Merchant Archive
Thread: Why do people register multiple vendors in the same building?
I register mine too because if you are looking for "Food" you aren't going to know that I have a food vendor in the same tent with the "Pet" vendor on the map.
Most people I know browse shop listings from the planetary map (ctrl-v) and don't do a visual but a text search on the location/category list.
Even if you have several vendors in the same category, you can advertise different wares - High-end models and low-end models on different vendors. It gives you more chances that someone that is looking for something specific will come to you.
The whole listing system needs some work, though - it's losing it's power due to not being able to update names (so if you update your business you loose your rank on the map) and the fact that empty vendors are allowed to remain on the map. The latter is a tough issue - since many merchants set up a dummy vendor just to get a building listed (if the other vendors are owned by non-merchants). That should be a valid function of a merchant - someone buying your services to list them on the map.However, empty vendors is easilythe top complaint I hear, and personally see,about the vendor system. People get tired of spending hours trying to find a vendor that actually has what it says it does. 
AO
Message Edited by AudioOrgana on 05-03-2004 12:38 AM
This happens to me constantly. I was on Corellia this weekend looking for a certain type of ore that just despawned there. So I started hitting all the resource vendors. Entire stores of them would be completely empty. This is not likely due to a run it is more likely due to people just quitting or doing other things and not remembering to or caring to remove their map listings. Its very frustrating and you end up giving up your search because you have no confidense that the next item on the map is going to be any better.
Removing the empty ones will help. If they want an empty one to show up they will have to keep "Something" on it. I know this will be abused but at least they will have to take SOME action to keep the vendor on the map instead of the current system.
I personally hope we can get some sort of search system for "merchandise" to replace or augment the map system of categories. I would love to be able to see the locations of all the shops that have "Lidium Extrusive Ore" for sale before going out to visit them. I don't need to buy it from one location (and I keep telling you guys you dont' really want that..pepole buy stuff at your vendor they had no idea they needed. The buy it because they see it while looking for something else) I just need to be able to find locations that have an item..compare the prices and quality etc and then make my list of shops I am going to go.
StompyPete wrote:
Don't they realize that makes it so that no one can read ANY of the vendors' names on the mini-map?
This could be fixed pretty easily if the overhead map logic were changed. All the names are horizontal now, just rotate some a little. If the text angle were changed for each they would not overlap so badly. If the angle for the n-th vendor in a housewere set to (even(n)*(n-1)*30) degrees [where even(n) is 1 if even or -1 odd] Then we could have 6 easily read vendor names at one spot with just one overlapped character that we could make a space with careful choice of names.
Makes a nice little star pattern too, if you have a lot of vendors.
If they are in different buildings, it is easy enough for the player to move/turn a little to eliminate the overlap.
I'll bet that would be simple for the devs to do. It's a centuries old graphic design trick.
I believe the first poster was referring to the map you get when you click on ctrl+M, and prolly just doesn't know that you can actually see a list of the registered vendors with ctrl+V. But of course, I could be wrong.
And I agree that I rarely use that feature at all anymore as I know I will prolly waste 2 hours not to find what I'm looking for anyway...
Songe wrote:
I believe the first poster was referring to the map you get when you click on ctrl+M, and prolly just doesn't know that you can actually see a list of the registered vendors with ctrl+V. But of course, I could be wrong.
Of course he was. But the ctl-V map doesn't serve the same purpose. It is the yellow pages, not point of sale advertising. It doesn't really answer the question "What are the vendors nearby" without a lot of trouble creating and activating waypoints, and it doesn't support brousing to find out what a town is like. The map you can look at as you drive through, many of us leave it on when out of the city as a radar enhancement.
I have found a single registered vendor gives a better point of sale ad and is more effective than two. With my suggestion to make multiples legible, itwould beeasier to do more business at one location, rather than having to havetents all over the place.
DocSavag wrote:
I personally hope we can get some sort of search system for "merchandise" to replace or augment the map system of categories. I would love to be able to see the locations of all the shops that have "Lidium Extrusive Ore" for sale before going out to visit them. I don't need to buy it from one location (and I keep telling you guys you dont' really want that..pepole buy stuff at your vendor they had no idea they needed. The buy it because they see it while looking for something else) I just need to be able to find locations that have an item..compare the prices and quality etc and then make my list of shops I am going to go.
Message Edited by AudioOrgana on 04-30-2004 08:05 PM
AudioOrgana wrote:
DocSavag wrote:
I personally hope we can get some sort of search system for "merchandise" [snip]
This was originally a feature of the bazaar that never really worked and was disabled totally in beta.
The way it was originally set up would have killed the economy - as much as I pushed for it at the time I realize now that they were right to remove it. The game would become horribly commodified -if you could search every vendor in the Galaxy it would be the ultimate buyers market; I'm sure this would please some combat types but it wouldbe genocide for true crafters and business people.
[snip]
I don't think it would have "killed the economy ", though it would certainly eliminate a lot of profit opportunities for smart players. I see a lot of comment in the forums from folks who constantly feel ripped off, or that others are attempting to con them, because of the wild variation in prices and availablilty that our current inefficient markets cause.
Lots of people are too used to their RL experience ofbuying from stores with posted prices, and selling their effort to employers, to comprehend the decisions that they are making. The inefficient markets make it harder to understand what is going on.
On the other hand, I think it is a lot of fun the way it is with a few exceptions. It would be nice to have a reliable way of finding what you need in a reasonable time, instead of going to empty or badly named vendors for hours.
It would be nice too, if the Merchant profession had some major advantages in buying and selling. Doc's suggestions make a lot of sense if it took skills to put an ad in the yellow pages. With a similar system for purchases, say a wholesale bazaar where we could post publicoffers to buy, a Merchant profession becomes a lot more viable. And the sheeple who want fixed prices would be content to come into our shops to be sheared.
Much more like the modern world.