The Great NPC Merchant Debate

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Sorgin Txakal, Mar 11, 2021.

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  1. shadowvice

    shadowvice Avatar

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    Well and here is something I was thinking of

    If cotton is the only way lower players can make real money in the game, if that is going then the tilt will be HEAVILY in the hands on those with ties on the economy...
     
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  2. SmokerKGB

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    I don't think you get any seeds back, unless they changed it... I know it would be nice to just convert the whole crop to seeds, but I think it's on the list of things to do...

    I think the Farmer in Janna has all seeds...
     
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  3. Lained

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    When a crop is fully watered there's 4% seed return when harvested apart from bananas that yield none.
     
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  4. SmokerKGB

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    So, is that 4% of the total yield? So, 96% will be fruit and 4% seeds? Good to know, thanks...
     
  5. Lained

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    It's a 4% chance of getting seeds along with whatever it is you're harvesting.
     
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  6. Sorgin Txakal

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    One idea that just occured to me in furtherance of this thought:

    One thing Governors of POTs can't purchase are Public Vendors.

    I think, in addition to Inky Conversationalist Capability, the devs should consider converting all POT purchased (& store) NPC Merchants into a public vendors that only accepts items/buy orders for items of their type - as each relevant vendor can be phased out due to lack of inventory (e.g. fishing merchant currently). The governor should have the option to make the public vendor "Open to All" vs "Open to Residents" for the abilities to place buy orders, add inventory, and buy from the vendors.

    This would allow a governor to set up RP merchant squares or districts without having to go through the maintenance process of editing permissions each time a resident moves in/out. Would also allow a governor to set up a community-only vendor area without having to block people or hide vendors behind locked doors or in basements as it is tied to resident status.
     
  7. Elwyn

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    It also was on a per-NPC basis. Buy a bunch in Owl's Head? Brittany is not affected. I remember Chris telling me that people apparently didn't even notice the prices were going up, and were buying stuff at way inflated prices, like coal at 40 each. But I think a global demand pricing mechanic for NPC buy AND sell prices would be a good thing.

    We so badly need the ability to buy partial stacks now, and also the ability to reprice without relisting. I got so tired of having to list stack after stack just to make sure some would be affordable, and avoided putting too much up at one time so I wouldn't have to relist every stack to change prices, having to switch between keyboard and mouse each and every time. (it's way too tedious even if you don't consider RSI)

    A secondary benefit will be less individual stacks for sale on vendors, which reduces vendor and database clutter. Your 200-item vendor is no longer filled up with 50 repeats of the same items. This also makes it possible for buyers to see more items without fiddly scrolling. (gear will still be a big mess, but you're not selling those for tens to hundreds each)

    Also I'm pretty sure the reason you're seeing stuff used in the tens of thousands is that people are crafting large quantities for producer XP for more skills. Being able to break even (or even a small profit!) by selling the results to NPCs just makes it better.

    Another thing I would like to see is something to do with excess NPCs like non-commission vendors. Since they seem to share the same skinning, it would be nice to have a right-click upgrade to convert them to something else (including non-commission vendors) by spending cotos.
     
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  8. Anpu

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    As of today, people have purchased from NPC merchants in the last 7 days:

    94.3K Garlic, 94.2K Mandrake Root, 13.3K Nightshade, and 23.0K Pumpkins (this is the most purchased vegetable).

    Apparently the NPC price still isn't a barrier for people currently when it comes to convenience.
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2021
  9. Duke Gréagóir

    Duke Gréagóir Legend of the Hearth

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    Plus don't forget when the forums reported that we should buy lots of the reagents from the NPC vendors now because they will be removed within another month. I stocked up what I could at the lower price since I use mandrake root for most of my spells. I also bought seeds to start growing my own.

    We need a global vendor item search more now than ever to tell us who has what I need and at the lowest price since I make less selling to NPCs now. When I have 81 of this and 3 of that when I find a PC vendor to buy they want stacks of 500, 1000 or 10,000. I need the money now to upgrade my gear now and not 5 years from now.
     
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  10. Anpu

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    Buying reagents now from NPC's at 4 gold each is basically you loosing money because you can grow them yourself for less. You can even buy the same reagents from players for only 1.3 gold each.......
     
  11. Ysold

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    Time to add a bit to this discussion from a newer player perspective.

    This discussion has mostly been about regs, and I think that's a major point of worry for newer players. Not so much for aspiring alchemists (I was able to reach GM in Alchemy with harvested regs only) but definitely for aspiring mages. A new mage needs regs from day 2 and can't be asked to travel half the world first before they can use their chosen profession. And I'm afraid player vendors in Soltown won't be too kind to them, or if they try, will be bought empty by the heavy reg users. We need a NPC reg vendor in Solace Bridge Outskirts that sells lower quantities for reasonable prices. .

    From a newer producer's point of view: I (and lots of newer players like me) would be able to enter the producer's market. I have a simple row house with greenhouse on top but my planting beds are empty most of the time, because I only grow something if my stock goes low. I would love to grow some more and sell it, but who would visit my vendor in a POT where no one ever comes, to buy a few hundred of the farmable regs? I can't go into a contract with a heavy user because I can't produces tons.
    To make this work, we'd need a global vending system. Perhaps change the public vendors to global public vendors and change selling the items at the end of term to mailing the items back to the seller?

    Ysold.
    (Btw I love the POT where my house is! I have no plan to move :) )
     
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  12. necronut

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    1.3? You're getting robbed. The three basic regs; garlic, mandrake, and nightshade can be sold under 1gp and still be profitable. I'd sell 'em for 1.1 or less.

    If we reduced the reg output by half, thus undoing one of the worst changes in the game, and waited out the stockpiles finally getting reduced, we could see the agriculture economy boom again.

    First, some of them cried the output wasn't enough, so it was doubled, but if you double output without doubling demand... you break the economy. Fix that first.
    Because now, some of them cry that no one wants to buy their overpriced, overproduced reagents when a guy like me will look at cost / .75 to come up with an exact 25% profit margin and think to himself "The ones who cried are NOT the ones who should be listened to... because now the economy is broken."

    So, to anyone who didn't know this is what happened, now you can join me in begging to have that horrible knee-jerk change undone. And to anyone who begged for that horrible change, the agricultural economy we have now is what you begged for... and it's neither fun, nor profitable anymore.

    P.S. I'm perfectly fine with a 15-25% profit margin... so anyone overcharging... take notes. I'm comin' for your business real soon.
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2021
  13. Lained

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    There's plenty of players that see the good value even at higher prices there's no need to disparage other farmers. I regularly restock my vendors' stock of reagents at 1.5 gold each so the demand is there. At the moment cotton is still going for 4 gold each so if you're selling at that price you're essentially losing gold, we'll see what happens when they remove sales to vendors.
    Essentially most halved their prices and the rest had to follow.
     
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  14. necronut

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    You're responding to half-points. It's as if you said "I like pineapple on pizza," and I decided to only respond to the pizza part and just ignore the pineapple. A paper isn't graded on the thesis alone.
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2021
  15. FBohler

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    You like pineapple on your pizza??
    Eeewww! :confused:
     
  16. necronut

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    Better be careful, I might start liking you.
     
  17. FBohler

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    The worse the better?
     
  18. necronut

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    I like you even worse now. ;)
     
  19. Sorgin Txakal

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    It is a good thing that a Public Vendor was added to Soltown then. ;)

    [​IMG]


    I think this would be a good function for a Traveling Merchant which would be the inventory that the Wandering Merchant Encounter. Would also be a great function for Stables (NPC Buildings) in POTs if the Wandering Merchant whose inventory is present in the encounter shows up in POTs at the stable building on occasion.
     
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  20. AzazelReborn

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    One thing people always seems to forget is that time is money. The time you invested in growing crops is extremely important and should always be added to any calculations.

    sone players do not have time to invest into growing crop so buy it from vendors is considered cheaper to them.
     
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