Merchant Archive
Thread: Merchant shouldn't be a class...
jollyemu wrote:
If people... non merchants could use a master merchants vendor for a small fee I would be all for it.
You can. You just have to work out a deal with a master merchant. It usually will involve a markup for your goods. I re-sell stuff for a couple of crafters on my server. Typically, my suppliers will make offers of items on my vendor. I will purchase these items up-front, then turn around and re-sell them for a 25% markup. I've worked a deal with my suppliers where I will simply add 25% on top on whatever price they offer. My suppliers will check the stock of the wares on "their" vendor to see what is low, and offer items accordingly. I log in once a day to check and accept offers, and I'm able to re-post the sales remotely. If my supplier wants to offer a new line, or do a massive re-stock, then I will head over and do it by hand.
It works well. But you actually have to go out, find a merchant, and work out a deal.
jollyemu wrote:
Hiring other smugglers to slice every single item you craft is a royalPAIN and not even worth the effort, so master smuggler is a must for any serious weaponsmith or armorsmith...leaving me no skill credits for merchant.
I do it all the time.
Never had a problem except before I realized the Master smuggler gave a bonus. I give them 10 items, they slice them put them on the vendor. Repeat until done.
i agree with the otehr posters...there just really isnt enough here to be a full blown profession...
most of the skills are simply for vanity and nothing to really do with selling merch and nothing that has really helped me sell more ....
i will ment on this again...
i think the game really needs a SUB-profession class of skills...
things that would be in this group would be Merchant, Politician, and Entertainer. They would take like 5 skill points for a novice skill and then 1-2 points for the boxes after that.
quit frankly, it doesnt matter if you have a fancy dressed Nikto vendor or the crude terminal. if you have stuff people wnat to buy they will buy it.
The window dressing really only adds to the player created content in the game. it makest he game better for all players
I wish they would remove ad barking all together as i am tired of being lagged out becauise some moron has 6 vendors in the house all swacking at you as you walk in.
The world map listing is only psuedo helpful as really location and reputation and most importantly your tag drives most business to your store. 1/2 my business comes from people doing a profession search and then sending me a tell as most are sick of wander from empty vendor to empty vendor. does the map even still work each day. i know i am paying for it but havent checked to see if i am onthe map in months.
tents are nice...but only really window dressing again..
reduced fees are a good thing but in all honesty they matter little once you have millions
can anyone name 1 reason to be a Master Merchant?
And the suggestion that entertainer should be a class that requires less skillpoints is just laughable. I know many full time ents that would have an issue with that statement. Just because it doesn't fit your playstyle, or because you think you should have a profession's abilities without investing as many skill points in it doesn't mean that the profession has no value and should be changed to make the whole game more easy and convenient for you.
ok let me pose this question....
How many "pure merchants" are there.... meaning how many people dont craft but simply sell items they have purchused from others?
I think if you did a poll you would find that 99.999% of respondants would be crafters who simply use vendors to sell their products.
How many people consider Merchant their main profession, or even one of there professions....
The only reason people take merchant is to get vendors..
but i agree, the focus should be on making the class better...
unfortunaly, a small cadre of people who hang in this forum have made getting everyones vendors whacked their prime directive
Merchants get mad about this issue because we have very few skills to begin with and letting everyone have access to them furtherlessensthe profession.
I'm master merchant and have been since the end of the first month. I like the concept of the merchant class very much and don't plan on giving up on it. However, theabilities we get in exchange for allthe skill points are very weak.
First of all, there is awhole skill tree devoted just to get to a 20% discount?I won't even get into the sad state of boxes 1-3, but spending a whole skill tree just to slightly increase my overall bank account doesn't seem like a good use of skill points to me. I would rather be able to DO something to make that bit of money than have a passive skill. Its not fun, theres nothing for me to play with, and certainly isn't worth the whole skill tree.
The next skill tree I have a beef with is the "make your vendor pretty" tree. Sure its a nice touch, but this should really be included with the additional vendors tree. As you get more vendors you get a wider variety and can dress them up. This is a whole tree that eats up skillpoints and does very little overall to actually help me. My goods will sell no matter what hotpants my vendor is rockin.
The other 2 trees I feel are working out ok. The additional vendor tree is a natural fit andI think its the besttree overall.Being able to addbark (still randomly works, but is getting better) and register the vendor are good enough to barely make the othertree passable.
So really after all the smoke has cleared, merchants get extra vendors and a few take em or leave em, passive, often one time use, skills. Once the shop is set up you don't have to use your skills anymore really... the work is done. I often wonder why I keep the skills. I certainly don't need to be master. I don't need to dress them. I don't need to have them bark. I don't even need them to be NPC's really. I think these are all fine abilities, but none of themdeserve skill trees. After all,a vendor is a vendor to a guy who wants to buy his gun. He doesn't care if the vendor isa Sulstan wearing the Emperor's robe orif itsa giant soda machine, he just wants to get his gear and get out.
So thats why the merchants cling to their vendors and don't want other people to be able to have them so easy. ITS ALL WE GOT. The rest of our skills are fluff used to make it look like we have 4 skill trees. Make these trees do something cool and then people won't care as much about who has a vendor up. There is no incentive NOT to drop the skills. Personally I even think it was designed that way intentionally.The use of the word "place" along with the fact that it currently works exactly that way makes me think this class was always intended to be dropped after your store was made. But who knows...
My point is, make the skill boxeshave cool ACTIVEskills andpeople will be less worried about flash in the pan merchants having their same abilities. Right now having the vendors is the onlyusefull thing we can do, so it seems like we are getting ripped off. DO NOT NERF THE VENDORS by lowering the item limit in an effort to make merchant better. Thats not the answer either. Just beef up our other skill boxes and give us some kick ass abilities that would make people WANT to be Merchant and want to STAY Merchant. What those abilities could be is a whole nother thread though, and I'm sure there are good ones going already... 
the_redeye_jedi wrote:
My point is, make the skill boxeshave cool ACTIVEskills andpeople will be less worried about flash in the pan merchants having their same abilities. Right now having the vendors is the onlyusefull thing we can do, so it seems like we are getting ripped off.
yes you have said what i have been trying to vocalize for months...
but my point is that the VENDORS dont matter...the PRODUCTS matter....
so there is no competition over who has more vendors...if you have 6 vendors and i have 1 and you have them full of crappy guns and i have krayt guns, who is the better merchant?
your point about having ACTIVE skills is what i have been trying to get across fro some time...everything i have seen is as you say... a one time use skill...though doc will say we use our skills evertime we sell something.
i have enough points to support my 4 vendors, thats all i have ever kept from the tree because i fear that i will wake up one morning and ther ewill be a nerf and millions of dollars will have poofed...
i just wish the so called community would not have focused on a real non-issue..
now we are getting into vendor limits and what not...
i say screw it, i'll just sell on the bazaar
"i just wish the so called community would not have focused on a real non-issue.."
Yah its such a tiny issue. It just lets everyone be a master merchant without having any merchant skills. Why would thos annoying master merchantsget mad about that./endsarcasm
Naufragus wrote:
ok let me pose this question....
How many "pure merchants" are there.... meaning how many people dont craft but simply sell items they have purchused from others?
I think if you did a poll you would find that 99.999% of respondants would be crafters who simply use vendors to sell their products.
Crafters can use Business3 to sell their products. Or the bazaar. The dont need to be a merchant.
Your question isn't really relevent. You might as well be asking who would artifically handicap themselves by not spending 158 skillpoints (it only takes 92 to master merchant). Your answer will be 0. I highly doubt there is a single player out there who would not spend that additional 158 skillpoints.
jbeck wrote:
Naufragus wrote:
ok let me pose this question....
How many "pure merchants" are there.... meaning how many people dont craft but simply sell items they have purchused from others?
I think if you did a poll you would find that 99.999% of respondants would be crafters who simply use vendors to sell their products.
Crafters can use Business3 to sell their products. Or the bazaar. The dont need to be a merchant.
Your question isn't really relevent. You might as well be asking who would artifically handicap themselves by not spending 158 skillpoints (it only takes 92 to master merchant). Your answer will be 0. I highly doubt there is a single player out there who would not spend that additional 158 skillpoints.
We asked that question..there were many of us who weren't crafters. A lot more than .1%
I'm a merchant and I've mentioned this numerous times...there just isn't enough in the profession to warrent the skill points. I don'tthink it should be eliminated, but definitely improved.
With the currently available skills, it's too bad that the dev team limited themselves to 4 skill trees within each profession. Merchant would be a great "elite" prof with 2 skill trees and a master box. (eliminate efficience/hiring and give merchant tents to master and vendor dress somewhere in the middle of the skill progression)