Doctor Archive
Thread: Doctors gettin left behind when it comes to having a vendor!
Bad2TheB1 wrote:
Just to clear up I never said it was solely a Doctors issue, but this wher I come from. And you have to give me - doctor made medicine (Stims, Wound packs etc.) is far more widely used by all than CM medicine, which is specifically for CMs. Correct me if Im wrong.
Regardless of wide use, which is obviously biased towards Docs, you stated that Doctor and BE were only professions that suffered from this limitation. As I have pointed out this is not true.
I never survey my own resources, only reason I have Artisan is for the vendor.
Well if you choose to not take advantage of an ability you have then that is your problem. Many other Docs, CMs, BEs, Smugglers would crave to be in a position where they could spend 15 Skillpoints as an afterthought to gain an ability that would reduce their overhead costs.
But the idea of a NPC pharmacist in player hospitals is not bad IMO, to be worked like a bazzar for CMs and Doctors alike, with some limitations.
Now that isn't a bad idea. However, to keep the value of having a Merchant class in the game,this mini-bazaar in a player hospital should fall under the same restrictions that a regular bazaar has. You would also have Entertainers wanting mini-bazaars in their player cantinas.
I know people hate real world examples, butcompanies that manufacture drugs do not typically run their own stores. They make arrangements with retailers to sell their products for them. The game dynamics are no different than this. There is a professional class that specializes in marketing product. If everyone had their own vendor, what is the point of the Merchant class?
I guess I should start searching for a merchant to run things for me 
Just to clear up I never said it was solely a Doctors issue, but this wher I come from. And you have to give me - doctor made medicine (Stims, Wound packs etc.) is far more widely used by all than CM medicine, which is specifically for CMs. Correct me if Im wrong.
I never survey my own resources, only reason I have Artisan is for the vendor.
But the idea of a NPC pharmacist in player hospitals is not bad IMO, to be worked like a bazzar for CMs and Doctors alike, with some limitations.
Again for now, I will go find a merchant to cooperate with...
Vicci A'Tivo - Elder "in your face" Bounty HunterPart of the problem with what you say is that Doctor is a strong support class. You mention that some of the other crafting types can have a vendor and master a combat profession. This ignores the fact that doctor is an incredibly powerful class to supplement your fighting skills. Like CM and Smuggler, Doctor is a hybrid class that has benefits in areas besides crafting. I for one can't wait until they make it mandatory to actually retain your merchant skills to utilize a vendor. The best thing I can recommend is to find a merchant to supply your goods to and sell at a markup.
Bad2TheB1 wrote:
Hi,
I have searched a bit for this topic, but couldn't find it anywhere. So now I post here to get someones attention, maybe not the right people but if enough will back me up something might happen!
My key here is as a Master Doctor, lets agree on Doctor being a crafting proffession for a large part! But its the only crafting proffession (except BE) that does NOT require Novice Artisan. So as a Master Doc you have used 140 Skill pts, which leaves you with 110 for all other activities. Then to get a vendor you have to spend 24 skill pts (to reach business 3), the first 15 (for novice artisan) is "free" for all other crafters, while Doctors loose out. So then I decide - hey lets do a master combat proffession and have my vendor. No luck!I come up short 7 skill pts!!!
If there was a way to give this back to Doctors let it be so!
Now you might say, just give up business 3 after you have placed a vendor.. True for now, but the hot-fix on this is just around the corner and I would still like to sell medicine, but I miss a master combat proffession!!
ANY OTHER master crafter can have a full master combat proffession and a vendor, and STILL have 57 skill pts left to spare!!!
Why notmake a special vendor/apothecaryfor medicine only, and made possible to place only as master doctor! I mean what makes more sense than a doctor having his/her own pharmacy for selling their products!
I would hope this has been brought to the DEVs attention, because it's really knocking a big dent in my gaming pleasure!
Message Edited by LordOfFatness on 05-12-2004 12:49 PM
Ok everyone is saying strike a deal with a merchant to sell you stuff, how many strictly merchants are there and how many of these have millions to buy your stuff from you to then turn around and sell it for a profit. They could give crafting professions that don’t require artisan the ability to place one vendor and one only at the master level, that is all I need as a master doctor, this would not impact merchants much. Yes we can sell some stuff on the bazaars in cities but not much.. One thing about making a deal with someone to sell your stuff, what if that person stops playing for what ever reason and you cant contact them or the don’t contact you, what if they decide to delete their account and all their stuff gets destroyed along with the stuff you had them selling of yours. These are some things to consider.
Maybe give merchants the ability to make and rent vendors to others, you would have to pay rent to the merchant that made it, but you can place it where you want it and you would still have to pay the maintenance on it
wyrwulf wrote:
Ok everyone is saying strike a deal with a merchant to sell you stuff, how many strictly merchants are there and how many of these have millions to buy your stuff from you to then turn around and sell it for a profit. They could give crafting professions that don’t require artisan the ability to place one vendor and one only at the master level, that is all I need as a master doctor, this would not impact merchants much. Yes we can sell some stuff on the bazaars in cities but not much.. One thing about making a deal with someone to sell your stuff, what if that person stops playing for what ever reason and you cant contact them or the don’t contact you, what if they decide to delete their account and all their stuff gets destroyed along with the stuff you had them selling of yours. These are some things to consider.
Maybe give merchants the ability to make and rent vendors to others, you would have to pay rent to the merchant that made it, but you can place it where you want it and you would still have to pay the maintenance on it
Radar-X wrote:
wyrwulf wrote:
[snip]
Maybe give merchants the ability to make and rent vendors to others, you would have to pay rent to the merchant that made it, but you can place it where you want it and you would still have to pay the maintenance on it
You aren't getting it. A lot of you are JUST looking at your side of it not anyone elses. Yes, blah, blah all other crafters can have combat classes. When they fix the merchants none of these people are going to have vendors. Vendors are the strong point for merchants. How would feel is someone suggested that medics could buff but only at like 25%? How much business would you lose when people could buff themselves just good enough to hunt? How mad would dancers be if entertainers could mind buff? Look at the big picture bud, the merchants are right up there with the smugglers and they don't need any more "impact" as you call it on them.
wyrwolf, you are correct that there is a flaw in the game wherein there are risks when working on a consignment basis (i.e. they are not buying wholesale from you, making the product theirs to worry about). There is also a problem that there is no accounting system in the game to ensure that a merchant can't swindle you if you make deals with them to sell your product and give you the money less a commission. This is the weakness of the in-game mechanisms. And if you will read my post above, that is my closing point. Those issues are the things that need to be addressed, but giving non-merchant vendors is not the answer.
It is not the answer because Radar-X is absolutely correct. Vendors are like the weapon of the merchant class. People who do not invest the points in Marksman Rifles 2 do not get to use the Laser Rifle, People who do not invest in Two Handed 2 do not get to use the 2H Curved Sword. Okay, they can use them, just at an extreme loss of damage. Well, people without Business 3 get to use the bazaar system, not as effective as your own vendor, but it still works. The principle is the same. You can invest the points, or you can find other ways to market your product through the bazaar system, personal contact (the horror), or by making deals with people who have vendors. But giving people who have not invested the skill points a vendor simply because they have stuff to sell is not an answer.
Look, as a Master Doc, I need to be able to harvest my own meats. I also need to be able to survey to plant harvesters. I would also like to have brawler skills to supplement my rifle skills as a Master Rifleman. I would also like to have SupressionFire1 from RangedSupport 4. But I cannot do all of that because, after Master Doc/Master Rifleman, I only have 18 skill points left. If I invest those points in novice Brawler plus one 1st tier skill, I cannot survey or harvest. If invest them in scout, I cannot cannot use Lunge1 or survey. And if I do either of those things or invest in Artisan, I cannot get SuppressionFire or any other perk from investing the points elsewhere.
Yes, it would be nice to have a vendor. It would also be nice to have no limits on the skills points I can spend. But there are limits. Those limits are there to make each class viable and to put variety and stratigic choices in the game. As much as I would like to have my own vendor, I cannot agree that this is a good idea. Write off the Merchant class if this ever happens.
As a Doc on Lowca for 8 months and a Tailor/Merchant on Ahazi for the same time, I don't agree. That would be like me asking "why can't I make RIS armor if I can craft bone armor as a master artisan?" No thanks.What makes your stims any more important that a CM's stims/poisons? I think that aANY profession that dosent want to spend the 24 points to get a vendorshould have to lease a vendor from a merchant. I do it and make about 40 million a week and pay my merchant friend2 millionof that 40 million as his comission. Nice contract and he only has to go there on special requestand on fridays to restock. Keep pumping our buffpacks/woundpacks/stims/state cures/fireblankets and feed them to a Merchant that you know and trust to be there every Friday to fill your wares onTHEIR vendor so thatthey have a place on your server and can also maybe drop a few things there if he is a crafter as well.
The one suggestion I would make is that it needs to be much easier for players to make arrangements with merchants to sell product. As it is you only have two options: 1) give the merchandise to the merchanton a consignment basisor 2) sell the product to the vendor at an agreed upon price. The problem with the latter is that if you are stocking a large amount of product, the vendor has to have the money up front to be able to pay for it, and the vendor has to have confidence the product would sell. The problem with the former is that there is no accounting system built into the game, so you have no way to hold the vendor accountable for sales, and if he leaves the game or his vendor is destroyed, there is no way to recover your product. Make it easier to make sales through merchant agreements, and that class will become more valuable, and we would have no need to waste the points on that skill.
And this is where we have spent most of our efforts in trying to get advancements for the Merchant profession. Trying to get tools to make those complex business relationships supported and even nourished by the vendor interface instead of complicated and thwarted by it. A better offers screen with protections for the seller and automatic consignment type sales support would go a long way towards solving a lot of the issues with collaboration between suppliers and merchants.