Merchant Archive

I'm not going to rant, nor rave, but state a simple fact: unless the limits are tripled, there is no way I can enjoy this game at all anymore. When recursive macros went away, I shrugged. Oh well. I made my way to Master Weaponsmith/Master DE with no macros, and had fun at every step along the way. I played the game as it was intended, and enjoyed it.

But this? I'm sorry, but there's absolutely no way any vendor anywhere could continue to enjoy the game with this change. Absolutely no way. I'm sorry, but there are people who come into my shop at times and buy 20 crates of powerups. And before you tell me to raise my prices, I've seen people sell the same 33/16 powerups I do at half the price. I'm known as a vendor with good variety.

And you know what? This mantra about new merchants not being able to break into the business? That's poppycock. Look at the date I started the game.In that short time, I've gained a reputation as a good 'smith with good prices, and a wide range of artisan wares as well. Am I known as *the* Weaponsmith on my vendor? No, I'm not, but my weapons are just as good as hers are, and my regular customers sometimes say they're better. Tell me a noob can't break in. I'm living proof to the contrary. For the first two months of play, I struggled to pay for my harvesters and a one-lot Naboo house in which to store my resources. I scraped by selling newbie weapons on the bazaar for 2000 credits. That was as a non-master WS, mind you. When I finally made it -- when I had a successful shop up and running, and had repeat business, and had people sending me tells and emails asking for custom weapons or droids, it was a good feeling. A great feeling. I earned that.

So, what I'm hearing the most is that this change is going to allow new crafters to break into the market. No, what it aims to do is give them a free ride. Hand them success. Steal from the rich and give to the poor. It's Welfare, basically.

Well toot on Welfare. This is a capitalist economy. Read the writings of Edward Castronova before you start tinkering with our economy, please. While you might often have a few people who whine and ask that things be handed to them, that the playing field be levelled, the vast majority of people will outright reject such a virtual reality. We like the division between the haves and the have-nots. Because if there isn't said division, there are no goals.

I keep hearing people say that this is a combat-driven game, but in fact, this is a short-sighted viewpoint. The game is equal parts combat, crafting, and socializing. Anyone who can't see that is basically using the old "everything is Physics" approach to life (e.g., Sociology is really nothing more than Psychology, which is a study of the mind, which boils down to Chemistry, which is really driven by Physics, therefore Sociology is nothing more than Physics), since, yes, many crafted items are used in combat, and entertainers serve the function of healing/buffing.

But let's assume for the sake of argument that it is the fighters' game and theirs alone, though: imagine translating this into a combat change. Imagine limiting everyone to two weapons . So, you're a Rifleman/Swordsman? Well, you can have your Power Hammer and T21, but that means you'll have to give up that Scythe and Jawa Ion Rifle. Sorry. Database can't handle it (again, poppycock). That is, in effect, what's happening here, though. I'm not stooping to histrionics here. That's honestly the way I see it.

I keep hearing people say "Oh, but this will be like work!" That's not the problem. Crafting is work. It shouldn't be easy. Nor should breaking into the market. Unless there is some difficulty, the rewards are pointless. But again, this isn't about difficulty, it's about viability. If this change goes through as it is on TC, there simply won't be any viable way for ANY crafter to reach any sort of known status. There won't be the haves and the have-nots. You know, like I said, I'm not known as *the* Weaponsmith on Starsider, I know this. But I also know that I have the opportunity to be one day, with a lot more hard work. That is, unless this change goes through. Then there won't be any more superstar crafters.

When that happens, those people who say that the game is totally combat-driven will be proven correct. There will still be superstar PvPers. But crafters will be so limited that there simply won't be anything to set them apart.

So, yes, implement some limits if need be. But they need to be at least triple what they are on TC right now.