Player Merchants

[TerryE]

Ok, say your not so hot with battling. But know how to make a profit. Lets say you would like to use those skills in-game. On the GUI, there would be a "Merchant" button. You press the button, and you have the right to sell items from your bag to any player who is willing to buy from you.

Post your thoughts below.

[Scorpion347]

Would'nt that be a little tricky to make a profit from.... since all items are priced the same in every town? you'd have to pay a player more for an item?

[Tickles]

There could be a bid area where you can put bulk items up for sale. For those that don't understand bulk, it means multiple items at once for a better price.

[TerryE]

the player could have the option to set their own prices to compete with the NPC's prices and give discounts to anyone they choose

[Tickles]

Yeah, but then what is the point of npc merchants? You have to think of that too.

[gabrielcarnes]

yeah i agea with cortex what would be the point of a player merchant

[gabrielcarnes]

i mean NPC

[genbor]

Oké, so let's start at the beginning. I like the idea since I love trading with others, and there would be a good source of income.

 - Yes, Pokémon games are pretty scarce on item needs, as in most of the things can be found in the NPC shops. What could be done is that each Town has a different set of items: may it be TMs or HELD items or anything not too essential to game play, but something that enhances your performance... This way a player could get items from a Town and go to a place where he knows they don't sell it. There he would set up shop and set his own prices. If the price is higher than what's in the shop, he would have to be somewhere where people would actually pay that amount, instead of just walking to the Town where they sell it.

 - There is a point to include Player Shops even if the items are sold in every Town for the same price. Why? Because you would most likely set the shop up in the Wilderness (cave, Route, etc) where those shops are not available. There will always be people who are willing to pay extra just so they don't have to walk back up to the Town. Sure you can fly to Town, but you can't fly back. So let's imagine a scenario:
 ~ You are out in a cave catching Pokémon. Naturally you can't fly back, and you wouldn't teleport, even if you could. It took you a long time to reach this part of the cave and you are not going back without catching that particular type of Pokémon. But wait... You are out of Pokéballs!!

 - Now back to what I was saying. In a this type of scenario, even a normal Pokéball which costs nothing would be bought at a ridiculous price, just because there's great need for it. Some people (like me) are lazy and would probably buy it from a Player Shop even if it is right next to the Town Entrance.

 - Now about the Player Shops... I believe there will be some kind of Auction House or somewhere where you can place your items on a bid. Well same as the above mentioned: People are lazy, or would buy anything when there is a high demand for it. So we clarified the importance/usefulness of Player Shops. Now how to go about it... Trading always worked with either Shouting that Selling/Buying this or that, or just simply using the Broker/Auction House. But what I have in mind with Player Shops, would be the following: Players first have to buy the shop equipment. This wouldn't be too expensive, but at least it would limit the Player Shops overflow a little bit, as in not every newcomer would be able to afford it for a while. Limit Player Shops or PS, to a certain number per map, depending on the size of the map. If everyone sets up a shop on the same map, the lag would just be too much.

 - Now I am going to take an idea from one of the MMOs I have played before: Dofus. Dofus had an amazing system where you had the chance to set up shop and go into "Merchant Mode" which logged you off. On the map you were seen as the character with items placed in a bag in front of him, his name changed to <Merchant> [name]. People would then browse through their items and see if they wanted anything or not. If they did, they would just buy the item, in which case the merchant gets the money, and the customer gets the item. Quick and simple. No shouting done, no bartering made. Prices that the player has set are law in the shop which the customer accepts or he won't buy.

 - In my opinion, if we used something like this, it would not only be fun, but would give players a third option to trade with others. So now we would have an Auction House, a Player Shop, and the usual Shouting. Of course the player in Merchant Mode would be logged out, and the next time he logs in, he would see the items sold, and profit made. The difference, is that some people don't really have too much time to play. Those people would rejoice at this, in my opinion, seeing as they wouldn't have to set their 1-2 hour play per day to trying to make money. They could focus on doing whatever they wish to do in game, and know that when they set Merchant Mode on, they will have made the profit while offline. This way they can separate their needs.

 Well that's it for now. Kudos for the Idea.

                                                                                                    Cheers, Genbor

[Jerry]

Well, auction houses where people could put their items on sale was already mention so many times....

I would personally prefer having a trade option available (which I'm sure is already in place) where one can select a certain amount of money as item too and trade them (of course, both parties should put a final agreement before the actual trade).