Work Orders, Public Vendors, & Boosting Social Interactivity

Work Orders are one of those really cool features in SotA that I wish was much more in your face. For those who really like to just go out and hunt, it's cool to have a side task or two to keep on the look out for when you're taking a break from the NPC drama. The only thing is that you have to first hunt for a crafting pavilion, then find the Public Vendor... oh wait... this is a player's crafting pavilion "house"... hey wandering guard! Where is this town's crafting pavilion located?... Does it have a Public Vendor?... Do they have any Work Orders active?...

What we need is an obvious central location in towns where players can gather to note what other player's are in need of before they head out...

So... out with the old...


and in with the NEW!!...


An art asset of a bulletin board that can be placed in town centers. That's all we really need...


Order Boards could be what SotA really needs to bring the Work Order feature to the foreground for all players while also bringing back that classic UO feeling of everyone hanging out at the bank selling their junk...


#killpublicvendors #teamorderboard

 

Yeah used to love doing bulk order deeds and turning them in for gold and rewards.

 

Any possible noticeboard system shouldn't just be for orders though... should also be for shop advertisement, guild advertisement, event advertisement.

I'm not sure what the exact interface should be; though the easiest way might be a tabbed system.

However, you know player-owned vendors can also take orders and this is a good aspect of the current system. In fact, I think this can be expanded greatly. You could have Purchase Orders, which would be requests by players for the owner of the vendor to fulfill. You could have Repair Orders, etc. And the more shops specialize, the better this will work. So, for instance, if I were to go to a blacksmithing vendor, I would know I could place a Purchase Order for a sword, and fulfill a Work Order for ingots.

Its for that general reason that I think the actual order system should stay on vendors and noticeboards be left for advertisement, so this specialization can be encouraged.

 

Like a forum with subsections? Something like https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?forums/player-marketplace.73/?

 

Yes yay I am totally on board (pun too lol) for this. I have been nagging all by myself well not all by myself oops, but mine was more naggy perhaps or repetitious, like get a grip Majoria . I love this, thanks and this idea from my thread Before release (see below).



We need to connect our world please, please, please. @Darkstar, @Lord British2 @Lum the Mad and @The devs
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/before-release.72124/


Please see***************************** I truly beleive in this for our game
Off this thread and idea for criminal points generated form pvp quests. The bulletin board holds the wanted poster work orders
Combat pvp -
-How about having a system in place like a 'criminal points system' earned by "certain criteria'
-What happens through built up criminal points with certain criteria criminal points are earned
-If met this generates a work order wanted posted for your head worth for example 5k
-Wanted posters can be picked up from NPC town bulletin boards as a work order
-The only way to be a criminal is through striving for it
-Just doing pvp for fun does not make you a criminal
-Pvp quests that lead you in this direction are found through interacting with NPCs and choices that are made
-Once your criminal points have reached the required level then the work order appears requesting you to be hunted down and turning in your head will remove the wanted poster
-This could look like Work order type - wanted criminal Evil Max (made up name), 5k reward for his head.
-Once taken Work order is gone from the board, but other criminal work orders would appear as they were generated.
-Completing criminal work orders can give a boost to virtue or other achievement/reward
-This is one of many things that can be added in to the game along with what is already coming in and not as a replacement for that, more options more things to do are needed.

oops edited to correct meanings and make some points

 

I love the bulletin board idea. It could be next to the town crier.

Most medieval towns and villages had a central form of communication for commerce, social activity and for the catching of dastardly criminals. (bounty system?)

It could be easily sectioned into important parts of the game and could charge a gold fee for guilds and shops who wanted to advertise on it.

 

isn't the public vendor basically a human shaped bulletin board?

 

Exactly.

I just wish they were more obvious to spot from afar (especially for newer players who might not even know that we have these "Work Orders" in the game), in a open and central location (near the bank perhaps with the town crier next to it) to encourage gathering away from crafting stations where people are busy working, and just better integrated into the world art-wise.

Such an odd and complex job these "public vendors" have. If public vendors were smart, they'd put up an order board so they could take a break.

 

I would love work orders to grind my crafting on. . . er, enhance my immersion in this Realm I find myself within...

 

How about when you first enter a town you see the bulletin board? Work orders should never have been put on public vendors in the first place, that is not what we asked for. Work orders giving people reasons to do things is much needed in this game but stuck on a vendor was not the way to do it. We should see peoples work orders in one place away from the buying and selling of a vendor. We don't even know they exist because they are most likely hidden away in some far away town. I like your points CrazyPhil. Bulletin boards should not be placed to add to high traffic areas in towns especially at this point in development and in lag and less than perfect optimization conditions.

 

I like this, but if they want 'regional' (??) economies, the devs won't. Instead, perhaps have occasional wanderers carrying updates that need 'escort'/'protection' on the overland map from bandits, wolves, undead, whatever. If they make it to a town, the job orders get updated. IF not, not.

Explicitly, yes, this means job orders accepted may have already been accomplished.... which is more reason for a crafter to go visit the source of the job, to ensure it's real and open before accepting it.... Hey presto, a positive reason to visit other areas!

 

yes the system is a little confounding for a newbie that hasn't read any docs.

It would be kind of cool if the public vendor randomly barked items from the work order list... so passing players would see them above his head.

"wanted: 60 raw cotton for 200gp" etc.

perhaps the language on the tabs will get another pass....and I can't recall if it already does so or not, but the public vendor's conversation can teach the first time user what the tabs mean. like the crafting supplier does.

 

As long as they continue to do these functions via the forums they give players little reason to interact economically via in game means and strangle the economic viability of players who want nothing to do with the forums or SotA discord.

 

Work Orders already exist in-game. Talk to a Public Vendor and take note.

No no, it shouldn't go global. It should stay local as Public Vendors are now. No change necessary.

Wait... it sounds like you're talking about adding game-generated quests... which player-made Work Orders were created to overwrite. We just need to funnel more players to the Work Orders that already exist in-game.

 

I think they should definitely give the public vendors more of a soap box to stand on, bark to nearby players about work orders, maybe build up a little stand around them, definitely give them clothes to differentiate them from town criers, skill trainers, etc. I feel like at least some of this will come with time. I mean, for example, the one near Central Brittany bank is literally standing behind a tree/bush and almost impossible to see unless you're looking specifically for him!

 

Nope it is a cheap replacment for what we originally asked for, the easiest way out and besides who knows where any of these vendors are, tucked away in a zillion towns. Public boards would connect us and solve the problem. Work orders could come from anywhere in the game and it would let us know what is happening and where instead of keeping us segregated in our little spaces. I so hate that. Even though I do love living in Wizards Rest I want to know our world is alive and well and have options to contribute to players work orders and post my own in a visual place.

@DarkStarr @Richard Garriott @Lum the Mad @The Devs