Merchant improvements: Large sales and item requests

[I-am-Erk]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

This is something Kevin and I came up with when talking about a different game and I thought I should jot it down where we can remember.

As we move towards having more and more interesting merchants, we do need to improve the mercantile system. One way to do this is to limit the ability of merchants to trade for all the phat lewt you acquire, without blocking them entirely.

Solution you would like.

1. Large item sales: So you brought in an anti-tank weapon. Good work, in this apocalypse someone's surely going to want that, but Deb the Arms Merchant can't clear out her entire stock of small arms ammunition in trade for it, because most people aren't going to want to buy that and she has other customers. She can either trade you way less than it's worth now, say $300, and admits you're getting a raw deal... or, she can give you $150 up front but another $1850 when the thing sells. What do you say? It could be a few days to weeks before it sells, depending on demand for the item, but it's a better deal for both of you.
2. Item requests: Other people come to Deb looking for things. Just the other day, some guy came in looking for a gas-powered potato launcher. If you find one, Deb can pay you 10% of the sale price for it, that's a sweet $50 for some pvc piping. What do you say?
3. Item requests part 2: You can also come to Deb looking for things, and she'll pass the word along. Maybe you really want some really rare ammo or something. Put in a merchant request and there's a chance they'll stock the item next time you come in, influenced by rarity of the item in the game world, and with a small finder's fee.

"deb" in this case is stand in for any major merchant of course. This mechanic would also work great for a faction camp trading post.

Describe alternatives you have considered.

We need a whole economy system, this doesn't necessarily have to be part of it but I think as we get more and more role for trading it will help a lot to reduce the problem of "I found this one valuable item and so I bought everythign in store and money means nothing now"

[Dlightfull]

Maybe they can inform you via two-way radio when they have news for.you?

[Rabadash94]

But if Deb can't pay well for something, you should listen to offers from other merchants looking for the same item. Competition is important for an economy system.

[I-am-Erk]

Maybe some day, but we're not talking about a very large scale economy here.

[Rabadash94]

I'm not talking about that either, but rather the probability of receiving requests from different merchants for the same item.
Suppose we have Merchant A and Merchant B. They both order an item, but A pays $150 upfront and $1850 when the item is sold, while B pays $120 - $1800. It is clear that A's offer is better. But, instead of the player simply giving the item to whoever pays the most, it could open up the possibilities. For example, the player, after getting the item, could first talk to B (the one with the worst offer) and be presented with several options:

• Deliver the item and collect payment.
• Mention that you have another better offer, hoping that B will improve it.
• Deliver the article and mention the other offer (the best one), and maybe gain trust.

In either case, the player could complete both requests.
On the other hand, if you decide to go to A first, you might have other options. For example, by mentioning B's offer, merchant A could instruct the player to inform of future requests to improve them, or take the opportunity to be the supplier of that item.

[Rabadash94]

Coming back to the question...

1. Large item sales: So you brought in an anti-tank weapon. Good work, in this apocalypse someone's surely going to want that, but Deb the Arms Merchant can't clear out her entire stock of small arms ammunition in trade for it, because most people aren't going to want to buy that and she has other customers. She can either trade you way less than it's worth now, say $300, and admits you're getting a raw deal... or, she can give you $150 up front but another $1850 when the thing sells. What do you say? It could be a few days to weeks before it sells, depending on demand for the item, but it's a better deal for both of you.

2. Item requests: Other people come to Deb looking for things. Just the other day, some guy came in looking for a gas-powered potato launcher. If you find one, Deb can pay you 10% of the sale price for it, that's a sweet $50 for some pvc piping. What do you say?

3. Item requests part 2: You can also come to Deb looking for things, and she'll pass the word along. Maybe you really want some really rare ammo or something. Put in a merchant request and there's a chance they'll stock the item next time you come in, influenced by rarity of the item in the game world, and with a small finder's fee.

Another option can be added to this list, and that is that Deb could pay with credit. For example, for an item worth $2,000, Deb pays $300 in cash and $1,700 in credit. With that credit, the player can obtain other items only from the same vendor/faction (a slight disadvantage over option 1). Maybe with some limit per day, since Deb will get new items as time goes by. The credit could be represented by a promissory note.

[ashGlaw]

Great ideas all around. I'm especially interested in item requests, either from or to merchants. It's far too easy to be missing that one thing you need, and tapping into a wider network to help you find it would be tremendously valuable. Even if it took longer and cost more.