Development Cycle Archive

Limiting the number of items on the vendor is a terrible idea. Those of us who have dedicated countless hours buying, cataloging, marketing, & pricing out thousands of items are dedicated to the business aspect of the game. By limiting the number of items per vendor, you are effectively eliminating a major draw of the game for serious business players.

Personally, I maintain 2 vendors with approx. 2500 items per vendor (plus a fair bit of overstock in storage facilities). It has taken months to acquire & maintain this level of stock. I subcontract bulk orders of items amongst numerous crafters, and thus help spur the economy. Our marketing strategy has been a one-stop shopping source for people who are tired of empty vendors and relatively low breadth of selection on the bazaar. In order to maintain this level of inventory, my partner and myself typically dedicate approx. 40 hours each per week (on top of our existing real-world jobs). We do it, because we enjoy running as real a business as possible. We maintain storage facilities, distribution centers, and even an assembly plant (granted these are houses used for special purposes, but the design solutions to business problems were varied & complex, and ongoing logistics involved in maintaining such an enterprise is immense in "effort overhead"). We maintain spreadsheets itemizing every item we sell, the price, current inventory levels at each location, etc. This alone takes up a rather significant amount of time. Recording sales, corresponding w/ recent customers, determining current buying needs, searching & traversing the galaxy to acquire needed items, negotiating deals w/ sub-contractors, not to mention the normal logistics of resource shifts, maintenance for all equipment & staff, personal crafting, etc. all take a VERY large amount of time & effort. Such effort & dedication should be encouraged, not ground to a halt. There are enough customers out there for everyone...each business person and retail crafter is fulfilling a niche & a need. Do you really only want guilds who can spare the extra vendors to have the only real selection of goods? As an independent gamer, I am somewhat dismayed at the rather consistent pressure to join guilds and/or player cities brought about by the recent attitudes of SWG. If someone wants to join a guild...great!...but why force us all into such potentially unsavory paths?

The point about database issues, not particularly valid in my opinion. The number of items that exist in a game can be regulated by resource scarcity...vs. unfairly limiting a vendor capacity. SWG should take some responsibility in maintaining a robust and scaleable database. We as players pay an awful lot of money each month to play SWG...please take that into account when you consider database scale decisions.

The point about monopolies also does not seem accurate. I purchase many items crafted by other people...and they know that I resell the items (I try to be up-front about such things). Not once have I heard a protest or refusal to sell. The crafter gets his/her asking price, a source of reliable bulk orders, and can then spend credits on other things. In return, I get more stock for sale & boost my depth & breadth of inventory so buyers who are tired of empty vendors & bazaar items that are sold less than honestly (example: armor & weaponry w/ 0 condition, etc.) have a safe and convenient place to shop. Over time, we have developed a reasonably large customer base who are willing to pay a bit more for the convenience & honesty...after all, in this game, time is money...and who wants to worry about the honesty of every seller? I consider it a service we provide, in addition to the goods. We spend the time, effort, and credits to search the galaxy for good deals and quality items so our customers do not have to. Why is this considered a "problem"?

In addition, as a master artisan/architect and novice DE, I would not be able to even stock the a representative breadth of goods for a single profession. What is the point of mastering multiple crafting professions if we can only sell a fraction of the goods? With the ongoing pet nerfs (first loss of aggros, then reduction from 15 to 10), our combat skills are further reduced...leaving us to either change professions, join a guild, contract out exclusively to others (which represents another huge logistical nightmare (let alone the question of honesty), or hawk wares in the streets to move product. Do we really want more street hawking? A little is ok, as it adds to the game, but if everyone is forced to hawk wares in the street, the lag and confusion could seriously detract from game play.

I understand that others may not wish to dedicate the excessive amount of time required to run a business of this magnitude and that is perfectly ok. Those crafters who even wish to simply dabble still have a niche to fill. They often offer goods at a lower price than us. This is great for those customers who prefer a great deal over the time spent shopping. So, why punish those dedicated few who wish to run as "real" an enterprise as possible?

Thank you for your time,

Convene