Development Cycle Archive
Thread: ID#2: Two Changes to Bazaars and Vendors
devastation
Wed Aug 11, 2004 4:12 pm
#2289
Ive not read every post as i dont have 48 hours or reading time but i cant see why you are wanting to lower the number of itemson venders as that as you can see is going to cause too many problems, if anything you should simply prevent people from using venders as storage by making them have to delete the vender in order to drop the skill keeping the vender placed, i wouldsay more of the problems but 99.5% of the people probibly wont bother to read any further than page 3 so ill save my fingers to prepare to have to spamin coronet 
.
.Out ofall the things done with the game so for this 1 will ruin the buisnesses of 100's of people who have worked hard from day 1 just to see it all ruined with 1.......weird update which 90% do not agree with.
as i have 2 accounts and a very succesful buisnessman on the game woudl not like to see it all fail with just 1 update so all i cAN
Cinderr
Fri Aug 13, 2004 4:16 am
#2290
Where'd our 60 page thread go in the merchant forum regarding this? Don't like our feedback so hush us up by deleting it? There were alot of good ideas there and now its..gone. =( I would have thought SOE cared about its customers more than that.
Cinderr
Fri Aug 13, 2004 4:21 am
#2291
And another thing ... BIG KUDOS to DocSavag and all that that he's had to endure, being on the spot like that, the go-between a very upset profession and the devs. This guy should be paid for his efforts. He knew this was coming, he kept your confidence. The very least you guys could do is respond to our pleas. Would very much appreciate SOMEONE posting in the merchant forum..just throw us a bone, let us know you are not totally oblivious to us.
IshinVaru
Fri Aug 13, 2004 8:42 am
#2292
First. Increasing the price on the bazzar doesn't seem like a bad idea. It will help new crafters without vendors to sell good items for what they are worth.
Second. Like many others have said...The whole idea of capping merchants at 150 or 110 items per vendor is just insane. Most of us don't have the time we'd like to play SWG. Right now with no limit on what a merchants can place on their vendors finding well stocked ones with items that you need can take hours of hopping from planet to planet and city to city. I don't want to spend half my game time shopping for an Armor vendor that is stocked with what I need. It's also very easy to sort through vendors that have massive stockand find what you need using the filters.This is one way to totally wreck the economy if that's what you want.
Ishin Varu
Master Doctor
Ex-Master Combat Medic
Diorchas
Fri Aug 13, 2004 10:55 am
#2293
The changes to the vendor cap are, perhaps, the most atrocious idea to ever be perpetrated on a player base.
Yes, I understand that there are database problems and that people are using vendors as storage. Yes, I agree that those things re valid concerns.
But by limiting the amount of items on vendors you're going to absolutely DESTROY parts of the crafting community. Tailoring, especially, is going to get slammed because we need to keep so many things in stock... in so many colours.
Bad move, devs. Very bad. Lots of people will quit over this one. Not a threat, just the truth.
Wolfbane9999
Sat Aug 14, 2004 5:30 am
#2294
You don't deserve it and I doubt you read most of the posts but here's a constructive idea.
Remove the limits on the size of crates and resource stacks and allow vendors to sell any quantity from a stack. This will satisfy both players and "devs". It will reduce the size of the database dramatically. I will explain just in case. Instead of having 20 database items from a factory run of crates there will be 1 database item. Same for different sizes of resource stacks or copies of the item made in a factory.On the vendors there will be for example, 45 Jawa Ion Rifles availablelisted on one line, or 345k of Steel. A buyer can purchaseany of the number available.One unique listing instead of many copies of the same thing. Just list one item typein the database with an added field "item count".
Wolfbane9999
Sat Aug 14, 2004 5:51 am
#2295
Also you use the fear of monopolies as justification for implementing limits. A monopoly would be a player or players controlling a resource or item exclusively so that no one else could sell it and he/she/they would be able to set artificially high prices on the resource or item. I don't see how this is possible. Virtual items are unlimited essentially. A player or group can't control all of any resource or item in the game, more spawns all the time or is crafted by anyone who cares to get the skills.
I don't know what you're thinking but if you are objecting to players that amass large amounts of resources or vendor items, you're mistaken. These players are a benefit to the game and they are necessary. They are responsive to their customers and thus a benefit. They are necessary because the nature of the game economy will reflect the nature of the real economy and that is capitalism. As I'm sure you know, in all countries less than 5% of the population own 95% of the assets. Thusyou should not object that in the game also this will tend to happen.
JettVega
Sun Aug 15, 2004 3:14 am
#2296
I think most of the people in favor of the vendor item limit being that low don't know what its like to be a merchant, or worse, a merchant/tailor or merchant/architect and have 1000'sof varieties on items to make. A limit is fine, but 150 is too low. To free up database space, the best idea I've heard is to get rid of junk loots. The griefing on this one shouldn't even be a concern, its not that big of a deal. People will get over it and the results of that will be alot better then the hordes of crafters quitting the game should the merchant limit go through at that low of a number. If you need to put a 1000 or 2000 item limit, that's cool, but it would be nice if that could be spread out through vendors as a player wishes. If you want everything on one vendor, cool. If not, its all good.
Taking care of empty vendors is a great idea though 
-Jett Vega, Scum for Hire and Master Smuggler
Blacklight, Kauri
KajaGrae
Sun Aug 15, 2004 2:14 pm
#2297
My take on this:
Bazaar incrs is good. its should be a little hugher like 10k, and auction should have no cap.
Why you say? I think it will reduce the number of people who take artsian to get the 1 vendor if they can use the bazaar (most of the combat oriented folks who have lots of loot to sell). Also I think it would be cool to put a buyout feature and a variable time limit too.
As for the vendor itme cap. I really dont like it at all. I keep about 1000+ items on my vendor at all times. I am a Master Weaponsmith and need the volume for a good selection. But at the same time I would like to be able to travel the galaxy and loot components for myself, and be able to hunt or help a friend in a fight. (master swordsman). If you limit the vendor space then you force players like me to give up most or all of my combat skill to take merchant so we can put our wares in stock. That would bore me to tears. I think it would make my enjoyment of the game much less (and some folks dont have the money to get an alt PC). I like the abillity to take a break from my shoppe to go to the Geo cave or what not. makes it fun.
My 2 cents
BlissfullyFemale
Mon Aug 16, 2004 12:46 am
#2298
Here's my $0.02
Yes, I like the idea of vendor item cap.
I'd also like to see implemented:
* Removal of vendor from world registration when vendor is out of items
* Mail sent to vendor owner when vendor is out of items
* Mail sent to vendor owner when vendor is out of maint (Don't know if this is already implemented)
* Possiblity to rename vendor after it has been initialized (So you can name your vendor: Meds! Restocked 8/8/4) which would register on world registration.
Thanks
Yes, I like the idea of vendor item cap.
I'd also like to see implemented:
* Removal of vendor from world registration when vendor is out of items
* Mail sent to vendor owner when vendor is out of items
* Mail sent to vendor owner when vendor is out of maint (Don't know if this is already implemented)
* Possiblity to rename vendor after it has been initialized (So you can name your vendor: Meds! Restocked 8/8/4) which would register on world registration.
Thanks
BlissfullyFemale
Mon Aug 16, 2004 12:52 am
#2299
Hmm. You know, on second thought, the vendor item cap may be too low at 150. I don't do a lot of sales, but I am not a merchant of any kind. Perhaps the item limit could be integrated into the merchant tree? Again, this would encourage more people to take more branches in Merchant.
Perhaps:
Buisness 3: 50 item
Buisness 4: 100 item
Novice Merchant: 150 item
Management 1: 200 item
Management 2: 250 item
Management 3: 300 item
Management 4: 350 item
Master Merchant: 450 item
This would help limit those vendors with tons of items on it, but it wouldn't hurt that much.
It would also be handy to have a better breakdown of item types for those long lists, or perhaps list the items grouped by type, instead of in order of being added to the vendor. For example, all weapon powerups would be on one page, instead of across three pages. This would make vendors more efficient.
Perhaps:
Buisness 3: 50 item
Buisness 4: 100 item
Novice Merchant: 150 item
Management 1: 200 item
Management 2: 250 item
Management 3: 300 item
Management 4: 350 item
Master Merchant: 450 item
This would help limit those vendors with tons of items on it, but it wouldn't hurt that much.
It would also be handy to have a better breakdown of item types for those long lists, or perhaps list the items grouped by type, instead of in order of being added to the vendor. For example, all weapon powerups would be on one page, instead of across three pages. This would make vendors more efficient.
DrZephyre
Mon Aug 16, 2004 10:56 am
#2300
I have two crafting characters and will essentially convert them to combat or just cancel one if the 150 limit on the vendors gets put in place. I have no desire to spend most of my time babysitting vendors. As a doctor, I have 10-30 versions of all the available meds on my vendor. That hits 150 very quickly! There should be NO limit on the vendors. Leave those alone. The "technical" issues are easily resolved by throwing equipment in and optimizing your database. Maybe a different expiration would be in order but definitely not a cap like this. I also sell resources and have well over 150 of these as well.
There is just no good reason to limit the vendors beyond not wanting to put the effort in to make sure that the code involved with managing them is efficient and optimal.
It would be nice, however, if the vendors only listed categories that actually contained things. Like I don't need an armor category on my medical vendor. That would definitly be easier for "drilling". How about user-defined categories? That would help too!
Finally, a bit of vendor cleanup would probably help too. Like removing vendors of players that no longer have any merchant skills. That has got to free up your database quite substantially!
Message Edited by DrZephyre on 08-16-2004 11:06 AM
jubaljester
Mon Aug 16, 2004 1:35 pm
#2301
Raising bazaar price capis a good idea, like someone else mentioned, the value of stuff has gotten insane.
Vendor cap? The only cap that should be on vendors, in my opinion, is already in effect. If you dont have the money to buy it, or make it, you wont be able to sell it. This is a bad idea, and I logged into the forums only because I heard rumors of it in game. Alot of talk between merchants is against this, and more than a few threatened to quit the game if that cap is set. I feel if you must place a cap, set it much higher, at least 1000 items per vendor. If you go through with this, at least add to the bazaar cap on number of items for merchants, and up the number of items allowed in buildings, which everyone wants. =[
I know its sad that we are worried about how many material possessions we have in a game, but hey, thats what makes it fun.
Another note, if we dont have alot of stuff to sell, how are the merchants with malls supposed to keep up on their maintenance, we aren't exactly built for fighting...