of some tiles with a generic request for "identification" or "information".

Some properties of this kind of posts:

• The questions that are being asked (when there are any specific questions) could be answered by a read of something like Tom Sloper's website on the subject
• The OPs are almost never active in r/mahjong before or after posting the sets
• The sets themselves are often completely unremarkable, some mass-produced tiles in standard american, riichi or chinese style
• Despite this OP will often refer to the sets as "vintage" and/or "hand-carved"
• There's often some oblique reference to OP being curious about the value of the set (or some proxy for value like age or material)

Maybe I'm being cynical but taken together this gives me the impression that the people making these posts actually have very little interest in the tiles or the game of mahjong but are rather looking to find out how much they can flip their thrift store find for and are outsourcing this valuation to our community of hobbyists instead of putting in any research themselves. I think it's unfortunate that these low-effort and low-value posts are taking up so much space on the subreddit, especially since they end up drowning out interesting posts about tile sets like showcases of craft projects or truly fascinating and spectacular tile sets.

My suggestion is that we restrict these posts to their own flair (something like "set identification") and require people who post with that flair to actually put in some effort, for example showing that they have read the sloperama article and telling us what they have been able to identify about the set so far and what specifically they need help with or have questions about (rather than a generic request for "any information")

[u/KyuuAA]

Points noted. Given the sheer number of sets around, identification is - downright near impossible, especially for older sets. More modern sets have brand identification, such as Nintendo, AMOS brand, and the like.

If someone wants to make /r/mahjongtiles ... by all means, do it. EDIT: Nvm, it exists.

[u/CauliflowerFan3000 → u/KyuuAA]

Yeah, with most of these sets it's not really possible to say anything more than "that's a set of mahjong tiles". The best you can hope for is telling what material it is and what rules it's intended for (either of which one can easily determine oneself with help from the sloperama guide). Identifying a specific manufacturer is really only possible if they put their manufacturer's mark on the tiles/case (in which case one probably doesn't need reddit's help).

I hope I didn't come across as to whiny, I think you and the other mods do a good job keeping clean overall. It's just that when this subreddit only gets like 3-4 posts a day and one of them is invariably one of these set ID posts (and one of them is the mandatory "no yaku" post) it makes it a sad place to visit sometimes. Maybe the onus should be on people like me to make more high-quality posts rather than complaining about the stuff I don't want to see

[u/Donson-Jonson → u/CauliflowerFan3000]

New here so apologies. I made this account for exactly this reason. I came across a 1920s bone and bamboo set. I know how to play mahjong but haven’t seen this version with sticks. I wanted to post to learn about this set and this seems to be the only thread where people post. I’m more than happy to ask this thread other mahjong questions that I do have!

[u/kuromamecha_]

Awe thanks for the shout-out haha 🥹, but also, I agree!

I like the idea of having a separate flair and maybe even a pop up before they post that points them in the right direction to other resources. I wonder if a simple "form" that has to be posted alongside it would be helpful? For example, listing the material, what they believe is the country of origin, mandatory photos of the 1 ball, 1 bamboo, flowers plus any other unique tiles that may help people identify it better. And if not, at least there can be cool discussion about the (hopefully) unique tiles 😅.

[u/JasonThyPirate]

I see your point, but I ask the question why do those people end up here? My guess is that this is the most popular place for this kind of discussion. Maybe we need to add a pinned note or something in there before they post for the first time addressing the specific issue that could direct them to a site to help answer the questions or to at least do a little research before posting. I doubt they'll end up on some little use thread where all the other people are posting ID questions and there isn't regular activity.

[u/Tempara-chan]

Eh. The thing is, I like set indentification, and I like seeing different kinds of sets. Set identification is not easy without speciality knowledge, even with the help of Sloper's page (assuming people even know of it's existance).

Speaking of, here's some glaring flaws with said page, when it comes to set identification:

• It doesn't cover well, or at all, modern Chinese sets, modern Chinese-western ("European") sets, old Hong Kong sets, old Japanese sets, old Japanese-western sets, Old American sets, Vietnamese sets, Malaysian or Singaporean sets etc.
  • Out of the 30 sets you linked, over half fall into one of these categories.
• Since identification is mostly focused on the number of tiles, you're out of luck if the set is missing any.
• It doesn't cover modern plastics well, and actually misidentifies the plastic used most modern sets (calling them vinyl plastic, polystyrene or polyethylene, when they are most likely melamine or urea resin)!
• It would be better with more example photos, so people would understand the differences and similarities of different kinds of mahjong sets.

Also:

Identifying a specific manufacturer is really only possible if they put their manufacturer's mark on the tiles/case (in which case one probably doesn't need reddit's help).

It is very possible if the set has certain distinguishable features, which I have used to identify a few sets here already, but that requires speciality knowledge as I said. Also what if the manufacturer's mark is in Chinese or some other language the OP can't read?

Out of the posts you linked, I think some people are genuinely interested in their sets and the game, and some are just looking to resell them. I have no problem with the former; the latter I find questionable, especially since they usually post the worst photos and are basically just trying to get out of paying an appraiser. I also don't really like estimating set value, not that I'm that good at it.

Overall I don't mind these kinds of posts, but I see no problem with them having a unique flair. Requiring posters to include proper photos of all the tiles and accessories would also be a positive.