Epic shops and roleplay

[zavox]

Now this one is a topic that has been on my mind of quite a while.

Having all epic shops easily available ruins tons of good rp.

I dont even know why they got moved up to BG, FAI, Greenest, Beregost and so on, but its taking away the reason for players to gather up and make caravans in order to stock up on epic goods.
And not only that, having everything easily available de-values the epic goods for everyone.

Generally I say that quality of life mechanics on an rp server is usually bad for the shelf life of the server since it takes away rp oppurtunities
(an example would be Mudds auctionhouse for basically removing players face to face peddling)

Im not saying "Remove all epic shops from the server" what I really want is to see the epic shops re-located to less weird places, its kind of jarring to find epic items being sold en masse in Baldurs Gate market square like if it was a couple of eggs or a freshly baked loaf of bread.

Put them back into avernus where they belong

[DM Winter]

Not avernus, but say, Sshamath? That'd make sense...

And while I personally full heartedly agree with you, epic shops and different item enchantments should be in different places in the server, I don't think it's a change that the server as a community would appreciate. If someone doesnt have access to something, the usual response isn't trade RP, but complaint. Which, in my eyes, is why things are as widely available as they are right now.

So again, while I agree with you, it'd be a change that would anger a lot of players

[Planehopper]

(an example would be Mudds auctionhouse for basically removing players face to face peddling)

Face to face peddling is difficult with a global population and limited time zone overlap. Mudd's has done nothing to remove opportunities to trade or interact as merchant RP. I know, I play one.

[Aspect of Sorrow]

Used to be this way, but face to face was OOC interactions, not IC, such as trades and exchanges in Nexus.

[Lockonnow]

Let us have Avernus back on it was ver cool with all those Demons that get beat up.

[Ithilan]

The amount of whine people gave over the shop being in Avernus was a never ending river.

"im a paladin, id never go to hell but I need my sword"
"people going to avernus are scummy power gamers"
"omg are we trading with an imp?"

And on and on it went, making Avernus trips entirely OOC for many people and a pocket of immersion breaking content that should be less readily available than a magical sword.

The compromise that was made worked out rather well, we are in one of the biggest merchantile cities in Faerun, of course there is going to be stores with epic loot. There is in every major city, the fact its very concentrated on to a few merchants is just convenient to having 20 different merchants in the market square, which would argueably increase immersion.

I can not think of a way that would be better than the current and the gap that has been bridged by making quality gear available, has made the server a lot more fun for many people who were barred from any meaningful rewards in the past and not blessed by the RNG of the loot table.

Keep merchants in merchant locations, instead of arbitrary weird challenges in zones no one should visit willingly lore wise.

[Hullack]

Would suggest getting crafting in place before thinking about ripping out static shops.

[Lockonnow]

Ithilan Anyone need a weapon of Secert Magic

[Rinzler]

Not avernus, but say, Sshamath? That'd make sense...

Agreed. Sshamath should have some of the most unique and special magical items in Faerun. Surface expeditions to the Underdark to browse the bazaar would create great impromptu RP as well. Additionally, all this "trade" meta RP from Sshamath might actual find in game utility if people wanted goods from Sshamath delivered to them.

[AsuraKing]

Or just move it into the Thayan enclave, they're suppose to trade in high end magical items after all, that's what enclaves are all about and why they're welcomed in goodly cities.

[Planehopper]

Or just leave it as it is, and allow the roleplay that has established itself around the vendors and our systems to maintain its pace without upending it for the sake of upending it.

While some of the ideas have decent roleplay reasoning, pushing folks toward alts, ooc trades, and other shenanigans takes away more than we may possibly gain, imo.

[Rinzler]

Or just leave it as it is, and allow the roleplay that has established itself around the vendors and our systems to maintain its pace without upending it for the sake of upending it.

While some of the ideas have decent roleplay reasoning, pushing folks toward alts, ooc trades, and other shenanigans takes away more than we may possibly gain, imo.

I disagree and to be honest, I don't think there's an abundance of RP around trade and vendors and to me this isn't an example of "it's not broken don't fix it" because I think the system could be considerably better. I can attest to Bregan being hired for countless "we're going to establish a trade route" requests from Sshamath to pick whatever Point B you can think of. The trade routes have always been purely for some intangible product in game that gets forgotten the next day. To add, most of the individuals creating trade routes are Underdark PCs, very rarely do I see a surface PC looking to establish a trade route to Sshamath (which is one of the things the city is famous for). I don't think adding an element of tangible trade is not a suggestion that's "upending it for the sake of upending it." Furthermore, using mules and OOC trades is already rampant, and people are going to do it no matter what. If some paladin wants to do an OOC trade because their character can't stand the thought of the item coming from Sshamath that's their prerogative, but it also gives an element of leverage to the Drow/Thayan PC to keep the transaction IC.

[JustAnotherGuy]

If the shops were moved to other locations, the items wouldn't be harder to get for anyone but newer players. For established players, it would just be more of a hassle. There's already a power gap between older players and newer players, and imo, moving the shops would just make it harder for new players to close that gap.

As to the RP, I personally don't think it would add more trade RP. Back when the shops were in Avernus, I didn't witness any more trade RP for epic items. I saw OOC deals being made to acquire the items, but very little trade RP. As it is now, I've actually seen more RP to the tune of, "You seem to understand the market more and can get better prices. Mind coming with me to the shops and helping me get a good deal on an item?"

[Ithilan]

Why on earth would it be moved to Sshamath? And who in their right mind wants to trade with drow openly and willingly. Baldurs Gate is a bigger trade hub in the setting than Sshamath is, its unimaginable that there wouldnt be any good shops there. And if we refer to the D&D games made over time, most quality stores are located in city/town areas, whether its in Waukeens Promenade, your own fortress home of Drezen or the like, theres a ton of examples.

Why make some weird weird barriers for entry, because thats what the stores really are like JustAnotherGuy says, its only inconvenient for established players. But a much more troublesome experience for new players. I dont think it promotes any RP at all either, if anything it takes away from what merchant RP there is, pushing many people towards a smoother fast OOC interaction, whether thats with another player or sprinting through the town with an AFK tag over your head like it never took place.

I can understand an appeal to divide the wares between more merchants, in various locations through out the cities, with more thematic and immersive shops. But not why they should be restricted in any manner.

[mrm3ntalist]

Why make some weird weird barriers for entry, because thats what the stores really are like JustAnotherGuy says, its only inconvenient for established players. But a much more troublesome experience for new players. I dont think it promotes any RP at all either, if anything it takes away from what merchant RP there is, pushing many people towards a smoother fast OOC interaction, whether thats with another player or sprinting through the town with an AFK tag over your head like it never took place.

I stopped asking why a long time ago