Merchant Archive
Thread: Earned 300k merchant xp in 3 days...
About a week ago, my fourth holocron says "master merchant." I switch my momentum from fighting and earning xp and work my way to open up shop. Two days pass and finally I have the 5k xp necessary for novice merchant. Compared to mastering commando, ch, and brawler in all under 3 days this was excrutiatingly slow!!! This must be the hardest profession to master EVER, and i've got to tip my hat off to you merchants out there. Anyway, I hit the boards and talk to every merchant i come across and all of them tell me the same thing... "too bad for you. It'll take over a month." I definately had no intention of waiting over a month to work my way to my next holocron. To top it all off, I had been on the Valcyn galaxy for less than2 weeks and was unguilded so Ididnt have many close friends who were willing to help me out by running into my buildings.So I came up with this gimmick to help you holo-merchants out there and save you all the angst that I went through.
First I advertised a 3 day "merchant grind session" (details will be explained later)on the boards and spammed ads in heavily populatedcities calling for merchants who'd like to earn xp and people who'd like to earn 25k/hr. Over the course of 2 days of heavy advertising, I was hit up with over 30 emails from various merchants and peeps wanting cash. However 3 hours into the "grind" session only a handful showed up (5 people tobe exact). So be sure you OVER RECRUIT for the session if you actually plan to do it.
For you people wondering how the grind session worked... I, and every other merchant involved,bought 10 naboo small houses (each taking up only 1 lot). Then we set up a temporary townand arranged our houses in a spirical pattern. Vendors were set up in certain houses and marked in the name. Then, each house was marked with a 1 crd entrance fee that lasted 15 mins. When our temporary town was set up, the marathon began. Each merchant started in the center house, ran in, paid the fee, then ran to the next house. When the round was complete, we waited for the 15 min for the admittance period to end and we did it again. Sure 50xp everytime someone runs into a house sounds fairly cheap, but when you do this all the entrance fees begin to add up. I estimated my hourly xp rate using this formula... 50xp X 10 houses X # of people working X 4 rounds every hour = XP earned per hour. During the peak period (time when most of the people signed up in the grind session were on) I earned 50x10x8x4 = 16,000 XP every hour!
When I began the session I started at 0001, by the end of the first day I was at 1004... Second day 4004.. then the third day.. 4134.
The program overall was a great success, however there were a few noted bumps along the way. I'm including them so you dont run into the same problems:
1) One merchant who joined was totally uncooperative. During the first day we ran into his houses while he just sat there doing nothing. When we confronted him about it, he said he was between runs or ignored our complaints. By the second day, we took action and completely boycotted his houses for the duration of the grind period.
2) I spent over 1 million credits in hiring people. Those who did contribute did only minutely so. The grind really hurt my pocketbook, but if i ever get my FS, it will definately be worth it.
3) I ran over 10 hrs a day. I prefer to lead by example and I hoped that if I worked hard, then the people I depended on to earn xp also would work hard. It worked to some extend, but perhaps a minimum number of rounds every day should have been set up.
4) While dozens of people said they'd show up, only a small handful came to the actual grind.
Well I hope this post helps you out. I apologize for its disorganized nature as it is midnight and I am dead tired. Remember the key making this grind successful is to get as many people as possible involved. Also I'd like to thank all those on the Valcyn server who participated in the grind and made the session a great success. Good luck on your next holos!
/rant on
I agree that this is sick.
The freaking holocron maddness is killing the game. Why the heck should my smuggler/merchant have to learn to play the flute or something to unlock the fs slot? Why penalize the players who have spent the time generating a solid character concept? These holocron hunters are really starting to bug me. Just think of how stoopid the Jedi are going to be/act when the only players getting the fs slot are uber grinders and exploiters?
/rant off
Rai
Zaelstrom,
Good going man 
That is why some of us will open our force sensitive slot, while others will not. Of courseit would be easier to gouge people for many months for weapons and armor, make millions of credits, while the rest of us never have more than 50,000 credits in the bank from running missions. But hey, each to their own.
I am just about to surrender Merchant and Droid Engineer after having mastered them from a holocron. They are both two of the easiest professions to Master but not much funfor those of us who get our kicks from combat.
DE is pretty cool but Merchant is so mind numbingly boring I fail to see why anyone would ever want to Master it. Ignore the comments from the non-holocron merchants - you can feel the jealousy reeking from their pores.
And to you Merchants - why would you want to open your FSCS? Why the animosity towards those that do? How can someone who masters merchant and surrenders it harm your business in any way? They can't so get over it.
If you become a Jedi you can not place a house, vendor or factory. You won't have any cash in the bank. And you will spend all of your time in combat. Does not sound like many of you would enjoy that.
So get off your high horses. Let others play the game the way they want to and enjoy it. We do not put you guys down for the way to choose to play your game, so what gives you the right to flame us? We both pay our $15 a month so just let it go.
My only point (shrouded as it was in ranting ) was that no one should have to play classes they don't like or appreciate in order to open the FS slot. After I finish my master merchant/smuggler, why should I have to throw her away to be able to play a Jedi Character? Sure, the devs need to slow the progression to Jedi, but there must be other ways to do it than they way they currently are. It seems to reward grinders and those without a character concept, and penalize players who like to role play. Ohh, and just because I like my current character to smuggle & sell doesnt mean I wouldnt make a great Jedi character as well.
Rai
RaiCella wrote:
It seems to reward grinders and those without a character concept, and penalize players who like to role play.
Wow! I couldn't think of any clearer way to put it!
Rai,
I totally agree with your second post, it was your first that bothered me. Your statement that;
These holocron hunters are really starting to bug me. Just think of how stoopid the Jedi are going to be/act when the only players getting the fs slot are uber grinders and exploiters?
was not really called for. I also am (or was) a holocron hunter. That does not however make me an 'uber grinder' and certainly not an 'exploiter'. It is the system that sucks and should be attacked, not the individual players. Some people, like myself, bought this game because we grew up with the Star Wars universe and really wanted to play a Jedi in a dynamic environment (as opposed to a single player game). When we discovered what was required to open the slot we may not have liked it, but we knew that we would have to go through the pain to get the reward.
Do you know how difficult it was for me to give up Master CH, Master Pistoleer and Medic to become DE, Artisan and Merchant? I hated grinding and crafting. I could no longer spend many hours with my friends on hunting trips on Endor and Dathomir. And when I came to these boards looking for advice and a good strategy all I found were insults and rants. Those rants are being aimed in the wrong direction.
The bizarre thing is now, because i was becoming so frustrated with a crafting class I bought a second account on the same server and gave him combat skills. And guess what? He is now working his way up the CH and Pistoleer trees. In a week or so he will be in the exact same position as my original toon. And I am spending less and less time on the holocron grinding character. Icha has finished the 4 holo professions, and I know I should be working on other ones to open the slot, but I am enjoying my new character and at this rate it is going to take a year to open my slot. Maybe SOE knew people would do this and now they have $30 of my money each month instead of $15.
If you look at the original poster's words again, he sounded enthusiastic and friendly, was trying to give advice to others out there who may not have a large base of friends and do not know where to turn. I see nothing in his post to deserve the flaming he was given.
And please do not use the excuse that you have seen 50 threads like this on your forum. That is no excuse for the sort of resposes he received.
I know I will get one-starred here because that is the attitude of many on these boards. The only opinion that counts is their opinion. Anyone who does not agree with them must be a 12-year old exploiter, probably not English speaking, and does not deserve to play this game let alone be a Jedi.
SulkyMonkey,
How's this for a little sump'n different...I five-starred you because your post was well-stated, polite, and articulate, even though I disagree with it. Posts like yours are the epitomy of 'promoting good discussion.' Well done.
Bey wrote:
What a sickening arrangement. I'll never forgive SOE for this Holocron disease.
Oh, give me a break. So the guy masters merchant quickly and then drops it. Big deal. How does that effect you and your merchanting in any way?
He should be applauded for creative thinking. I got my XP the old fashioned way, by running a business.. but so what? IMO, some people are a little too dramatic on this issue.
Why thank you
I can understand why you guys and girls do get frustrated - I ran half-way across a planet the other day to a vendor that was on the world map selling stims. Having given up my CH skills i could no longer use my mount and I have not yet got around to buying a new one (was waiting for the vehicle patch to come in and I can make my own).
Got to the vendor and the message popped up on the screen that I had to pay 1 credit to enter. Ok. I paid the 1 credit and ran in only to find myself back outside. I figured it was a bug and clicked ok again only to find myself back outside.
I looked at my log and saw that i had been allowed in the building for only -29355493 minutes or something like that. I thought it must be a bug but after reading some threads here I now know that it was an exploit that people were using.
I know I was annoyed when people were using the tame exploit to masterCH in a couple of days, and I get annoyed when I see people getting their pets burned by Commandos so that they can heal themand get super quick medic xp (does anyone see the irony in someone with the tag 'Creature Empath' over their head asking people to set their pets on fire?), so I do have sympathy for Merchants when I see the 'Master merchant in 3 hours threads flying around'.
All I ask is that you do the same I do - take each post on it's seperate merits. Those that deserve it - flame away, rant, report, whatever you feel is necessary. Those that don't - either state the reasons you do not agree or simply ignore it and leave it drop off the front page in 3 minutes.
Iwill close by giving you guys a tip on providing a service and gaining xp at the same time at no cost. If your vendor is close to a POI (my city is about 1000m away from the Jedi caves on Dantooine) offer a storage facility at your shop. Tell people that they can place all of their top of the range items that they do not want to decay on your vendor in a travel pack (you can even sell the travel packs on a seperate vendor so as to get double bubble ) They offer the pack to you at a crazy price - say 10,000,000 credits so that they know you will not accept the offer.
After they die half a dozen timesthey can come back and reclaim all of their stuff. This way they do not have to worry about changing their safety deposit location, their goods are safe and free from decay, you get xp and sell a few travel packs, and everyone is happy. Name the vendor 'Storage Facility' or the like and advertise on your galaxy forum. Everyone is a winner.
Clever storage idea sulky monkey. I am sure it would be hard to get buisness going but once you do it seems like it would pay off.
And I have some respect for those of you who are actively pursuing becoming a Padwan. The way you have to do it is completely stupid, but you are keeping at it, with relatively few complaints, and generally I notice that the holo-grinders try to keep out of the way of the people that are members of those professions. The point that a lot of people fail to realize about the Padwan, is that their path is a slippery one. They have to balance their boldness, which has led them to successfully begin their trip to being a Jedi, with wisdom. Why wisdom? Because if they are sloppy, or not paying attention, they can die. And then they can lose those carefully acquired experience points and start over. Sort of the ultimate decay.
So, you are bold, soon-to-be-Padwan. Be also wise, and choose your path well.
SulkyMonkey,
Very good posts, clear and creative. You also nicely pointed out the ranting-ist part of my rant. I still feel that holocron hunting is damaging this game. Granted, the original poster is not affecting me personally at all, but the hordes of players focusing blindly on the next holocron DO damage the spirit and atmosphere of the game. Why? Because players are playing roles they did not choose for themselves and sometimes have very little knowledge of or respect for.
AFK dancers with no social skills... Smugglers who don't understand the nuances of slicing and perpetuate myths...Combat types willing to kill-steal like never before...
It is also weakening the value of networking. Try to contact the MCH you knew 2 months ago next time you need a mount... they won't be able to help you because they are now a combat medic.
Is this the players fault? No, people are people and act in very predictable ways. I feel that it is the fault of the game designers, and it is the rest of us who must put up with the results. Thank you for pointing out that I was mistakenly blaming individuals for a game-wide problem. That was not my intention.
Rai