Merchant Archive
Thread: Merchant Proposal: Consignments
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Naufragus
Fri Mar 12, 2004 3:40 pm
#14
Bey wrote:
I'm with DocSavag here. I do not want to be a vendor vending machine...
a vendor is already just a vending machine..there is nothing more special about it..thats all is and all it does..it has no other fucntion or purpose
mmaughme
Fri Mar 12, 2004 5:36 pm
#15
DocSavag wrote:
He doesn't argue what it is..he argues that he doesn't want to become a vending machine vendor.. just dispensing them to other people to use without any input from him. A merchant is more than that. the vendor is a tool..our tool to conduct business. As you are fond of pointing out you can sell things without one. The vendor though gives us the power to sellfor nearly unlimited prices 24/7to an audience that we must find ways to bring to our shops though advertising, word of mouth and other innovative methods.
/sigh
A Merchant who doesn't want to rent vendors doesn't have to. A Merchant who wants to rent vendor can. Renting vendors to other crafters in your city benefits your bottom line, benefits their bottom line, and brings more customers to your city, and hence to your own business when that magic word Vendor appears over your shop. Moreso if the rented vendor in question is housed in your shop, or in the Emporium idea I mentioned above. Multiple vendors located in a common location cause shoppers to browse, which results in more sales for all.
Further, there is interaction! I don't understand why you keep saying this a) turns the Merchant into nothing more than a vendor vendor, and b) removes all Mercant interaction from the process. Don't you want to find other ways to make Merchant a useful profession? You don't see it as beneficial to the other crafters in your city to provide them with a vendor on which they can sell their wares, register on the planetary map, bring more shoppers to your city, and in the process make some extra cash? You're making it sound as though the only possible way for a Merchant to make money is to have absolute control over each and every item placed on their vendors. How many more times do I have to say this is meant to augment the current Merchant system, by giving the Merchant additional vendor abilities -- specifically, abilities that allow a non-Merchant to rent space.
I thought the correspondents were supposed to be here to relay information, suggestions and questions between the players and the devs, but frankly I'm starting to get frustrated. I'm a Master Merchant. I've already said, I would love to be able to release my Merchant skills and instead rent a vendor from another Merchant. Frag also likes the idea. I'm certain there are others. But all I'm seeing from the correspondent isn't that this is an idea worth considering, but that this is an idea that turns Merchants into mules and removes all Merchant interaction with their own vendors. That's not the case at all. It's an enhancement -- meant to give the Merchant profession more value. Meant to give Merchants more services they can provide. Frankly, I findAdvertising III to be the only useful box in the entire class. Clothing your vendors is nice, but isn't all that critical. Additional vendor options are nice, but also aren't that critical. Reduce maintenance is nice, but also isn't that critical. Placing multiple vendors, offering different products, in a common location, such that all are viewable by a prospective customer -- that's important. How could it not be beneficial to provide your city's vendorless crafters with vendors? What am I missing here?
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