HEY HEY JAY RAY #3: Niche Shops

[JayRay]

HEY HEY JAY RAY #3

Main Street Shops vs. Megamart!

Ok, so... you've killed the gold-pilfering Thieves guild, stolen the ancient Ruby from atop the crown of a long abandoned idol in a temple, found five sowrds that gleam and glow, and you use an axe, or a beautiful set of valkrye armor.. that isn't your, um, er bra size. So you head to the shop, the buy-all, the niche shop in hopes of being able to sale your loot for gold and get that wonderful set of gleaming armor you've had your eyes set on ever since it was forged. Herein lies my question.

Should a game feature the ability to sell all those things to a shop? I mean, an armorsmith might not have a need for some of the things you need, so would you wnt that niche shop to pay LESS for these items?

Can it be set so that strategically placed shops, catering to a sepcific type or specialty item is used, and what are your thoughts on this?

I mean think about it. A food stores might think highly of filed-picked herbs, while a leathersmith might just sneeze a couple of times (ragweed allergies)

What are your thoughts on specialty shops, artifact shops, museums, metal brokers, and all sorts of little niche shops that may only be interested in those specifc items that are in their sphere of influence?

Also, to add another question. Would you have competing locations with different prices for different items per shop? (i.e. "This sword is worth 120 gold in Caladon! Well here in Avalon, it's only worth 90 gold, bub...")

Next: Sug-Sug the Super-Orc!

[Bounty Hunter Lani]

Niche shops sound like a great idea!

I was always critical of some games for allowing me to sell some super-expensive armor to an item shop. WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO WITH THAT?!?!

I'm not smart enough to figure something like that out, though, so I'm gonna deal with selling expensive swords to item guys in my game

But HERE'S an idea: Having all of the shopkeepers under one roof! That way, it's not weird if you sell a sword to a shopkeeper who deals in items!

Another idea is having people sell a little of everything, possibly with different shop menus!

Oh, and competing prices might get a little complicated, but it would be super cool to implement as well. Will they be willing to make the trek over to Caladon, or settle for Avalon?

(The last one reminds me of the Merchant system in Mabinogi, where you can go to one town and sell something for 7 Ducats, or go 5 towns over and sell the same thing for 30 Ducats!)

[JayRay]

Yes! or like old Microsoft game called Freelancer, where depending on the colony, oxygen could be cheap or a gold mine...