Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Concept Series: Purchasing Droid
I have pushed this droid idea before, but I will do it again, cause I think it is very very important. Also I have caught up on all my RL work and have some time on my hands... (Are you jealous devs? :tongue
There should be a merchant droid that allows a master merchant to access every single vendor in the galaxy from one location. This would have a major impact on SWG economy, but it would only be for the better.
First, Merchant’s could then comparison shop around the galaxy and finally establish stable prices for items. If you want to know what to charge or pay, you can just check with a master merchant.
It would give crafters a reliable source of components from their own profession and other professions. Crafters could either become master merchants themselves and then buy the components they need with their purchasing droid, or they could go to a merchant to buy them. Component suppliers would still be erratic, but if one supplier was lost, a merchant could easily find another supplier to replace him. Therefore, though the merchant himself is always getting his supplies from different crafters, he is able to consistently supply his clients with parts.
It would allow crafters to easily sell their goods. Crafter would have a choice, retail or wholesale. A crafter can sell to the public, or sell to a merchant. The difference is the time and effort a crafter is willing to put into selling his goods. Wholesale would be easy. Since a master merchant can access your vendor anywhere, you would not have to advertise, you can have one vendor in your basement and it would not matter! You would also know what to charge to sell them quickly since prices would have stabilized.
But why not sell it yourself for greater profit? This is where advertising comes in. Merchants would also need to get better advertising with this purchasing droid. Giving Master Merchants the ability to bring together all the goods in the galaxy will not help unless they are easy to find. This means advertising. Any form of advertising is going to be unpopular, but we need it. The barking droids are a start. I also think there should be banner ads in both the mission and the shuttle terminals. The format would have to be strictly controlled to keep it tasteful and starwarsy. Players could also have the option to disable them if they did not want to see them. (Though the player default should be on.)
If the advertising is effective, crafters who are not master merchants would be at a huge disadvantage trying to sell their goods at retail prices. They would have the advantage of being able to sell cheaper, but they would have the disadvantage of less exposure. So it would be up to the crafter: sell cheaper, but quick and easy to a merchant; or sell retail, by running your own store and competing with the big boys.
Some other ideas to throw in there. The purchasing droid might also require a data station build by a master architect. This would make the purchasing skill more valuable as it needs expensive items from two master craftsmen. It would also mean that a merchant would also need a building to do this. It would also finally make those data stations useful.
In the same vein, this should only be the function of an advanced protocol droid. This also increases the value of the purchasing skill, and gives protocol droids something to do.
Finally, the data stations might also have the option of plugging in one or more astromech droids to go out and fetch the items once they are purchased. The would save the merchant the hassle of traveling around the galaxy to pick up all the stuff. Although it should work out that it is cheaper and faster if he roles up his sleeves and get’s it himself.
This is a cool concept, and I often wonder why it isn't already implemented in some form.
Why don't goods that are sold on private vendors already show up on the Bazaar? Why don't Bazaar items show up on private vendors when you're searching the entire Galaxy?
I can think of possible reasons, but there's this nagging doubt in the back of my mind that says that the two systems (vendors and the Bazaar) are probably completely separate code and that they don't play nice with each other.
It'd be really nice to be able to browse all vendors, though, if for no other reason that to check up on competitors so that you can pick the best price to charge.
It would be even better simply to be able search for a specific item and see what vendors (public, private AND droid) had them in stock (with pricing, stat info, etc.).
Kollos wrote:
It'd be really nice to be able to browse all vendors, though, if for no other reason that to check up on competitors so that you can pick the best price to charge.
/bow
Respectfully,
Such a drioid, and/or, an in house terminal, or/and a terminal thing that could be placed in a player city (maby a standard bazaar thing that wouls also sell local products.
All would be great. But I think it should only pertain to the planet your on, like bazaar terminals. Not sure,
That's what I'd like to see too, Gribnitz.
I'd like to be able to load a selection of my products and have it go to a waypoint of my choosing and sell. This would be particularly useful for the half-dozen or so in-game tells I get about what I'm selling today. I could just send the droid to them, they could look it over, and maybe even buy something. (As opposed to order it and either not pick it up for a week or never at all).
O-Jen
hmmm...
I don't remember anywhere in the five SW films (or even in the SWspectrum of novels) where Droids are given the trust required to become independent sales agents? Anyone else ever seen that?
Yes, actually. In Return of the Jedi, R2 was given the right to dispense drinks for people in Jabba's sail barge. Granted, we don't expect SOE to show serving trays on our R2's head, but the idea of R2 acting as a vendor for a Chef (in this example) is very similar.