Weaponsmith Archive
Thread: Pre-Sliced Gear?
I just partnered with a Smuggler to slice some weapons for me, and offer them on a special vendor.
Just wanting to know, for those of you who offer Pre-Sliced weapons, how do you advertise them?
I had some a$$hat scream at me about buying a weapon from my "Pre-Sliced Vendor" that was already sliced.
I clearly list on all weapons that are sliced, what the slice is, and if it has a powerup installed, what the spec is on the powerup. I offer powerups on guns as sort of a freebie, since just about every weaponsmith I know also sells powerups in their shop.
(Think of the any of the high-end disposable razors, buy it, get a free blade cartridge, when it wear out, they come back for repeat business, or buy extras at the time of purchase)
I guess at the time it seemed like a decent business plan, and this was the first complaint in 3 months and over 150 satsified/repeat customers.
So is 1 complaint in 3 months bad? I feel sorry for people like origins who must have sold 100's of weapons a day.
Is it just me or some people who play SWG are uncapable of 3rd grade math?
Anyway, and suggestions, tips, etc for a small weapons dealer would be greatly appreciated.
Don't call them "pre-sliced". Just call them "Sliced" or "Unsliced". Pre-sliced just adds confusion, half of the population assumes that means "before slicing".
Additionally, half of the population doesn't realize there's a "Sale Description" box if they scroll all the way down. I have always listed all of my slice percentages and types, but most of them ignore it and have no idea they can see it. I have notices on my vendors, advising customers that they can scroll down to the bottom and see the exact slice! But I get at least three or four "what kind of slice is this??" tells a day.
I'd say you have had a lot more complaints than you realize. My alt is a Master Smuggler and 50% of the time I get a slice request on her, it's one of my own guns. A gun that was bought from a vendor titled "Sliced Weaponry". Most players don't immediately find a Smuggler, or they're just too lazy to find one, so they may go for days and weeks before having a Smuggler tell them it's already been sliced. By then, they don't care enough to complain to the original seller.
Weapons with power-ups equipped are a very, very bad idea all around. Too much confusion for the short-attention-span customer, who will immediately impulse-buy the weapon just after glancing quickly at the damage. Offer power-ups separately. If they want to powerup their weapons, they'll buy the powerups. No muss, no fuss, no confusion from zealous customers. Selling weapons with powerups equipped is just asking for customers to yell at you, even though it's not your fault.
I agree with Ace on the issue of adding powerups. That's just asking for trouble. On the issue of slicing, I got tired of having to correct people about which weapons were sliced and which weapons weren't sliced even though I clearly labeled the vendors "Sliced Weaponry" and "Unsliced Weaponry". Now, I actually make 2 different schematics per weapon type and title the sliced weapon "Sliced Laser Rifle by Maya (See Details)". This minimizes confusion although strangely enough, not completely. Every once in a while I'll get someone who asks me to slice a sliced weapon...Go figure.
People can be very dumb. You can label your vendors all you want and people will still mess it up. Don't sweat it. There's only so much explaining you can do.
However, the powerup thing is a bad bad bad idea. You have no idea how many times I slice a powerup'ed weapon and the customer has no idea it was equipped. When that goes "blink" in combat, or I have to remove it inorder to slice... the customer feels like their new gun was just damaged. It also makes it hard to compare the quality of the original weapon on the vendor. Is the dmg high because of the gun or the powerup? Don't make people calculate percentages backwards. LOL.
Rai
RaiCella wrote:
Don't make people calculate percentages backwards. LOL.
Actually, don't make people calculate percentages at all, because 90% of them can't!
"do u have laser rifle"
"Yes, I carry both speed and damaged sliced Laser Rifles. Their base stats are 41-398 5.7."
"o is that sliced"
"No, those are the stats before slice."
"can u tell me what stats are sliced"
"I sell many rifles at varying levels of slices, from 25-35%. A 35% damage slice is a 35% increase to damage."
"but what r sliced stats"
"On what kind of slice? There are varying levels, like a 35% slice is higher than a 30% slice."
"ok"
"You can't do the math?"
"plz"
Or, sometimes, they can't even do simple addition.
"hey how good would the gun be if i put a 30 krayt tissue in one of ur Republic Blasters"
"Just add the damage of the Krayt Tissue to the max damage of the Republic Blaster."
"how much is that?"
"226"
"o wat about if it was 30% dmg sliced to plz??"
"..."
Logix wrote:
RaiCella wrote:
Don't make people calculate percentages backwards. LOL.
Actually, don't make people calculate percentages at all, because 90% of them can't!
"do u have laser rifle"
"Yes, I carry both speed and damaged sliced Laser Rifles. Their base stats are 41-398 5.7."
"o is that sliced"
"No, those are the stats before slice."
"can u tell me what stats are sliced"
"I sell many rifles at varying levels of slices, from 25-35%. A 35% damage slice is a 35% increase to damage."
"but what r sliced stats"
"On what kind of slice? There are varying levels, like a 35% slice is higher than a 30% slice."
"ok"
"You can't do the math?"
"plz"
Or, sometimes, they can't even do simple addition.
"hey how good would the gun be if i put a 30 krayt tissue in one of ur Republic Blasters"
"Just add the damage of the Krayt Tissue to the max damage of the Republic Blaster."
"how much is that?"
"226"
"o wat about if it was 30% dmg sliced to plz??"
"..."
So stupidy reigns across the servers then...
I thought it was only on my server that these questions existed...
I've seen a lot of repeat business, so maybe I'm getting the smart ones on the server, who know and prefer my equipment. Dunno, most new customers are via referral by friends and/or PA Mates
As for having "unknown" complaints. I track who buys what so I have a rough guess of what to keep in stock. Based on my repeat business, I really do think last night's experience was the first truly "unhappy" customer I've had in three months. Usually if someone thinks they've been cheated, they don't come back, most all of my customers come back, or refer their friends to me. (I doubt it's based soley on price)
I've heard horror stories from other weaponsmiths, and even read some from those who have quit the profession. 1 person out of well over a hundred is cutting it pretty low. Probably because of the clientele I normally deal with, and this person was just a random passerby. Hard to tell.
I do think this weekend I'll be replacing the vendor with one that says. "Sliced Weaponry" just so it can be dumbed down a notch. Will have to buy another long dress jacket, grey pants, black gloves and boots. (NPC Vendor is acting like an Imperial Officer "Disposing" of confiscated guns. :-)
Kinda stinks that some people haven't learned english in their 12 yrs on this planet.
I'm just thinking of all the similar terms used. Pre-Built. Pre-Configured, Pre-Mixed.
I 'll agree to a certain degree that it is slightly backwards, but so is the english language.
Thanks for the tips. A lot of good ideas to consider, especially as business expands, and I'll be dealing with more "random" people.
--Shadith
Master-Wpn-Shadith wrote:
I'm just thinking of all the similar terms used. Pre-Built. Pre-Configured, Pre-Mixed.
Oh yeah, I thought the same thing myself, used the term "pre-sliced" without a second thought. Then I realized I was being endlessly annoyed by "BUT U SAID PRESLICE??? THAT MEANS BEFORE SLICE!", and I just stuck to "Sliced" or "Unsliced".
All my good ones flew off my vendor in two days.
Thanks again for all the tips and understanding.
It's good to know I'm not the only one who has this sort of dilemna.
--Shadith
I have found that when I am asked if my weapons are already sliced, and I answer "no" I seem to have happier customers. It seems that allot of the time when people realize that the stats on my weapons are base and not enhanced, the act amazed.
From what I have been told by quite a few people is that allot of bad weapons are being sold out there because the real stats are sort of covered up with a slice. At least my smart customers tell me that. The dumb ones compare my 10% lower damage unsliced weapons with already sliced ones and think the already slice weapon is way better.
Heh, I just keep it simple - I don't sell anything on my vendors that isn't sliced. Makes things a whole lot less complicated.
The only complaint I've had was from somebody who bought a SR Combat pistol which I had handcrafted with a visible chrome barrel and scope. I got a tell from the guy asking me how to take "the stupid looking barrel and scope" off. That was about a 5 minute conversation that ended up being in vain - he was sure that there was a radial menu option for it - I explained he was thinking of a powerup. He didn't beleive me... *sigh*