Architect Archive
Thread: An Idea for NPC Cities, please post opinions
Page 1 of 1
Cloudchasing
Thu Mar 24, 2005 3:46 pm
#1
OK, this is an idea I posted in the "IN Development" Thread and I received good responses, so I'm throwing it at the folks that it would effect directly.
I'd love to hear any responses you may have, positive or negative, thanks
Here's an idea,
OK, I understand and agree that making apartments in the cities would indeed increase lag, but how bout vendors?
Right now all vendors are in tents or houses, this is good because it allows a player a place to sell their goods in a stationary spot and not rely on the bazaar. However, we also have the problem that no one EVER goes to the minor cities. On Lowca everywhere but Theed and Coronet are basically empty. This idea will make the merchants unhappy I think, but it's really not gonna hurt them all that much.
Get rid of vendor tents. I can understand vendors in GuildHalls and houses, but other than that, get rid of the tents. In place of them, create a limited number of available vendor "shops" in the major cities. This will do 2 things; First: it will force players to visit other cities, and thus decrease lag in the few major ones Second: it will create a sort of "Business District". People will need to go to Bela Vistal and Kaadara and all sorts of places. Charge Rent for the different shops instead of the current maintenance cost, and charge more for the shops in Major Cities such as Coronet and Theed and Bestine, but less (A lot less) for the shops in the alleys of Mos Eisley and Restuss. Then charge a lot for the "shops" at Amidala's Retreat because it's such a pretty place to go, and charge next to nothing for the few cities that don't have shuttleports such as Mos Taike and *that one city on Naboo*.
Yes, This would bother Merchants, but as far as the player base, I think this idea wouldn't bother anyone at all, considering that For the best PvP Stun armor I go to Tatooine and for Weapons visit Corellia and for good PvE another city on Tat and for good ranged weapons go to one place and good damage sliced melee another and the best food is maybe on Dant.
I believe SOE needs to force people into the minor cities in a way that doesn't take away the functionality of Player Cities and also doesn't cause added travel restrictions. I know this is possible especially if they use instanced shops the same way they make apartments and houses in EQ2. (Although I really like the fact that everything has it's own "mass" in SWG)
Poldano
Thu Mar 24, 2005 9:13 pm
#2
I don't mean to rain on your parade, but this is not a new idea. I recall discussing it very briefly with Doc Savage (former Merchant correspondent) at Fan Fest last year. As I recall, he was rather skeptical of the notion.
Here are some of the problems:
How do you allocate rights to the most popular places, typically Coronet and Theed.
Is it fair for someone to occupy a valuable slot indefinitely and only put up a backpack for 99999999 credits, for example?
Is it fair to auction slots?
Is it fair to auction slots on a regular basis?
Is it fair to allow a rich toon to displace a poor toon from an occupied slot, by outbidding?
Etc., etc., which is to say, there are a lot of problems to work out, lots of potential ways to exploit any implementation, etc.
At least with the present system, there is a possibility of eventually finding a space in thevendor-district slums around NPC cities, and the alternative of trying to build up a player city's reputation as a place with good vendors.
Saego, Wanderhome
Cloudchasing
Thu Mar 24, 2005 10:22 pm
#3
Good points, this is what I was looking for, lemme think
Poldano wrote:
I don't mean to rain on your parade, but this is not a new idea. I recall discussing it very briefly with Doc Savage (former Merchant correspondent) at Fan Fest last year. As I recall, he was rather skeptical of the notion.
Here are some of the problems:
How do you allocate rights to the most popular places, typically Coronet and Theed. I'm gonna say first come first serve
Is it fair for someone to occupy a valuable slot indefinitely and only put up a backpack for 99999999 credits, for example? This I would say is one of the problems, but if the slots were auctioned on a monthly basis, like say, one the first of the month, the tenant gets the shop, and that day the auction for the shop starts over. If you can afford it, you get it. Maybe have a 3 day period at the end of the month requiring the old tenant (if they lost the auction) to move their produc to another location. This really isn't different than renting a shop in any mall. Those Prime shops in Coronet and Theed should (IMHO) be hotly contested. And if the merchant can't afford to stay in Cnet, there are always cheap shops or his house to sell out of elsewhere.
Is it fair to auction slots? Yes (again IMO)
Is it fair to auction slots on a regular basis? Yes again
Is it fair to allow a rich toon to displace a poor toon from an occupied slot, by outbidding? Yes, SWG is unique among MMOs in that it has an almost entirely player based economy, this is just another element of the economy
Etc., etc., which is to say, there are a lot of problems to work out, lots of potential ways to exploit any implementation, etc. yes there are problems, but think of how dynamic the game could be if people actually travelled to other cities. Just imagine......
At least with the present system, there is a possibility of eventually finding a space in thevendor-district slums around NPC cities, and the alternative of trying to build up a player city's reputation as a place with good vendors. This is all true, but I stillbelieve that this would be a change that would greatly benefit players, although I understand crafters may see it as hurting them, I really don't agree, but I believe that any problems could be worked out.
Saego, Wanderhome
Good points, this is what I was looking for, lemme think
faarsider
Thu Mar 24, 2005 11:07 pm
#4
not achitect related this idea for improving NPC cities but i think the main reason people avoid NPC cities is now habit
the habit formed by not being able to see your own spatial chat due to the sodding afk spammers so people load in to a city and move away asap to their player city or goto the bazaar or cantina etc
there is no reason to stay in a npc city as the afk spammers ruin the feel and atmosphere
i say make afk spamming against imperial law spawn a lambda shuttle full of 999999ham nova troopers land kill the spammers
I know for a fact i would come into a npc city just to see these lag makers mowed down in their sleep
would make room for players to return to npc citys to actually socialise and I for one would be found in a populated player city happily crafting to order furniture etc and carrying a supply of deeds in a pack would be like market day taking your wares into the big city to sell
Message Edited by faarsider on 03-24-2005 10:11 PM
bluejanus
Fri Mar 25, 2005 9:17 pm
#5
Shrug I don't think it's that important that those minor NPC cities are visited. In fact I posted a thread once that there should be game events that would destroy certain excess NPC cities as part of the game content.
Your idea is interesting only if you believe the minor cities are important. Otherwise it's a further erosion of the Merchant profession.
Page 1 of 1