Storefront

Metraze - Sanctuary
Metraze - Sanctuary Posts: 139 Arc User
edited January 2009 in Suggestion Box
I know a lot of people don't like Cat Shops ... I have a sort of love/hate relationship with them myself. I don't like having to leave my computer/game running to keep the shop open, don't like trying to figure out what a reasonable price is for something, don't like how it slows the computer down, don't like browsing through all these shops trying to find something, really don't even like the look of them ... but on the other hand, you can just make sooooo much more money selling stuff in a Cat Shop vs NPC'ing it that I just can't resist b:surrender

So I thought about an alternative: A 'Storefront' - scatter a number of these around (they'd look something like a Newspaper stand). A place like Archosoar might have 50 of them (mostly near the gates), while a small town might have just two or three.

It'd work similiar to a Cat Shop, in that a player can go there and deposit some things to sell, or some things to buy (auto-deposit the coin to cover it). But then they just walk away (or even logoff) while the items remain in the Storefront. So in that respect it's like the Auction House ... but there's no fee, items are fixed price, and only displayed in the Storefront you placed them in. So it's really more like a collection of Cat Shops.

Anyone browsing the Storefront would of course have a filter option (at least like the AH ... if not better) for what they want to buy. If you're browsing to sell something, there should be a special filter that only displays items you hold in your inventory.

To list items (whether to buy or sell) in a Storefront, you first need to use (via a quest from that Storefront) a 'Storefront Deed' (Cash Shop item ... have to give PWI a way to make money on it if I want any chance of this suggestion being implemented b:thanks). This gives you room to list up to 4 items in that Storefront. If that's not enough, you can can just use another Deed at another Storefront to list 4 more items there.

(The idea is to get players to spread their items between multiple Storefronts, instead of just a few being heavily used and others hardly touched ... so you don't end up with a mass of players gathered around one or two Storefronts. Also makes it retain a bit of the flea market feel, for those who like that - but without there being nearly as many shops to check).

Like the AH, any proceeds/items will be mailed to you - or after some time limit (say 48 hours?) the listing will be removed (and likewise mailed to you). However, you still retain the space at that Storefront, and can then list something else. (You'll of course be able to easily tell which Storefront's you have a Deed with, because they'll be the ones without the 'quest available' shield over them).
Post edited by Metraze - Sanctuary on

Comments

  • seasnake
    seasnake Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    I agree with you completely. My thread read as follows:

    Market Square Trading Areas / in addition to, or rather than individual player stores - Today, 08:29 PM

    Wandering around Etherblade is a nightmare with all the player shops filling all the room up so you can't see much of anything at all and don't at all care to ever look at player stores cause there are way too many of them.

    What I propose are totem poles or the like where people can put in their items for trading. The added vantage is that players don't have to be online for their items to still be listed for sale.

    Everyone would get an inventory space, on general shop totems, they would price and place items into the space, and the items would be searchable and instantly buyable in the same way that the acution system works.

    You go to a town, click on a trading post and browse through user stores, or through item lists. You put stuff into the trading post, and you can log out rather than having to have your computer constantly on and connected, and still be able to sell/buy your stuff. The system could be set up so that you view the stores of those who are closest to your experience level first, then you could press an arrow to switch from one store to another.

    Filling up towns such as Etherblade with teddy/panda bear icons making clutters up the screen and makes it hard to see where you want to go, see what NPCs are around, and is simply very frustrating.
  • Qwerqsar - Sanctuary
    Qwerqsar - Sanctuary Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    Agreed. The cluttering up is really bestial, and for someune who has limited time for playing (and being online), it could really save some time. Plus i liked the idea of theis fleamarket feeling. The catshops are so cluttered that you just can't even read what they are selling
    People, separate the stores a bit more please!!!
  • TheTot - Heavens Tear
    TheTot - Heavens Tear Posts: 105 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    Metraze - Sanctuary wrote: »
    So in that respect it's like the Auction House ... but there's no fee

    The auction house (and Gold Trading House) has a fee because it stores users information on the server whether or not the player is on. This requires a lot of data. It requires who put the item there, what the current bid is, what the auto buy is, all of the item information (this is especially taxing for weapons, because the info is very specific). In fact, the reason you can only put an item into the AH for 24 hours max is because they need to refresh the server space reserved for the AH and make sure it's never full. Buying charging fees, it somewhat deters players from using it all the time, which in turn also keeps it from filling up.

    Memory isn't free. Server space isn't free. And bandwidth isn't free. The AH alone carries a tremendous amount of saved information in it, you should be lucky to be granted that. A lot of games, even ones with larger budgets, don't have auction houses.

    Furthermore, and I'm honestly sorry if this sounds rude but I'm only saying it because it's 100% true, computer software comes along with "minimum requirements" for a reason. 99.9% of the time, your computer doesn't ACTUALLY have to meet minimum requirements to actually run the program. The reason those minimums are there is because they're saying "Hey. This game, at it's worst, is going to require at least this much." So you literally can't say you weren't warned. My computer is barely barely above the minimum specs for this game, and I can browse West Arch free of lag.
  • seasnake
    seasnake Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    The player shops could be much better organized to avoid all the clutter. Ground can be cobbled different in color, streight cobbled line portions of streets could be created, even short pedistals could be added, and player shops could be coded so that the only places they can be created are upon these places.
  • SirJorge - Heavens Tear
    SirJorge - Heavens Tear Posts: 25 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    Yes I also agree that they should fix all that clutter.
  • Fleuri - Sanctuary
    Fleuri - Sanctuary Posts: 1,763 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    Perhaps they should institute some kind of "minimum distance" check when you set up shop? Maybe if you are within 5m(?) of another shop (npc or pc), you can not open your own shop?

    This might make shops somewhat self-organizing.

    But I do not know if some distance would give a better crowded city "feel" than another distance, in west archosaur.
  • Metraze - Sanctuary
    Metraze - Sanctuary Posts: 139 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    TheTot - Heavens Tear wrote: »
    The auction house (and Gold Trading House) has a fee because it stores users information on the server whether or not the player is on.
    You've got to be kidding ... and I suppose having hundreds of players leaving a connection open (sometimes for days) just to run a Cat Shop somehow requires LESS data???

    For that matter, just having a character takes us space, even if you're not connected - they still need to keep track of all your data regardless.

    Using a Storefront would probably require about as much storage space as a Cat Shop ... possibly a BIT more, but shouldn't be much ... on the other hand, it would use considerably less bandwidth - and IMO bandwidth is a bigger issue.
    TheTot - Heavens Tear wrote: »
    Furthermore, and I'm honestly sorry if this sounds rude but I'm only saying it because it's 100% true, computer software comes along with "minimum requirements" for a reason ... My computer is barely barely above the minimum specs for this game, and I can browse West Arch free of lag.
    Actually, I can too ... most of the time. It does lag sometimes, but really if it was just that, I wouldn't be bothered by the Cat Shops. Some goes for those suggesting minumum distances and such ... that's really not the main issue.
  • Qwerqsar - Sanctuary
    Qwerqsar - Sanctuary Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    i agree on hte minimum distance idea. it's better to separate the clutter, if not for less lag, at least for more capacity of seeing what they are selling

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