Post:Commodities/Contracts Rewrite - 08/19/2011 - 23:55

Re: Commodities/Contracts Rewrite · on 08/19/2011 11:55 PM CDT	1191
>>Contracts to always be between short distances (per province is way too large), and teach trading very well but give much less money than a successful commods run This is more or less where I was probably going to go with it. However, I'd like it to be kind of an inverse bell curve for experience gain, and exponential for profit. For instance, a contract may teach very well but will provide little income. Fumbling at doing a route will get you relatively little experience and middling profits. However, finding an excellent route (which would be unlikely to be available by contract) would provide you with excellent experience and excellent profits, with potentially a similar time investment to running contracts for half an hour, after taking other incentives into account. Consider it something along the lines of "I'm going to go over to Forfedhdar for a week or so to sell them some necessities, so I'll load my caravan with ironwood since I know they pay well for it." That'd give you a free mind lock or few while you're over there, as well as a hefty profit. Does that feel like a good balance? >>So what are these Zones I'm hearing about? So glad you asked. Zones are essentially factions. For instance, Crossing will likely be mostly owned by the same faction. The Clans, or at least the Zoluren Clans, may also be all part of a faction put together by an enterprising trader. I may just call them Trading Factions or Enterprises or something like that. I dunno yet. As you make good trades with a faction, you'll gain reputation with them. Your reputation will decay over time, similar to crafting prestige, and there will be public leaderboards to that effect. Reputation will have passive effects (For instance, Crossing guards may be more likely to look the other way if you're smuggling something illegal). It will also be a currency that you can spend on things - This might be for a fast delivery between a TP and your warehouse, or maybe open a party hall in your honor, or maybe a reduction of your shop rent, or something like that. The notion being, the more active you are within a zone, the better you'll be treated by your Guild within that zone. Titles could be there too. Zones aren't entirely geographical - While there will be SOME zones that are very region-specific (Crossing, Riverhaven, you get the picture), not all TPs in the region are a member of that zone. For instance, there could be a faction of smugglers that you gain reputation with by smuggling goods across provincial boundaries. Perhaps there's a particular group of Elves that has TPs all across Elanthia but has declined to join any specific faction, instead incorporating on their own. Reputation will be handed out less frequently than experience or money - In order to earn reputation with a faction, you need to be doing them a service - Selling them goods that they're lacking (ie when the optimum stock is low) or buying their surplus off of them. This will be especially noticeable when you do interprovincial runs, because you're likely to be selling them goods that they don't get through any other means. This opens up the idea of joining a faction as well as inter-faction politics, events, etc. Lots of good potential in this.
This message was originally posted in The Traders \ General Discussions -- Traders, by DR-SOCHARIS on the play.net forums.