Merchant Archive
Thread: Actual IDEAS to help mitigate this patch
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Ejai
Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:27 pm
#1
I think the appropriate reaction to a situation you feel is unfair or unpalatable is to look for the middle ground... find the compromise. If you look hard enough, you will find common goals, and that will allow you to work to meet them. Players want to have fun in the game... SOE wants players to have fun, because that is how they make money. However - SOE has to maintain a workable application... how much fun will all the Merchants have if the servers start crashing all the time? SOE has to weigh the number of accounts that will be cancelled from a nerf like this against the number who will cancel if the servers are sporadically unavailable. I understand business... so in their situation I'd nerf merchants.... UNLESS someone helped me come up with a better idea.
Those of you screaming bloody murder... try going into your local bank branch and raise hell because you want the drive-through to extend their hours. See if that works as well as the guy (or gal) who had the same complaint, rubbed his chin, and invented the ATM.
That being said - PLEASE use this thread to post only IDEAS that might be of some use to the development team.
Personally, I am so sick of empty vendors I would LOVE to see something put in place to "de-initialize" them after a 48 or 72 hours. That way you don't lose any maintenance if it was an honest issue, had a car wreck, or whatever... that would also take them off the world map registration.
Consignment. Consignment. Consignment. Think about it... in the real world - or even in the fantasy worldof Star Wars - how may retail shopkeepers actually MAKE the items they sell? A variation of the consignmentidea - add a control option for Master Merchants to "Grant Shelf Space". Non-merchants could then be allotted... say... 50 items of space on a vendor that is maintained by a Master.
I couldn't agree more where folks have stated that the other trees in Merchant are bogus.Here's an idea:why not add the ability to actually craft (or train NPC) merchants?!! You want a vendor? You have to get one from a Master Merchant!
Storage is a huge issue for virtually every seasoned player who crafts. There simply isn't a good way to manage millions of units of resources, the ridiculous number of components needed for the crazy variety of completed items, etc. I hear suggestions all the time.. safe deposit boxes... factories... hoppers... NONE of these are workable. So... here's my thought: add a new structure for Architects - a Warehouse! Make this structure have a large item limit (say - 500 or even 1000), and make it only be able to be placed by a Master Merchant (like the tents).
This one won't be popular, but the more I think about it the more I like it: prohibit vendors from being placed anywhere but Merchant Tents. Merchant tents would then get a new option in their management administration control: "Grant Vendor Placement". Non-Merchants would then essentially have to rent space from a Master Merchant for a small maintenance fee. This would save a lot of time & trouble running around into houses looking for what room folks have hidden their vendors in...
Similar to the Warehouse idea: add a new structure for Architects: a "Mall". Again, only able to place by a Master Merchant... possibly considered a City Structure.... and if the idea above were implemented this would be the only other structure vendors could be placed.
Another consideration: neither Merchant Tents or Malls would allow an option to be private structures - they would always be open to the public. Combine this with prohibiting vendor placement elsewhere and a credit limit on the per item prices on vendors... wallah - vendors used as storage is solved. Especially rare loot can be sold on the forums.
The workaround where you sell containers (backpacks, satchels, whatever...) is an issue... people are screaming to be able to see inside the containers. I'd be willing to bet that any change where seeing into the container is permitted will also make that container count as the number of items in it. Were I on the development team, I'd seriously consider the easy fix: don't allow a container to be offered if it has even one item in it. Here are some ideas for that:
Add NEW items for crafters:
Armorsmiths get a schematic for a FULL SUIT of armor. Components include each individual piece, and if the stats aren't exact the schematic creates new stats that average the individual pieces.
Merchants get a schematic for a crate - functions like a backpack in use & a standard crate when examined. Crafters can then use that crate to store up to 50 (100?) identical items, thereby allowing stats to be viewed when examined. This would also work to "re-crate" items that had been split.*
Allow items to be "re-crated". If you have a crated item, identical items can be dragged & dropped onto the crate & added back in.
Expand the use of "Change Color":
Much like composite armor, clothing and other items allow the owner to change color. Not great for tailors... but sure saves time & eliminates the need for selling as broad of aselection.
That's all I have for now. Really hoping to see ONE thread on this topic stay flame free........
Tempest Server
Gotti_Is_Back
Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:23 pm
#2
Please lock this thread at the top of this forum, DEV person.
Observer
BBCIden
Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:48 pm
#3
YES! in my view these ideas are GOLDEN!!
Sticky this and let the DEVs seethese ideas....add this dude to the DEV team....lol. 
Sigrun
Wed Aug 11, 2004 1:23 pm
#4
Gyopi wrote:
Why is it that the only solutions I am seeing to the tailor color problem is to make clothing dyable by customers? This would make tailor the most boring job in the game and would eliminate almost all of us. Solutions to how our profession should function with vendor limits should not be something that destroys the profession.
Indeed, it's amazing that the developers don't have the capability to think through their plans even at a cursory level for each class of player they'll impact. You KNOW they can't be thinking though the mid-term effects of this change; meaning what it's going to do to combatants in 2-4 weeks.
Ejai
Wed Aug 11, 2004 4:40 pm
#5
Gyopi,
I defer to your knowledge of the tailor profession. Never having gone beyond Novice Tailor, I'll admit I don't have the insight as to what makes that profession fun. After you pointed out the issue with my comment and I reflected a bit - I suspect my suggestion was akin to saying "let's make it so Image Designers can change hair color at will... as long as they always change it to green".
That being said - what other ideas do you have that would make Tailor easier on you from a total item management standpoint? This is the toughest one from my limited perspective... I can't think of another profession where single items are quite so necessary. Even weapons are more palatable in 5 item crates.
Gyopi
Wed Aug 11, 2004 5:06 pm
#6
Ejai wrote:
Gyopi,
I defer to your knowledge of the tailor profession. Never having gone beyond Novice Tailor, I'll admit I don't have the insight as to what makes that profession fun. After you pointed out the issue with my comment and I reflected a bit - I suspect my suggestion was akin to saying "let's make it so Image Designers can change hair color at will... as long as they always change it to green".
That being said - what other ideas do you have that would make Tailor easier on you from a total item management standpoint? This is the toughest one from my limited perspective... I can't think of another profession where single items are quite so necessary. Even weapons are more palatable in 5 item crates.
I really don't know. The only thing I can think of is to add a vendor bonus for tailors (at least master tailors)since it is a special case. Clothing is the only crafting profession where the main selling point is variety, and because of this, our vendors tend to have a large number of single hand made items instead of factory crates. We don't have experimentation, so the only thing that distinguishes us from each other is our taste and our customer service. Anyway, the problem with this solution is that I don't think many merchants would like the idea of having tobe master tailors to get the most out of their vendors, so that probably won't work.
Another idea is to remove the limit only for clothing, except for storage items such as backpacks, satchels and cargo pockets. As much as I wish it were true, I don't think that the problems has been with people storing their massive wardrobes on their vendors.
Message Edited by Gyopi on 08-11-2004 08:07 PM
Ejai
Wed Aug 11, 2004 5:17 pm
#7
Gyopi wrote:
As much as I wish it were true, I don't think that the problems has been with people storing their massive wardrobes on their vendors.
Now THAT is FUNNY!
Hmmm... what about being able to keep crates of specific items in the stockroom and have some control to "auto-restock"? Or... the ability to put a crate of 25 up for sale but stipulate "sell as single items"?
***sigh*** The reality is (yes, Zanholo - I am trying to face reality) I doubt any of these "creative" ideas will be adpoted. When push comes to shove, I suspect they will simply raise the limits to 500 or so and carry on with their patch.
Tempest Server
Gyopi
Wed Aug 11, 2004 5:55 pm
#8
Ejai wrote:
Hmmm... what about being able to keep crates of specific items in the stockroom and have some control to "auto-restock"? Or... the ability to put a crate of 25 up for sale but stipulate "sell as single items"?
The problem is that most tailors just make components in factory crates and the clothing by hand. If I want to put muscle shirts on my vendor I might make 2 each of black/black, white/white, black/white, white/black, red/red, red/black, black/red, blue/blue, blue/black, blue/white, blue/red, etc...
You end up with a large number of individual items that don't just come from a factory crate. You can also easily make 25-30 of a single item in just the popular colors. When you have hundreds of different items to make, it gets very large very quick.
Ejai
Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:30 am
#9
I have seen a lot of good ideas mixed in with about 10 times as much flames... I'm really confused as to why anyone thinks a post saying "this sucks! don't do it!" is in any way, shape, or form helpful. Nobody (including SOE) gets anything out ofreading it. It's a waste of your time and their time and everyone else's.
One of the things that made me stick with this game is the incredible complexity of possibilities. Players in SWG are creative! ID's creating new looks... people decorating houses in unique and ingenious ways... the examples go on & on. Sure - it's fun to kill stuff... but there are a gazillion other games that do that far better than SWG. It's the "light duty" combat in combination with the unreal potential of the crafting professions that makes this game especially fun. I would really enjoy seeing folks excercise that same creativity here in helping solving this issue.
The nerf WILL happen. "Stop the nerf!" is like saying "stop the sun from rising!" - a pointless /shout that will be far more ignored than spam in Coronet. These forums are an opportunity for us to provide input that might make the patch more palatable and - dare I say - even be a good thing. I challenge folks who have comments to make them with that goal in mind.
Zanholo
Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:37 am
#11
you are fooling yourself...
squeeky wheels get greased...
our own correspondant has come back with a number that is clearly unacceptable to most master merchants out there...
so, the devs say a lowball number, our correspondant says a lowball number and you think calmly worded suggestions are going to work???
there are 1000's of well-worded suggestions and have been FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS AND MONTHS...
maybe your post here will save the world...and the market of swg...but I am doubting it...
LGMStevieRay
Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:39 am
#12
I have some solutions... Look here.
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=merchant&message.id=41227
MrElmar
Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:39 am
#13
zanholo ... just a curiousity question .. if you feel the situation is so hopeless/pointless why are you still here?
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