Merchant Archive
Thread: Can I have a link to a Dev stating that there is a Database issue with Vendors?
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ResourceMonkey
Thu Aug 12, 2004 8:38 am
#1
Sorry, just did a search for Thunderheart putting the word "database" into any message on these boards and it came back nil. I would love a link to a comment where a Dev has stated that the volume on personal vendors is a database problem, or that the upcoming 'nerf' is due to this.
I personally think that the nerf is an attempt to require people to retain merchant abilities.The itemcapis a quick, and EXTREMELY UGLY, tweak to accomplish this goal.
ResourceMonkey
Thu Aug 12, 2004 8:42 am
#2
Nevermind, found it from January:
TH:
Currently, there is no limit to how many items can be placed on a vendor.This causes technical issues, encourages monopolies and actually hurts sales in many instances because most players don't "drill down" through all of the vendor pages to find items.We want to solve the technical issues, discourage monopolies and make vendors easier to use.An item limit is going to be placed on vendors and that limit is intended to be placed on 150.
I figured this was shot down since it didn't happen. Didn't realize it was just 'under SOE development time' 
GunheadD9
Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:02 am
#3
"...actually hurts sales in many instances because most players don't "drill down" through all of the vendor pages to find items."
So you're telling me this whole fiasco is because of other people's laziness???
Please for the love of god let Thunderheart come forward and retract this statement... Let it be anything, let it be because of saddam heussien or the people's front of judea or the mating season of the wild outback donkey or because the lord appeard in a vision or because someone used mind controll on someone else or because of a toothache or lack of tinfoil helmet or cthulhu's influence or salmon flying across the moon... Anything else just dont let it bebecause of fat people being lazy... ohpleaseohpleaseohplease
N'Uro M'Bok
Master Tailor
Corbantis
VarnaxDespin
Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:03 am
#4
lol very funny... but size of you font detracted from the comedy
GunheadD9 wrote:
"...actually hurts sales in many instances because most players don't "drill down" through all of the vendor pages to find items."
So you're telling me this whole fiasco is because of other people's laziness???
Please for the love of god let Thunderheart come forward and retract this statement... Let it be anything, let it be because of saddam heussien or the people's front of judea or the mating season of the wild outback donkey or because the lord appeard in a vision or because someone used mind controll on someone else or because of a toothache or lack of tinfoil helmet or cthulhu's influence or salmon flying across the moon... Anything else just dont let it bebecause of fat people being lazy... ohpleaseohpleaseohplease
N'Uro M'Bok
Master Tailor
Corbantis
GunheadD9
Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:11 am
#5
font size was to show my lack of 'cool' in stating that... Also, hence the hot pink.
I just cant fathom that the designers and implementers of a MMORPG would stoop so low as to appease a horde of complainy-pants wearing cry babies... What about the frikking bazaar? Are they going to limit that to 100 as well? Or what about the fact that when I open up a vendor screen or merchant window, I only see he top 10- items? Should we then limit vendors to 10 items b/c that's all that people see?
<Impersonate Socrates> "Better get in line with that shiny new CDEF pistol Mr. Johnny Wholesome, cause the entire galactic bazaar only has 10 slots open for all 2500 people on the server to put something up for auction! And if it's full when you get there you'd better keep trying to sell it until; a slot opens up and you are twitchy enough to get the drop on all 2499 other people looking to sell their carbines and rifles..." </Impersonate Socratese>
Yeah Yeah, I know, somebody order me a shot of hemlock...
N'Uro M'Bok
HalasterTheBlack
Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:12 am
#6
So did the fuscia-ness. 
Onward...
I've been a professional software developer for more years than some players here have been alive. I know for a fact that SW:G uses an Oracle database (devs said so during beta). I can also make a reasonable estimation of the size and nature of the dataset for this game, especially the dataset that supports the inventory system.
It's not so big that "unlimited" storage on the relatively few vendors across a galaxy should pose any sort of problem.
The real problem, if there is a technical problem, is in the way they've implemented the data model (they've made rookie mistakes and we players have seen the results) and in the way they're trying to access the data.
I'll leave the rookie mistakes out of it unless someone cares to challenge me on it. I've already posted it to another thread re the vendor nerfs anyway.
But think about the way they're accessing the data. They have a UI that basically runs a query against the database each and every time you search for inventory on a vendor or on a bazaar. I would imagine that most players are doing a "search all" and then paging through a vendor's inventory with the Next Page button. Every time you hit that button, it's making a new round-trip to the server and making the database figure out the next dataset to return.
There are alternatives.
If the UI provided a reasonably intelligent search feature (i.e. I want a Scout Blaster that does a minimum of X-Y damage with a minimum of Z speed), the system could run a single query and show me all of those Scout blasters - not just on this particular vendor, but on all vendors across the galaxy. And it could run that query more efficiently than running me a page at a time through a particular vendor's inventory.
Technical challenges? Yeah, those precipitated by bad data modelling and poor database programming. Fix THOSE, don't nerf us.
Hell, even if you don't want to change the UI, go ahead and shoot the full vendor inventory to the client and let us page it there. Returning one large dataset is far more efficient than running a query for 1/10 of that dataset 10 times.
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