Non player characters and vacations

Truthfool

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if there would be any kind of vacation for the NPCs shop.
I'm not talking about times in the Day/night cycle were the shop is closed. Although I like the thing in adventure games, I don't see how it wouldn't be a detriment to the game experience if you have to be at a specific location at a specific time to do some basic/general shopping.
However, if say the npc would take a vacation, it would need some replacement. It could only be flavor and be another npc that is taking up the job meanwhile.
what if it could be a player? It could make a fun quest if you could do the merchant for some time not your shop but like a replacement for a npc shop.
Of course u wouldn't be able to twist the prices or such, as it would give space to exploits detriment to the game. But it could be a fun way that could have different ramifications:
- could just be for the fun of it but I don't see too many players taking it on
- could be to make xp for certain professions or to be knowned, for instance when u lvl some of the processing or crafting trees
The idea is not very polished but I wanted to bring it up to you guys

best to you all

Talents

Players can already set up their own shops/stalls, so this idea seems kinda irrelevant.

Truthfool

hi Talents,
thank you for your contribution. I would disagree that it is irrelevant.
The idea is actually to take a time to help a npc or a node for a limited moment instead of beeing the merchant for ever. It could be an element to be allowed to have your own shop or such afterward. I'm more interested in the idea as a part of the voyage.

Ostaff

Truthfool wrote: »

hi Talents,
thank you for your contribution. I would disagree that it is irrelevant.
The idea is actually to take a time to help a npc or a node for a limited moment instead of beeing the merchant for ever. It could be an element to be allowed to have your own shop or such afterward. I'm more interested in the idea as a part of the voyage.

So.. a quest. An NPC wants time off, he gives you a quest to tend theirs shop for a week and gives you a reward (payment) at the end for your services?

Khronus

Truthfool wrote: »

hi Talents,
thank you for your contribution. I would disagree that it is irrelevant.
The idea is actually to take a time to help a npc or a node for a limited moment instead of beeing the merchant for ever. It could be an element to be allowed to have your own shop or such afterward. I'm more interested in the idea as a part of the voyage.

Way back when, in Breath of Fire on SNES, you ran a shop because one of your party characters had a shop. It was really fun. I think the idea of taking over for an npc that needs a vacation is just bad. A quest chain to be able to "own" a shop would be awesome but I would be completely taken away from the immersion if an NPC tells me he/she needs a vacation lol.

I think NPC's should have paths that they take but would still be interactable. Shop keep that travels around the shop would be a great touch so they aren't always just standing behind a desk or right outside a closed door.

Ostaff

Khronus wrote: »

I think NPC's should have paths that they take but would still be interactable. Shop keep that travels around the shop would be a great touch so they aren't always just standing behind a desk or right outside a closed door.

So, you are saying you want a NPC merchant that takes a dump every so often? You aren't a peeping Tom are you???? o.O

Taleof2Cities

Having my own shop but not being able to set my own pricing doesn't bring any excitement for me.

However, the local Auction House setup in Economic nodes already has an established mechanic and does sound fun.

Nuub

I think that the idea is to make NPC's behave as if they are more than just bots, and I agree! If the NPC's did a shift, then went to the market, then home, that would make Verra feel far more alive. I would like to see this level of detail in all of the NPCs. Yes, it is a lot more work, a LOT of attention to detail, but it would be amazing...

maouw

I love the impact this would have on the wider economy if NPCs took days off.
I can imagine prices of _____ doubles on the NPC's day off, and you get a cool price cycle happening.
(imagine if the NPC is a merchant by day, and an evil scientist by night/on his day off... and you can do quests for him when he's not in store. And you find out where he gets all his merch from. And then you consider the ethical implications of purchasing his wares.)

Tyranthraxus

On one hand, NPC competition for a small amount of items (particuarily low-level items) could aid the player-economy - especially for launch - by ensuring that low-level items only cost so much; Otherwise, why get them from an NPC?

Another system that might work in this relation might be to remove certain items from NPC vendors, while they are available on local player vendors.

Ostaff

Tyranthraxus wrote: »

On one hand, NPC competition for a small amount of items (particuarily low-level items) could aid the player-economy - especially for launch - by ensuring that low-level items only cost so much; Otherwise, why get them from an NPC?

Another system that might work in this relation might be to remove certain items from NPC vendors, while they are available on local player vendors.

I would imagine that items you buy from an NPC would be cheaper but inferior to items that are bought from a Player Merchant.

Kionashi

it would be cool if you could adjust the prices and when the NPC comes back it rewards you depending on how the sales went during the quest...so if you lowered the prices but sell a lot more you could have a positive income a receive a better reward...