User:Diarik/Trader Proposal

The essential idea of the Trader is someone who is able to manipulate the flow of money for the sake of personal profit. However, this concept has been sorely unpronounced and untouched.

One excellent, and existing, choice has been contract versus marketplace. Traders currently have the choice to either profit by selling goods or by ferrying them. While this is certainly good, it can clearly be made better, especially as in both cases skill becomes negligible and pointless except for blind circling for its own sake.

Instead, I would recommend two things. The first is simpler: an NPC market, where a Trader pits their Trading skill against varying difficulties of customers and, through a series of manuevers not unlike your standard combat, either achieves or fails to make a sale. There should be market areas, accessible by non-Traders, certainly, as ways to train appraisal, but more decidedly for Traders to gain Trading skill through action rather than pacing a caravan.

The second is more complex and broad. At 50th circle, I would suggest that Traders be granted permission to attempt to join an exclusive club with pronounced benefits: banks. Through a manipulation of NPCs, they may or may not be able to secure entrance into a bank and thus gain access to the ability to make investments, give loans, and make money through this. At 80th circle, they should be granted permission to do this on a provincial scale, conceivably affecting taxation, criminal charges, and exchange rates.

Business as War: The Battleground of Trade

Okay, so the title's a little flamboyant, but DR's idea of a protagonist is flamboyant anyways, so c'est la vie.

The City as a Hunting Ground

Instead of developing new rooms for "trading areas", it would be more efficient, not to mention effective, to leverage existing cities. This permits the interesting side effect of synching city/town expansion to the expansion of hunting areas.

In Elanthia, we have two forms of municipality. We have the major cities: Crossing, Riverhaven, Shard, Ratha, Hibarnhvidar. And we also have minor cities and townships. The distinction with which I draw this is by the existence of districts, or neighborhoods: subsections of a city that differentiate itself from other parts.

The reason I mention this is because I want to point out that cities should be ideal for young traders as well as older ones. The absolute biggest and hardest deals are in the city, but so are the easiest and simplest. In the middle, of course, are the towns and smaller cities.

I envision difficulty rising like so:

• Easiest: Major city
• Easy: Towns
• Hard: Minor city
• Hardest: Major city

Business Tactics: Driving a Hard Bargain

So, how would you train Trading?

First, you must deal with shop owners. You need to buy a bulk load of wares (just "wares" from now on) from some shop owner. Second, you must deal with customers. You take these wares and sell them to either NPC customers or other shop owners. This is not unlike caravan leading, except that you have full discretion on what to buy and who to ship it to, and from such a barter, make experience and profit. It is also similar to commodity pits, in that you may be gambling what is necessary.

However, commodity pits are well-known to be fickle and difficult. Instead, it would be more effective to pit Trader charm against Customer skepticism. The price for which you acquire your wares are haggled through a series of speculative devaluations, whereas the price for which you sell it is achieved through overvaluation. As the commerce minister likes to say, "Therein lies profit."

Examples of possible new SPECULATE abilities would be pondering on the prices available from other merchants, contemplating the pitiful state of the wares, and so on, while currently available abilities already increase its value in the eyes of the customer (though another to consider possible other buyers may be useful). Like combat commands, the trick is to unbalance your opponent and increase your own stability through effective combinations. You use a combination of your Trading and Appraisal skill to overwhelm the customer's Appraisal and fool them into buying what you have to sell.

Central Banking: The Pasttime of Investment

At 50th circle, Traders should be allowed to attempt to enter the banking system. Banks are currently located in 13 cities, most of which have their own complement of shops. (Those that do not should not be entered into this system.)

I'm first going to talk about getting into the system before I start talking about actually leveraging it.

There are three levels of banker: Associate Banker, Banker, and Bank Manager. There may be only one Bank Manager per bank, 5 Bankers, and 20 Associate Bankers. This creates a scarcity by which power may be granted while providing some possibility of entering and advancing in the system.

Reputation

First, a would-be banker must worry about reputation. They have provincial level reputation that does not carry over into other provinces. A trader begins with no reputation (indeed, a trader under 50th circle has negative repute, in the banking system) and earns it through doing a series of deals with Trader Guild NPCs, most notably the guildleaders and commerce ministers.

You should never have an exact estimate of your provincial reputation. While the precise scale may vary from 0 to 1000, there would only be perhaps 4 or 5 actual messagings for an indicator. Perhaps 0-100, 100-300, 300-600, 600-900, 900-1000. However, differences of, say, 50 points would be significant. Furthermore, reputation should decay very rapidly without constantly being boosted. It is easier to boost it as a banker than as a potential banker, so there is little reason to take part in the system unless you are intending to join it.

Raising one's reputation, outside of the banking system, is done chiefly through determining which NPC is the best to bribe. That determination is by interacting with them, which uses a combination of Trading and Appraisal to understand how amenable they are to a bribe. It is also possible for an older Trader to endorse you by determining this for you and giving you the funds to make the bribe. It is also possible to raise reputation through the guildleader by accepting a special contract from him that has multiple unloading points.

Application

Second, a would-be banker must worry about application. Each level of banking first requires a minimum reputation. However, if all spots are filled, an applicant must displace another banker. This is done primarily by undermining a banker's reputation.

You see, in the banking system, reputation is a commodity just as it is in the marketplace. It can be speculated upon, and thus reinforced or belittled. This is generally anonymous, but information about who is affecting your reputation may be discovered through discreet bribes for information or by asking a Thief to perform espionage. Both methods are useful additionally for widdling away someone's reputation.

=Actual Banking: Investment

Yadeeda. Working on it.