Merchant Archive
Thread: Novel Solution to the Merchant problem. Please take time to read fully.
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Byallbacca
Mon Aug 09, 2004 2:46 am
#1
So I'm one of the people that are "bending" the rules by owning vendors and not possessing the required skill, I've ranted and raved about this issue on my guilds forums and I've near as damn it already quit the game but instead of going all out and cancelling my accounts I've actually sat down and thought about a way to resolve this frankly ridiculous situation.
My Idea
My ideas are thus, scrap Merchant as a profession and make it so that any advanced profession that can craft an item recieve a vendor certification as they progress through their crafting grind.
Like so, Nov. Weaponsmith (for example) grants 1 vendor, Weaponsmith xxx1 grants another vendor, xxx2 grants yet another one and so on until you hit Master Weaponsmith. At this time you will have 5 (bare with me), yes 5 vendors at your disposal. The reason for 5 will become very clear very soon.
But 5 vendors is less than what we have at the minute
Ok, so 5 is 1 less than what it is at for Merchant xxx4 at this time, BUT, say you are Master Weaponsmith and Master Armoursmith, you'll then have 10 vendors! How nice would it be for a duel crafter to own enough vendors to really express his wares correctly.
I have a Loot Vendor, I don't want to have to pick up Nov. Tailor or such to get a vendor up
Now we come to a point about "but I want my loot vendor". I suggest thatBusiness3 stillgrants 1 vendor, that way people who want their loot vendor can still get it without having to spend a truck load of skill points. Make it so they have to keep the skill to be able to use the vendor though.
Yay, well done, the Business tree is worthless now
The Business tree seems a little pointless now though right because, after all, it doesn't lead on to anything, it's a little defunct and has no real use. What I suggest is to make the Business tree similar to the Hiring tree in Merchant at this time. You get Hiring points as you progress through the Business ranking, that way you gain access to more vendor customisationthe higher you go up through that tree and complete customisation is granted at Master Artisan.
What aboutpeople who are solely Master Artisans and not an advanced CraftingProfession?
I suggest at Master Artisan you get4 vendors granted, that way they'll have access to5 vendors overall,4 at Master and 1 at Business3 all which are fully customisable.
You say every Advanced Profession that can create objects will get vendors, what about Scout?
What about Scout? I'm sure that some people will complain about this part but I have to say that Scouts can't craft many items at all (Traps and Camps right?), I'm sorry to say that in their case they would be treated the same was as people who want Loot Vendors.
You said every Advanced Profession that can create objects will get vendors, surely you don't mean Ranger and Smuggler?
Hell yes, I meanif WS, AS, DE, Tailor, Arch, Doc, CM, Chef and BE get 5 vendors why can't Ranger or Smuggler? Rangers and Smugglers will begetting a big fix soon (a proper fix, not like the trash that SOE have just dumped on Merchants) and when that happens they will probably have a lot more to offer to the common market.
But you can easily grind up xxx4 of a lot of the Advanced Crafting Profs and therefore gain a lot of vendors
True, which is why I suggest a cap of 10 vendors per toon. 10 vendors should be enough to keep even the hardiest of crafters happy. Hell, it's 4 more than what they're receiving at the minute.
What about the content cap?
I suggest that this simple equation be brought in to force. For every vendor you possess you gain the skill to add 50 more items. Therefore, with 10 vendors you can list 500 items per vendor. If you notice, at Business 3 you'll gain 1 vendor but only be able to list 50 items per vendor. I've done it this way because if you're a multi-crafter then that leaves you less skill points to invest in a combat class therefore, I feel, that you should get a bonus. One of my toons is Master Weaponsmith/Master Swordsman, he'll only be able to list250 items per vendor, he only has 5 vendors but he is the Master of a Combat class, IMO a fair trade.
So, to summise.
You gain a total of 5 vendors at Master of any Advanced Crafting Profession(this includes Master Artisan)and those who are multi-crafting toons still receive the extra vendors up to a cap of 10 vendors per toon. The content cap is directly linked with how many vendors you possess, each additional vendor granting another 50 items. Anyhow, that's my idea and I think it could work, please feel free to post your comments here. Thank you to all who read this.
Asharin
Mon Aug 09, 2004 4:59 am
#2
Byallbacca wrote:
My ideas are thus, scrap Merchant as a profession and make it so that any advanced profession that can craft an item recieve a vendor certification as they progress through their crafting grind.
While this may seem a good idea Byall, some people LIKE being merchant's..I personally can't see why, but everyone has differing opinions.
I read your whole post yes, and in some way yes it would be nice..especially the smugglers getting a vendor
I'm not a merchant, nor will I ver be, not much of a crafter, beyond stuff smugglers make, I USED to have an armousmith alt, but he was also a master merchant
Basically the Dev's are giving the people that WANT to be merchants some reason to keep it. the only bit I disagree with it the item caps..they are far far too low.
Personally I'd say 600 items per vendor at master merchant, and give them some other good skill such as.. NO MAX price on bazaar..then they could sell stuff on the bazaar if they wished and not be stuck with a 6k limit like other players.
Anyway I'm sure my opinions are not wanted here, as I am not a merchant on my main and my alt is no more (can no longer afford 2 accounts), but I will say this anyway..the 'revamp' as it stands is a waste, give the merchants a porper overhaul..like the promised smuggler one..oh wait..that's been delayed 3 times allready..
Byallbacca
Mon Aug 09, 2004 7:16 am
#3
Asharin wrote:
Byallbacca wrote:
My ideas are thus, scrap Merchant as a profession and make it so that any advanced profession that can craft an item recieve a vendor certification as they progress through their crafting grind.
While this may seem a good idea Byall, some people LIKE being merchant's..I personally can't see why, but everyone has differing opinions.
If there are players out there who want to be Merchants then let them be Merchants, keep the Merchant Profession and you can still implement my system. Make it so that Merchant get's even more customisation, more bonuses and a higher vendor cap.
I suggestedmy originalalternative as I think this covers the points the Devs are worried about (masses of people who have vendors without the skill and masses of items on vendors thus causing problems) whilst at the same time working outmost of the issues that many crafters have but with this added part it could be even sweeter, actually make Merchant something cool and worthwhile.
The Devs have to remember that the only good thing about Merchant at the minute is the fact that you can drop it and still keep the all the bonuses. If the Devs are to make Merchant a profession that you have to hold on to to keep your vendors etc then they either badly need to implement a system like this so it's tied into the crafting professions thus killing 2 birds with one stone or they need to revamp Merchant beyond belief because it's not worth a penny as it stands.
I hope that people take notice of this post, I put a lot of thought into it and I can't see that there is anything that anyone can come up with that can't be worked around. In fact, just sitting here thinking about what the game would be like with these changes is very intriguing to me and if a Dev had suggested this then I would be getting quite excited about it all.
The possibilities that could emerge for Merchants if someone in the Development team actually possessed 1iota of inspiration are boggling. Imagine Architect crafted shops with different layouts, fireworks that go off outside your shop when you have a sale, Community email newsgroups advertising sales and bargains, designated shop build zones/shopping districts. The possibilities are without doubt endless but I fear that they will never be brought in as all the money is going to JTLS and SOE won't totally re-vamp something like Merchant until after JTLS is brought out, which will be too late for most of us.
Ventuviper
Tue Aug 10, 2004 12:11 am
#4
This is probably the best and most well thought idea I have ever heard for Merchant. I have an alt that will be a shipwright when JTL comes out, but if the current plan actually goes forward it will be extremely difficult to have all my wares available for sale. My alt is a master merchant, but I have ALWAYS thought that this was an extremely big waste of a profession. Unfortunately the only way to actually sell any items is with vendors.
Good job Byallbacca I really hope the devs read this and take all your ideas into account before screwing up merchant to the point that so many people WILL quit. Anyone that is a Chef, AS, or WS will be hurt beyond belief because of the amount of items they make and have to put up for sale everytime.
I would suggest you post a link to this into the Dev section. Do everything you can to get them to read it.
sideorder
Tue Aug 10, 2004 12:55 am
#5
Byall thats the best idea i have seen since this whole heap of crap came out. I really hope they have a look at your post and take some of your ideas seriously. I was just wondering though, Why the hell are we friends my IQ is the same as my posts in the entertainer forums, It would have taken me like 5 yrs to think anything like that.You appear to have actually engaged your brain in this arguement where as some just fly off the handle.
Big up to you my friend, Ring you later ok.
Morgan Leah / Slehiac
Byallbacca
Wed Aug 11, 2004 2:43 am
#6
Thank you to all for your suggestions/comments, any more out there?
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