Merchant Archive
Thread: Merchant shouldn't be a class...
Naufragus wrote:
BINGO!!!!!
what i see happening is that they are not making the skills more desirable...nothing is IMPROVING merchant or making it more fun.
all i see is the profession just being made more annoying and more tedious as they gate every aspect.
Vendor limits do not make me say HEY, THANKS MERCHANT IS GREAT NOW, it makes me say GRRRRRR, 4 more skill points wasted so i can carry the same amount of items i used to.
nothing benefits me
What are you trying to get at here? I don’t think any merchant is happy about the double nerf we are being handed (vendor limits AND bazaar cap increase). It only de-values our class. However, these changes appear to be going in whether we like them or not.
However, rather than putting a hard cap of 150 on vendors, it appears that we may actually be able to get that raised for people with higher level merchant skills.
The nerf is coming. The scaled cap is basically damage mitigation.
I see nothing coming that improves the profession
Basically I think they should just leave Merchant as it is.
It seems people are pushing for improvements/changes just because Merchant is there.
There are too many other game systems that where poorly implemented to really flesh out the profession.
In its current form, Merchant works for nearly everyone. If a chef wants to craft and sell all his goods, Let him. It benefits him, people who want his wares and hurts no one. Except people who want some MErcahnt title in their name
Would the game be any different or hurt in anyway if we just moved the entire Merchant tree to the Artisan Business line?
They are not going to delete a profession 6 months after launch. Merchant is here to stay. DEAL WITH IT
the_redeye_jedi wrote:
To clarify: I like the vendor skills that we have and do not wish them removed. I don't think we should get rid of the ability to dress the vendors. I myself use it and have fun with it. However, its an entire tree! Skill points are hard to come by and I would like to get something out of them that has a bit more impact. Same thing goes for the discount. I'm not a millionare either and appreciate the extra credits, but I still don't want my skill points spent on saving money. Just give me the discount at master merchant and completely change that tree. The other boxes of it are terrible anyways, so why not make them more interesting?We need to do something toget people to actaully WANT to play a merchant rather than being forced to by the game mechanics (like they are trying to do with the upcoming vendor nerf).
I totally agree thats its way too much of a pain to try and sell stuff for another player. We have no tools in game for this kind of interaction. Our 2 main options are:
Have the crafter give you the items and the prices, and then you sell it forthem and pay out their credits. Well there area fewproblems with this plan. The big issue is that I have to be an accountant, checking stock againsttheir list of goods and totaling upthe sales so I can /tipthemtheir money. Well being an accountant in game is no more fun than being one in real life and its not at all what I like to do when I log on. This is especially an issue if you have ever soldfor a high volume crafter such as a tailor. It's a ton of work to keep tack of all their product. Also, lots of times I don't get the email if something sold, so I have no idea if it really sold or not and thatmakes it hard to keep track of what is going on. This meathod gives me a headache and both I and the crafter quickly get frustrated by it.In the end they usally just pick up business 3 and we can get on with our lives.
The other option is to buy the stuff up front off the crafter and then re-sell the items. This seems to be what we are supposed to do. The problem with this meathod is that you needtons of capital. You need to have the money up front to buy 20 heavy harvesters so you can resell them. You also have to be SURE they will sell fast because YOU now own them, even though you are just the middleman. This means that you only want topurchase the best, most popular items for fear of being stuck with something no one will buy. Thats fine for the merchant but then the crafter starts complaining because you won't sell over half the goods they make because you don't want to risk having to eat the itemswhen they don't sell. This frustrates you and the crafter because to you it seems they keep trying to push suspect goods on you, and in their eyes you won't buy their mid powered items. After a bit of back and forth, its agreed it would just be easier ifthey picked up business 3 and then they can sell anything they make.
I can totally see why a crafter would avoid using a merchant and get his own vendor, its simply way easier. I picked up merchant in the first place so I could sell my architect goods on my own. I liked the class so I mastered it and kept itsince it goes with the theme of my character. But I use it the least of my classes and I can see why people drop the skills after they have their vendor set up. Under the current setup PEOPLE NEED THEIR OWN VENDOR if they want to consistantly sell things. Like someone said in an earlier post, the interaction between the crafter and the merchant is jacked up and thatspart of the reason why these guys all have their "ill gotten" vendors and don't want to give them up. Fix it so we can add people as admin to our vendors, or at least let us set where the payout goes (i.e. 10% me, 90% crafter). Stop with the bookeeping!
You are right and that is part of the stuff we requested in our Top 5. Making business relationsihps are a pain in this game right now. They need to be a LOT better. The devs apparently thought everyone would just buy stuff up front. They don't because that limits what you can sell. I'm not paying you 90% cost on something I don't KNOW I can sell. If I pay nothing or very little up front I am willing to sell almost anything you want.
I have done the retailer role for a very busy weaponsmith. It was horrible and it was taking me hours every night to keep up with it. I think I could do it now with less time because of the mailsave command but that is becasue I developed tools to help me. I think those kinds of tools need to be in the game.
yeah doc I read some ofthat thread and I think that list is real good. If they made the changes you and many other people here are coming up with, our class would be able to stand up on its own. I would rather see those positive changes to draw people to merchant than the negative nerfs to try and force them to take it.
lets just hope they listen to you eh? 
the_redeye_jedi wrote:
yeah doc I read some ofthat thread and I think that list is real good. If they made the changes you and many other people here are coming up with, our class would be able to stand up on its own. I would rather see those positive changes to draw people to merchant than the negative nerfs to try and force them to take it.
lets just hope they listen to you eh?
As I have pointed out before. Most of what I do is just spread what you guys are saying around in areas where it is easier to get attention. Then the devs beat me up about the details challenge me with facts (imagine that!) and in the end they post a big massive post on the development board and put up a poll and decide on their own what they want to do.
The best we can do is keep shouting and maybe we'll be heard. The item limitation nerf is going to happen in one fashion or the other. We have worked to make it known that we don't like it and to offer up different ideas. We'll see in a while what they come up with in response.
For a small fee !
Are you nutz?
You wont be selling your armor for a small fee!
And if armor smiths should have vendor skills, then as a merchant I want some dang commando and bounty hunter skills.
Hell the armor smiths should not only be able to sell sets of armor for 100k or more, they should be able to place vendors and battle with lightsabers, and fly x-wings to blow up deathstars.
blah, blah, blah
gimme stuff for free
The purpose of many of the features of an MMOG is to create interactions between players.
Find a merchant and offer to sell your stuff through them.
Of course, vendor ADMIN RIGHTS would make that a whole lot easier.
Wouldn't it.
Thorizan wrote:
Merchant won't be fixed to the players satisfaction, because then the economy would be TOO dependant on ONE class, us. I'd love to see it happen,but it never will. Sad, but true.
They say they are changing vendors and bazaars to break up monopolies... and that is partly true, the monopoly of the Merchant class on the economy.
Bull Bull Bull
They're changing the bazaars and vendors due to inadequacies in the database system.
They can try to come up with as many excuses as they want to justify the changes.
But that's it, plain and simple.
I have yet to hear a plausible explanation of how vendors - whatever the item limit - cause any kind of monopolies in the game.
Someone was complaining that another player mastered 2 or 3 different professions and was selling items from these professions all on one vendor, or in their one shop.
Haha! That's not a monopoly........
Just because someone else has a wider selection of products than you do??? Pppht!
And if they're trying to tell us that merchants have a monopoly on the economy because they're the only ones that can sell items, welllllll.
THAT'S what being a merchant IS! Selling stuff!
We only have one skill and our specials suck.
How can that possibly be overpowering?
Take some skills and then YOU (figuratively speaking) can sell stuff too!
Riflemen have a monopoly on using rifles. Can you please give everyonerifle skills so we can all use rifles without taking any rifle skills?
Or reduce the different types of rifles to just one so that they can't exert undue influence on us non-rifle users.
And while you're at it, pistoleer, carbineer, TK, CH, scout, medic, smuggler, BH, architect, politician, etc, etc, etc, entertainer, DEand chef too. (those last 3 are a joke, no not the professions, I mean giving us skills so we all can use them)
Harp Harp Harp
If vendors had admin lists so 3rd party suppliers could easily post items for sale, would that make vendor owners MORE overpowering or actually EASE the flow of products from the producers to the customers???
progman63 wrote:
And if they're trying to tell us that merchants have a monopoly on the economy because they're the only ones that can sell items, welllllll.
If only this were actually true eh?
You've pretty much hit the crux of the problem. If everyone that wasn't a merchant had to sell through the bazaar, we might actually have a profession worth the skill points. However,the system must also supported that idea, and this is what it comes back to.
IF - they want dependency between merchant and crafter
THEN - they must fix the system to accomodate that dependency
ELSE - ANY and ALLCHANGES will cause pain to crafter and merchant.
It is as simple as that.
IMHO SOE wants us all to get a second account in order to experience combat.
A master crafting profesison, whether it's Bio, Doctor, Armorsmith, Weaponsmith, Chef... all requires a merchant to effectively sell your wares.
SOE is trying to give us too choices:
1) Buy a second account... or miss out on having a master combat profession.
2) Force us to interact with other players, and from the attitudes of the merchants I've seen on these forums.. will be a complete nightmare.
I have enough trouble trying to manage my own vendors. Asking someone else to carry out my requirements is going to be impossible.
- What about opening a SECOND CHARACTER SLOT on each server?
- What about hiring out GRANT VENDOR ADMIN to non-merchants?
- Why the hell is this game STILL BEING NERFED with World of Warcraft etc. so close around the corner?
IMHO SOE wants us all to get a second account in order to experience combat.
A master crafting profesison, whether it's Bio, Doctor, Armorsmith, Weaponsmith, Chef... all requires a merchant to effectively sell your wares.
No it doesnt. Just make a deal with someone and throw a few crates on their vendor every week. Problem solved.
SOE is trying to give us too choices:
1) Buy a second account... or miss out on having a master combat profession.
Once again:
2) Force us to interact with other players, and from the attitudes of the merchants I've seen on these forums.. will be a complete nightmare.
OMG OMG you have to actually talk to people in a mmorpg. What a new concept.
I have enough trouble trying to manage my own vendors. Asking someone else to carry out my requirements is going to be impossible.
Umm how is clicking the offer item to vendor button hard?
- What about opening a SECOND CHARACTER SLOT on each server?
What about no? This would kill the player economy.
- What about hiring out GRANT VENDOR ADMIN to non-merchants?
Can i have admin to your flamethrower, your graul, and your buff packs?
- Why the hell is this game STILL BEING NERFED with World of Warcraft etc. so close around the corner?
Fixing anexploit is called a fix not a nerf. If youenjoywowwhen it is releasedplease leave and play that because you clearly dont like swg.
Yolner wrote:
If youenjoywowwhen it is releasedplease leave and play that because you clearly dont like swg.
Thus, reducing the number of people that you, Yolner, willbe able to buy goods from.
If this was the first week of the game and they were fixing this problem, sure. But we are moving headstrong into the 6th and 7th month of the game and the use of vendors by non-merchants has become established practice.
Go ahead, remove all those vendors, cap the item limit on Biz III and low-level merchants. It will do wonders for lag from all the people quiting the game.