Merchant Archive

Folks...I'm sorry but this profession is on its last leg.

I've run the first Mall and largest mall on my server for 3 months...we've done tens of millions in business ....we've lost at least 10million credits in resources/items due to bugs along the way....

Note also...that our Mall has 4 Master Merchants...and this post reflects our combined frustration with this profession.

The profession is suppose to be there to handle large volumes of transactions so that the crafters themselves don't have to keep track of sales themselves. Yet...the vendors give no tools for tracking such volume...the mechanics of the vendor work against your ability to do anything with inventory in a timely manner (i.e. it becomes a job after the first 100 items) and the developers are now doing things like putting time limits on goods even being in the vendor and to boot...DELETING stuff that remains after this timer is up. (Yet....where is a merchant suppose to store 1000 items or hundreds of goods that were delivered by their crafter suppliers in advance of the weekly restock process??)

This design forces the player to be in game 24/7 ...forces the crafter to be in game 24/7 ...FORCES YOU TO LOG EVERY SINGLE DAY! Need to take care of some RL issues and going to be out a few days....SORRY..YOUR SCREWED!! thanks...come again!(Can I give admin on my vendors to a guild mate? NO..sorry ...you lose 1million credits in goods...thanks come again!)

There is a point in the process of development...when you realize that the costs of keeping a profession active/live isn't worth the damage your doing to the community....and FOLKS...Merchant has reached that point....REMOVE IT.....temporarily...go back to the design board and ACTUALLY THINK about how this profession is to funcition and give the players the tools they need for this profession to run smoothly without hours upon hours of gameplay just needed for managing inventory.

There is no profession more vital to a 'player economy' and this profession is killing the economy (unless you count deleted items as 'sinks' of credits/resources...in which case...Dev's ...you can read my lips!!!!! and kiss my....as you have no clue in how to please a gaming community.

I have every intention of being here for the 5 year reunion of this game....however as of 4 weeks ago I had begun to personally remove myself from the profession. This will come at the expense of skill points of several crafters who would likely much rather spend the points elsewhere...but the profession leaves me no choice.

/sigh

The title and the highlighed section is the point....back the drawing boards with the profession.

Marqie...you posted you quit ... and your telling me you dont get my point and the need to redesign this?

Marqie....if you don't get the point of the post...then friend...you were the wrong person for the Correspondent's job.....

as it's clear the issues are not being put up on the Dev table for review...and even if I assume most of them are....at the very least...no insight into solutions is being provided to them. For as they may play the game....they dont handle 1000's of transactions a week and never will...so unless they get the perspective of someone like me ...these issues will never be put in the proper context.

And to be fair...the dev process is huge and I for one dont expect overnight solutions....however...that being said...merchants are not making the case....vendors eat millions of goods/items weekly due largely due to lack of information about operational features and bugs...and yet...read this profession board....where is the outrage??? where is the call for solutions? Where are the proposed solutions?? Improvements???

Oh sure ...you post you lose stuff...but there are no solutions being presented here. That is why I posted....every real solution requires a redesign of the profession....requires looking at their database limitations and re-evaluating their storage caps'. On a macro level if they dont do these two things...you might as well pull the profession...as its pointless to leave in game. On a micro level....if you want a job....get one that pays....if you want to enjoy the helping of customers for fun...merchant, as designed, isnt your profession...move along!

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NBScoop wrote:

Marqie....if you don't get the point of the post...then friend...you were the wrong person for the Correspondent's job.....

as it's clear the issues are not being put up on the Dev table for review...and even if I assume most of them are....at the very least...no insight into solutions is being provided to them. For as they may play the game....they dont handle 1000's of transactions a week and never will...so unless they get the perspective of someone like me ...these issues will never be put in the proper context.

And to be fair...the dev process is huge and I for one dont expect overnight solutions....however...that being said...merchants are not making the case....vendors eat millions of goods/items weekly due largely due to lack of information about operational features and bugs...and yet...read this profession board....where is the outrage??? where is the call for solutions? Where are the proposed solutions?? Improvements???

Oh sure ...you post you lose stuff...but there are no solutions being presented here. That is why I posted....every real solution requires a redesign of the profession....requires looking at their database limitations and re-evaluating their storage caps'. On a macro level if they dont do these two things...you might as well pull the profession...as its pointless to leave in game. On a micro level....if you want a job....get one that pays....if you want to enjoy the helping of customers for fun...merchant, as designed, isnt your profession...move along!

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You obviously haven't been reading this board very long. There has been outrage, there have been long threads about how to improve the class, there have been cries for soultions, and improvements. And they HAVE ALL FALLEN ON DEAF EARS! Most of us have been around this board for quite a long time and ya know after awhile you just give up. They obviously dont give a rats ass about this profession. They don't read this board. Whoever the hell our Dev is he is never willing to pony up and answer some questions. They are tightlipped and dont give a sh!t.

EVERYONE here is outraged. But we are beaten. They ignore us and ignore us and ignore us. They win because all they have to do is nothing.

I don't get it because in your title, you can for the removal of the class, yet in your thread you rant the same thing as everyone else.

From what I read, you are a merchant, and if you don't like, sell the skill back and move on, but do not come to the board with a post title like that and expect love from me.

Had you phrased it a diffrent way, I would have cared, but to call for our heads because you do not like the class, that is plan dumb.

And as another one posts, I get it, I have gotton it, I see it everyday, I do not **Self Edit** about things I know will not change. Fact is, I hate coming to the boards and all I see is gripes, I KNOW THEM ALL. I AM FRUSTRADED AS HELL, I KNOW YOU ARE TOO.

I have learned to pick my battles, and most rants like this one will not be read, because we are all tired of heaing them.

nah i follow this...but my time is spent in game dealing with the issues...not spammin this board...this is the first time i posted here since the first month....and yes this is me saying..ive had enough of the profession...not going anywhere...just trying to put an exclamation point on the need for this to be reviewed...yes..likely futile...but hey...such as MMO's go eh.

And as you say..maybe you've given up on it and so has the community....but this still points to a lack of pushing the issues and idea's IMO...the entire economy depends on the profession and yet...it continues to falter. I don't see this message being conveyed...and if it was in the past..it needs to be kept fresh...I'm not sayin flaming/trashing etc...just that the key issues and the need for dev's to focus on this needs to be kept fresh at the top of this board so that it is seen...at some point. the din is loud and you must keep it alive or it will get lost in the shuffle. this is the point.

Well I am not sure what you are looking for. I post on the correspndants board all the time, and OUR issues do not even get a dev look. (We did get a dev responce to week 7, but I have posted other before week 8's)

They are all focused on other things, I have had to bump our posts (I put one main one up every 2 weeks) 5 times, NOTHING!

I know this class has major issues, and I SCREAM for help, but it look like the devs have moved on to other classes, it is sad

Marqie...if the message isnt getting through....while we watch other professions issues get some more fundamental issues addressed...what would you have us do? continue to lay quiet and just take it...or ask for another go between?? And no...I wouldnt expect any love from you if this was the case.

The title is right friend...if the design doesnt work ...trash it and start over! From a practicallity standpoint ...they likely would never remove it...but they **edit** well need to come to the community and say...you know..your right....this isnt working....we need to revisit what we want this profession to be and give it the tools/means to execute that vision. Is that so hard?? I think not. And while I'm sure the Dev on this profession is a fine coder....since when did a coder have any clue to the functions of economic models and human behavior?The lacking of these insights is all to obvious throughout the design and IS the root of our frustrations.

I can appreciate your frustration....as one who has likely run one of the top 5% Mall's in terms of sheer volume in this game on any server...I FEEL the pain more then most. Thefirst 2 months this game was ahorrible job...but I was fortunate to have the time to do what was 'needed' in terms of us building our guild and our trade business.

But this frustration aside....there is a point where the rubber meets the road anditsclear you gave up on this along time ago....and thus, you shouldhave stepped aside when you did reach that point.You server noone's interest at that point.

As for myself....I've reshuffled my focus (though I am still a master merchant)...but the game needs this profession to function right...and I have not given up on the game. I plan on being here in year 5 ...how bout you?sounds like your packing your bags already.

Lastly....I think its funny .... several comments regarding not following the point of my post...yet it's obvious you do get the point.

Sorry but I also fail to see the point of the original post. If the person finds the profession so bad ... just surrender the skill. Move on ... go away ... step away son you bother me

Not saying we shouldn't let our issues be know but to demand the "it works perfect or scrap it" attitude sounds like something my 13 year old son would say. Love him to death but at that age kids just can't understand that the world is not black and white.

Anyway ... I am keeping my Master Merchant skills as I still find more value in keeping them than surrendering them. And since the skill is among the Top 5 most popular professions (per Holo's post the other day), evidentally I (we) are not alone.

I think I do get what you are saying but mostly you are threatening suicide of our profession as a cry for help.