Merchant Archive
Thread: Holocron responds to Vendor Fee...
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=Development&message.id=443519
Great news people, sounds like they're going to go with the sales tax idea. I'm really happy that we were able to get our collective voices heard on this issue, and it's definitely nice to see an example of the Devs listening to feedback the way they did back in Beta.
This is the best news I have heard in a week.
Let us trust in the Force to guide the hand of Holocron.
Bhin'der
TCON Body & Soul
He wrote...
Well, as I posted a while ago, I'm actually notin the office right now (trying to fix up my house so I can get it sold so I can move to San Diego), so I haven't been keeping up with the forums that much. I am on email so I can read work email, but that's about it.
I do know that we discussed not changing the maintenance fees to be scaled off of value on the vendors, and that we were going to instead look at a form of sales tax. The reason why we were going to scale it off of value was so that vendors wouldn't be used as storage devices (since that was not the intent). But vendors are better as storage devices than leaving the stuff on the floor of houses (much less DB load), and you guys are already suffering a storage crunch, so we're talking about simply changing the flat fee to make more sense--make it cheaper as you advance or something--and instituting sales tax instead.
-Raph Koster,
Creative Director
Greets ...
This is great news ...
Give Holo a break ... he is moving to San Diego.
Wait ... that is where I live ...
Well ... he is probably going to live in the nicer part of San Diego ... the Del Mar, Carmel Valley area ...
Wait... that is where I live ...
Hmm ... I guess I have to keep my eyes open for a guy wearing an SOE hat in the super market check out lane .. or in our church ... then I can corner him and get you guys some real answers :-)
Hero out
*gasps at what looks like an attempt by devs to actually communicate with players in the window between proposing a nerf and instituting it*
Fan-freakin-tastic.
I may be able to keep resources in my shop after all.
I don't mind fees and taxes... I just like 'em predictable. 
You do realize this is pretty vague still.
Flat 200 credits per 45 minutes? (by the way that comes out to 6400 credits per day for 1 vendor)
Flat 200 credits per item listed?
Flat 200 credits per day?
I think we need more info before we jump for joy.
Sounds promising.
I'm sure that whatever change they are proposing, which makes things unreasonable, will get kicked and beaten on.
Sales tax sounds fair.
Hero_DarkJedi wrote:
Wait... that is where I live ...
Go door to door with a clipboard asking people if they would be interested in three free issues of Online Game Designer Monthly. When somebody accepts, you've found the right house. 
Sir, it's quite possible that this game is not entirely stable.
"Not entirely stable." Well, I'm glad you're here to tell us these things. Chewie! Take the professor in the back and plug him into the patch server!
Sorry not to dance with all the happy campers, but i still find this orientation kind of sad for the merchants. I would have prefered them to keep the high maintainance costs and give merchants a real cost advantage in their skill tree, so that they finally get some true reward for investing the precious skill points in this tree.
This is still an oportunity for SOE to revamp the merchant skill tree, like they did for the ranger one. I still hope they take this chance to help merchants become somewhat needed in the game.
I can breath a little easier knowing that I will not have 20k a day fees that not only would put me out of business, but take me by suprise and eat up all my goods. I do not want to appear totally ungrateful, but there are serious issues that are left unaddressed.
A sales tax should be levied at the bazaar only. This may encourage the conveneience buyers to actually leave the city areas and seek merchant shops. I also wouldn't be against the idea that a well skilled merchant has the right to sell a few more items at the bazaar (10 maybe), and be sales tax exempt. I may be dreaming, but I would not mind having the price ceiling raised a bit. The merchant skill needs to have some real perks to it......make it worth while to invest precious skill points. Reduced bazaar listing fees are a joke. The littleyou save listing is not worth it. I would have rather had the skill points for that one, but it is a must to get to the next skill.
What kind of flat fees are we looking at? I hope it isn't outrageous. I am hoping that there is plenty of notice about any fee being instituted, and be announced at log in. BEFORE the fees are implemented, I want my venders to actually work first!