Merchant Archive
Thread: Galaxy Search Alternative
Meplorium wrote:
The Devs don't feel that they are wrong and letting them know that won't get your ideas put forward. They have egos and feelings too.
EnigmaBSc wrote:
Overall a very good suggestion, but I still see problems with letting people purchase directly:
Tirranus wrote:
- Items listed for a city can be bought from the terminal, but must be picked up at the vendor.
- The Evil-Merchant Scenario: ...
- The Lame-Griefer Scenario: ...
- The Instant-Delivery-With-No-Instant-Delivery Scenario: ...
And Fidgiter wrote:
A concern of mine was the "Buywhile Banned" threat and this elimites that. However, it doesn't address the "Buy THEN Banned" threat. ie: someone buys an item, the merchant recognizes the name and for some reason has a beef with him/her, the merchant then bans the person from the shop before they have a chance to make the pickup. People will always find a way to grief and while no system is perfect there are some systems which present too great an opportunity.
Fidgiter wrote:
I disagree here as having it as you suggested would make MASTER MERCHANT useless. Let's face the facts here, a Novice Armorsmith can't compete with a Master Armorsmith and they shouldn't be able too. Being the MASTER in a profession should provide a competative edge. For this reason the Master Merchant should have the galactic market edge.
Fidgiter wrote:
A jack-of-trades but master-of-none. If someone chooses to spread themselves thin on the skill points that is a choice they make. If they are truely dedicated to the commercial game they should be more effective than someone who spreads themselves thin.
Fidgiter wrote:
This being said I do not see Planetary Merchant Terminal registration as being usless at all. The search size of the galactic list could be unbearable and there will people who will filter this by choosing to look at Plantary or City listings actually *gasp* travelling a bit in their shopping pursuits.
Meplorium wrote:
Delivery idea is a CS nightmare. What if the person gets the item but won't return it? What if their computer fries while trying to return an item and they never bother to come back to the game? What if no onetakesthat delievery mission?What if the merchant moves the vendor in the time it takes for that delievery mission to be completed?
- Allow the merchant to decide if they will let their items be deliverable or not. This would be a setting available on the vendor, not per item, and would only become available in AdIV.
- Allow the merchant to decide if they want delivery charge to be a percentage or a flat per item fee.
- Whether or not an item is deliverable would not be displayed while purchasing an item.
- If an item is deliverable, a system box would pop up stating "This item may be delivered to you directly for XXX credits. Do you wish to have this item delivered to you? Then a simple "Yes" "No" click option.
- If the customer chooses to have an item delivered, rather than it being placed directly into their inventory (there may be an issue with inventory space at time of purchase) it would be sent via email. The email would have the wp of the vendor it was purchased fromand all the other goodie info that is sent with sales emails, along with an image of the item or simply just "Package" ect that can be saved as well. Choosing to "save attachment" would then place the item in the inventory. Problem with this is the possiblity of abuse ... someone buying 1000 items and keeping them in email form only saving them as needed ect.
Meplorium wrote:
Remote buying obviously has too many problems and is really just not needed. It should be dropped altogether.
Totally disagree 110%.
I think we not only need a way for merchants to have thier vendors searched remotly I think this can also add in actual player granted missions.
To make it simple, just add Pleyer City Bazaar Terminals that merchants can register thier vendors with if they are within city limits. These bazaars would be searchable from any other Bazaar (Including the ones in NPC cities).
If you purchase an Item you then have 2 choices to retrieve it.
1. Go to the Bazaar that vendor is registered on and retrieve it.
2. Set up a Delivery mission from the Bazaar it is on to any other Bazaar (Where you will pick it up after the mission is complete) You then decide how much you will pay to have the item delivered and how much time you will give the person taking the mission to deliver it. Then simply have every Bazaar have a new Tab. Delivery Missions. Players then take this mission and it works like a regular delivery mission only with a time limit. When it's done the Item is then on the destination Bazaar and the purchaser can go get it. If the time limit runs out the mission is failed and goes back for someone else to take.
This allows people to stay in thier city and make purchases and then have the product delivered to thier city. This also saves folk from having to visit dozens and sometimes hundreds of empty vendors before finding the item they seek.
-LA
Tirranus wrote:
I am coming at this from the perspective of someone who has a shop on Rori and hates the design that creates a concentric ring of shops around major NPC cities. I could see some people doing planetary searches, but rarely on planets not in the less populous ones. I think there should be less incentive to set up shop in already overpopluated places, not more.
So if a person is a dabbler on a backwater world they should be able to compete with a master on a high traffic world? I don't buy it for a second. There are alot of merchants who run vendors on multiple worlds to capture the traffic bringing convenience to their customers and success to their business. Success without effort is boring and would discourage the type of commerce that brings the scant immersion that exists in the game.
Location is critical to success in business. You need to have the right product in the right place with the right prices to succeed. Only a marketing genious can create a demand where one didn't exist before and that is the domain of the Master. A Master who draws people to that out of the way community then draws business to the others who also do business in that area. Cooperation is another extremely valuable key to success.
Meplorium wrote:
I totally disagree 120%.
It creates too many grief type problems. It is widely not wanted by many merchants for several reasons including PoS purchances, shop upkeep and roleplaying. I want people to come to my store and view my vendor. I do have several shops spread throughout the galaxy for customer convience so it isn't like I want to create more work for my customer, but I do want them to find things they didn't know they wanted.
Delivery idea is a CS nightmare. What if the person gets the item but won't return it? What if their computer fries while trying to return an item and they never bother to come back to the game? What if no onetakesthat delievery mission?What if the merchant moves the vendor in the time it takes for that delievery mission to be completed?
If a system that has too many 'what ifs' it isn't a good system even if the underlying idea is good. Just like remote buying has too many 'what ifs'.The ideaneeds to be thrown out as it isn't needed and there are too many 'what ifs' that in the long run will make something that isn't wanted by all too much of a problem.
I do agree with the searches though. They are needed and they only 'what ifs' is in how the UI is used, which can be solved by a UI update, ie doable. The social engineering problems with the delieveries or even remote buying have make them to tricky.
Well first of all I don't see how a system like this can be used to grief someone.
If someone takes the delivery mission they don't get to carry the item. They get a mission. They never see what it is they are delivering. If no one takes the mission, offer up more money or go get the item yourself. If the vendor is moved after you take the mission it's irrelevant. When the item is purchased it it gone from the vendor it came from and placed on the city bazaar that vendor was registered from and needs to be picked up there. Once the mission is taken the item is in escro until either it's delivered or the mission fails. In which case the item goes back to the bazaar. If some unscrupulous mayor destroyes a citybazaar then any pending items on that bazaar to the nearest NPC city bazaar.
For merchants that want people to see thier vendors. The planetary Ad campaign still works for this. Just don't place your vendor on the City Bazaar.
As for finding things they didn't know they wanted, they still can. Now they will also be able to do the same with a much larger choice. They just won't have to visit potentially hundreds of empty vendors held open by a single 9 billion credit item.
The only people truly adverse to this system are ones who want to be able to overcharge thier customers and fear compeating in a free market.
-LA
Fidgiter wrote:
So if a person is a dabbler on a backwater world they should be able to compete with a master on a high traffic world? I don't buy it for a second. There are alot of merchants who run vendors on multiple worlds to capture the traffic bringing convenience to their customers and success to their business. Success without effort is boring and would discourage the type of commerce that brings the scant immersion that exists in the game.
Location is critical to success in business. You need to have the right product in the right place with the right prices to succeed. Only a marketing genious can create a demand where one didn't exist before and that is the domain of the Master. A Master who draws people to that out of the way community then draws business to the others who also do business in that area. Cooperation is another extremely valuable key to success.
LazyAmy wrote:
The only people truly adverse to this system are ones who want to be able to overcharge thier customers and fear compeating in a free market.
You could say the same thing about Wal Mart, but it all depends on your perspective. It removes many elements of actually running a good business from the equation.
AdoptedThug31 wrote:
I think we have forgotten one important aspect of the galactic vendor listing, and that is the competition among merchants. For example, I always have trouble figuring out how many cpu i should sell my resources for. Instead of going out and looking at a bunch of different vendors to get an idea, I generally default at 7 cpu, I could be ripping people off or getting ripped off.