Merchant Archive

I have posted this a few times in different sections of this bulletin board over the past couple months in response to other peoples threads, but I figured it was worth posting here. Unlike some of my normal rant posts, this one is actually calm, well thought out and offers a solution that should be looked at VERY seriously, as it will not only give the merchant class a class defining ability, but will make them what they are supposed to be and add an immersion factor to the game for all players. So here goes…

Changes to the current cities will need to b made in order to implement this. Those changes are an outdoor bazaar area and enterable shops need to be added to all cities.

Now the merchant changes:

Upon reaching level 3 in ALL 4 merchant skill lines, the merchant would gain the ability to place a single “City Vendor” in a specified plot in the center area of outdoor bazaar area.

Upon reaching level 4 in ALL 4 merchant skill lines, the merchant would gain the ability to place a single “City Merchant” under a “vendor tent” which would be available for rent in the more upscale section of the bazaar area.

Upon reaching master merchant, the merchant would gain the ability to rent an actual shop in the city, in which he could place up to his full cadre of merchants(all 6). Shops could appear in various areas of the city, but I would suggest making certain sections of the city into “shopping districts”, with shop lined streets. Placement of each shop would dictate its rental charge, with corner shops and those nearer the starports / cantinas being more expensive to maintain than those on the side streets and in alleyways.

I strongly believe that this would solve most of the current merchant problems(other than stuff that doesn’t work) and add a ton of ambiance to the current cities, which are mostly dead and featureless of late. Many people LOVE to walk around and browse through vendors shops, just not with the current system, because it is usually a waste of time due to never knowing if the vendor you traveled 1500m to even has stock.. or you could get killed along the way.

This system would make it so those artisans that want to sell their own wares, could still maintain their “country shops”, but the serious merchants would be in town with the masses, making it much more likely that those artisans would then opt to either spend all the skill points to complete the merchant tree or contact a merchant who has already setup shop in the city and make a deal to have him resell.. because that is where all or most of the business would be. This gives artisans of all classes a real reason to seek out resellers for their wares instead of just putting up a merchant at home and being on more than equal footing with a merchant. (I say more than equal because the artisan sells direct and a merchant needs a supplier).

Anyhow, I realize this would be a bit of work having to redo the cities, but I think it would add SO much to the game that it would be worth it. It would also help to fix the economy problem with some artisan/merchants not having to rely on anyone else and making tons of credits. This system would complete the circle of business and create a flowing economy, instead of every artisan being his own supply chain.

Just make sure that this is not implemented as a single skill line, as we would not want players spending minimal skill points to gain class defining abilities of the merchant profession like they can now.

I forgot to add one point, but responding to another thread jogged my memory.

Novice Merchant should require artisan experience to obtain and NO vendor of any type should be available below Novice Merchant. If someone wants to be a merchant, they should be forced to spend the points, not get it as a bonus from something they already planned on doing (Master Artisan) or can just buy very cheaply (Business 3) in a skill line they already have.

This would help further reduce the amount of home artisanvendors, as spending an extra 15 points to make Merchant just to get a vendor in their house would give many people pause, especially as they gain skills and points start to become very short.

15 skill points??? Novice merchant only takes 6 SP, Business 4 is 5 SP, so people with business 3 just for the vendor would need to use 11 skill points not 15, unless Im mistaken!

When I made the decision to invest my skill points into Master Merchant the main compelling reason was based on a gamble. The gamble that when Player Cities come into existance these very options will become available. Until then I'll just continue my business as always and I do pretty good. Would likely do better with a different alternate Mastery (Also a Master Architect) but that's where the gamble comes in. Heh

Fidg'Ter

Great proposal, but I'd like to make two modifications...

1) Rather than have a single bazaar area within cities, I would prefer to see shops sporadically placed throughout the city. We have all witnessed the lag, shouting and general circus mentality at the entrances to starports; by spreading out the shops within a city we canminimize this while still making shops easily accessable. I also feel this would contribute to the immersion, as I would enjoy walking through a city with a little bit of activity everywhere rather than in one district. This modification would still make it possible for merchant shops to be easily accessable within cities, and tents and buildings could still be an option.

2) "Upon reaching master merchant, the merchant would gain the ability to rent an actual shop in the city, in which he could place up to his full cadre of merchants(all 6)." I have noticed a lot of my fellow merchants focus on having all their merchants together, but mine are actually spaced out in key locations throughout the galaxy. This allows for more of a franchise model. So I would prefer to have the opiton at master to place a tent in mulitple cities... maybe not one for each vender (6), but at least be able to represent my business in more than one location.

One comment in that post that I really agreed with... "Just make sure that this is not implemented as a single skill line, as we would not want players spending minimal skill points to gain class defining abilities of the merchant profession like they can now." We have seen too much of this with all the skill lines. Some things should require a little more effort within a skill-tree.

I think this is a really neat idea... however, how do you make certain that you have enough turn over so that newly minted Master Merchants have a fair opportunity to get at the 'prime' city store locations?

What if it had a moderate rental cost coupled with a lease term, like perhaps a month (or two weeks if a month is too long) at most...? Then at the expiry of your lease you're free to rent another (different) spot in the city...