Weaponsmith Archive
Thread: How does a new Weaponsmith compete with an established weaponsmith from Pre-CU.
FWIW, I know of many weaponsmiths who charge 250k to craft a gun with pre-cu components. A crate of pre-cu components goes for 500k on my server. Established players have no problem dishing out much for a decent base weapon. I sell my pre-cu bowcasters for 400k each.
Eventually those pre-cu gems will fade away and you will be on a more level playing ground. Until then I suggest you sell your weapons at a far lower price than the pre-cu smiths.
I've been a MWS since well before the CU (12 points, +20 FS experimentation). I only have a small stockpile of pre-CU components, which I save for myself and friends. I have no problem selling standard weapons using post-CU components.
Before the CU, being a 12 point WS didn't make that much of a different. But now those two extra points really help. And if you have +20 FS experimentation that helps you get more amazing successes...get enough of them and it's almost as good as having a '13th' point.
Slim Vargo, Corbantis
BOOMSTICK Inc. Message Edited by Tautology on 07-17-2005 11:59 PM
Stocks > post-cu when your crafting Laser Rifles IMO, means you dont have an extra .1 speed but youll still hit the SAC cap.
ABPH.. Nice damage/speed
Barrels same.
Vaderian wrote:
Currently I am a Master Weaponsmith I became one a week or so after the CU by grinding the old fashioned way. I have collected the best resources money can buy including using resource deeds. Now I am only a 10 point weaponsmith currently so most established weaponsmiths have a slight jump on me. However when I compare my non krayt weapons to a weapon made by a Pre-CU weaponsmith theres simply no comparison. My guns cant compete on DPS or Sac.
My Krayt weapons even using 150-175 tissues just aren't comparable to Pre-CU Weaponsmiths either. Since I am using the best resources to be had on my server the question is how are they so thoroughly beating my weapons out?
After reading various posts on these forms it has come to my attention that Pre-CU Stocks, Scopes, and ABPH's are apparently much better then any that can be made now. So I guess they must be using these items to make thier guns. So there is really no way for a newer weaponsmith to compete with a Pre-CU who has factory crates of parts stocked up. So I guess what I am wondering is am I out of luck turning a profit until all Pre-CU weaponsmiths run out of Pre-CU components?
Vadrian Blacksun
Master Weaponsmith
Master Armorsmith
I think the pre-cu subs will eventually run dry and in some cases are overrated. I havebeen a MWS since December 2003, I'm 12 points,have never advertised, and ran into the same issue of how to compete when I started. I am not one of the MWS on my server whose name ends up in the 'Best WS on <insert servername>" threads on mygalaxy forum. Those threads are popularity contests and do not necessarily reflect the quality of theweaponsthat are crafted. Word of mouth has done well for me and I have no problem selling my weapons.
Your threads' title asks how to compete and this is my advice:
1. Shop your competition - write down their stats and prices so you will know where you stand. Then compare your own weapons to this and adjust your prices down, according to how they compare. For example: if the 'premiere WS' sells his best Elite Carbine with dmg around 890 for 30k, then come under his/her price a bit if yours is 870 dmg. 22.5k maybe. I did this back then and it generates traffic.
2. Get Merchant - Advertsing 3 at least long enough to list your vendors on the planetary map. Many ppl still use this to find a weapon.
3. Location - Location is everything. A store on the front row outside a big city means ppl will come. If you can, get into an established 'Mall' so that the others vendors will improve traffic to your vendors.I will never go back to a location that has an empty vendor and I think there are others who feel the same.Never be out of stock on your best selling weapons. Make sure your vendors easy to locate inside your house/tent.
4. 12 points experimentation will help a lot - get enough tapes to make one full suit (that never leaves your crafting house, to prevent decay). Tapes drop more often now, and on Corbantis you can find the >= +4 tapes for much lower than the 'premiere WS' paid for his/hers. The extra 2-3 points left after the dmg experiment can go into speed if you're concerned about the DPS issue. I like to lower SACs when I can with these points.
5. Customer service - make your character searchable, make sure you can answer the dumb questions ppl will ask you, keep your promises. I don't charge extra for special orders, I try to craft them on the spot. If the customer wants a specially named weapon, then I do make them pre-pay. I offer cheap weapon repairs and am in my store at least 2-3 times per week, for 2-3 hours at a time.