A few merchant ideas

[Lancer]

I've been playing for quite a while now, and I'd like to contribute a few ideas regarding merchants:

1. I don't think this is really a problem, but I suppose I should mention it: Does anyone find it a little strange that all merchants in a town buy anything and usually pay the same price for it? (ie even though the armourer only sells armour, he'll happily buy weapons, provisions, and horses for the same price as the other merchants) I suppose it might be a pain to change this, and it does give you more places to sell things, but I found it a little odd.

2. EDITING: I was going to make a suggestion about smiths being able to repair and improve items (eg bent, cracked, battered etc.) but I've just noticed someone already did that in another thread. Very good idea though.

3. Inventories. As I understand it, merchant inventories are random, and change each day. This is a good way of getting merchants running simply and efficiently, but in the future, might it be possible to add a bit more structure to the way they work? As it is now, often you have to travel around the M&B world to find a particular weapon, armor or horse being sold, and sometimes none of the cities will have it. I thought it might be good to have a system like the trade/commodites one. This would also help to make each settlement feel more unique and real.

For example, different types of horses might be sold in different parts of the world. One settlement might be famous for the quality of it's weapons, or be identified with a particular weapons style. I guess this could also tie in with the idea of making the two cultures in the game more distinct - maybe chivalric-style armors like Heraldic and Plate would be sold in Swadian settlements, while others could only be found in Vaegir?

I hope these haven't been mentioned before, and congratulations again on such an excellent project.

Lancer

 

[Lhorkan]

Yes, what you talked about in your first suggestion is truly strange. Now I can sell salt fishes to the smith if I don't have enough money to buy a sword.

Third suggestion is also good.

 

[Róisín]

I was just inspired to come up with something similar to this by Stonewall's Medieval Industries thread.  Here are some preliminary ideas I came up with, but I only got half-way up the map.

The idea is that each faction and each town has an identity, based on culture and the geography.  Rivacheg and Sargoth have thriving iron mines; Wercheg, Tihr, and Zendar are ports; Veluca, Halmar, and Tulga have Kerghit and Steppe influences, etc.  Then, each town, based on its identity will have certain merchants.  Each merchant specializes in only a handful of items the THEY PRODUCE, except for the trader in each town, who is the one that imports from other towns, and is like the current merchants, except with less repetition, and he will also have armour and weapons.

Here's my ideas so far.  I took the liberty of "suggesting" two new unit types for both the Swadians and Vaegir to make each army feel more unique.  Feel free to add ideas:

Vaegir identity:
- armour: scale, lamellar, maille, solid soft armour (leather jerkin, etc)
- swords big 1 handed swords, small 2Hers
- non-swords: axes and hammers
- poles: spears that allow shields
- ranged: thrown weapons and recurve bows
- shields: kites and doors
- special: horse archers (you know you want it)

Swadian identity:
- armour: plate, scale, padded soft armour (padded leather/cloth, etc.)
- swords: big 2H swords, small 1H swords
- non-swords: picks and hammers, daggers
- poles: lances, pikes, and voulges/bardiches
- ranged: crossbows and long bows
- shields: heater shaped
- special: (specialized high-level infantry: pikemen, 2H sergeants and 1H shieldmen)

Sea Raider identity:
- armour: maille, leather
- swords: 1H, always with shields
- non-swords: axes (1H and 2H), maces
- poles: no.
- ranged: thrown and small bows
- shields: round
- special: almost all with ranged

Kerghit identity:
- Kerghit stuff currently in game

Steppe Bandit identity:
- stuff in game
- ranged: only nomad bows

Forest/Mountain Bandit identity:
- almost all ranged, mostly hunting bows
- leather armours, but some looted "good" armour on higher units
- no horses for forest bandits except highest units (aka heroes)

River Pirate identity:
- little armour/clothing
- falchions & clubs
- thrown weapons (perhaps even more than rocks)

Cities:

Zendar - aka Newbieville
- Small Fishery
- Woodworker (shields, simple poles, jousting lances, clubs)
- Bowyer (low-end bows/crossbows, barbed arrows, bolts)
- Tanner (simple leather clothing/armour)
- Weaponsmith (axes, throwing axes, maces, poor-quality swords)
- Armourer (low-end scale armour.  low-end helmets)
- Farmers
- Stables (saddle and sumpter horses)

Wercheg - Fishing port
- Woodworker, Apprentice (shields, javelins, staves, poor quality bows)
- Fisheries
- Farmers
- Tailor (rough, sturdy clothes: he usually makes sails)
- Importer (sell overseas items, like norse swords, shields, and helms)

Tihr - Fishing port
- Woodworker, Journeyman (shields, javelins, staves, crossbows)
- Fisheries
- Tailor (rough, sturdy clothes)
- Importer


Khudan - Trapping/woodsman town.
- Tanner (leather jerkin, high-quality fur hats)
- Maille-maker (chain-maille goods)
- Swordsmith (1H only)
- Carpenter (spears, axes, picks, hammers, barbed arrows)
- Bowyer, Master (Strong bows)
- Stables (Hunters, Warhorses)

Rivacheg - Mining town
- Iron mine
- Weaponsmith, Master (Bastard swords and sabres)
- Carpenter (hammers, axes, some spears)
- Armourer, Master (scale, guard helms, scale gauntlets)
- Stables (Hunters, Saddle horses)
- Tanner (medium quality leather)

Praven - Hunting/woodsman town.
- Ale makers
- Carpenter, Master (heraldic shields, lances, Sniper crossbows, barbed & bodkins)
- Bowyer, Master (War Bows)
- Armourer (medium quality heavy armour)
- Weaponsmith (arming swords, picks, boar spears)
- Tanner (padded leather, lammellar)


Sargoth - Mining/Wood town
- Iron mine
- Carpenter (shields, great lances, heavy crossbows)
- Bowyer (Long bows)
- Smith, Master (Plate, Great helms, bascinets, bodkins, bolts)
- Tanner (padded leather)
- Swordsmith, Master (SoWs, Great Swords, balanced 1Hers)
- Clothier (finest clothing and cloth armour)

Curaw - trapping town
- Tanner, master


Reyvadin - Farm town


Uxhal - Farm town


Suno - Horse/Wood town


Jelkala - Farm town


Tulga

Salt Mine - duh

Halmar

Veluca

 

[Gozzon]

1. Sounds good.

2. EDITING: I was going to make a suggestion about smiths being able to repair and improve items (eg bent, cracked, battered etc.) but I've just noticed someone already did that in another thread. Very good idea though.

OK Lets see. Your armor has numerous sword cuts and mace crushes on it. How the heck you repair it back to normal? An even more improve it?? put even more iron/steel on it so its thick and very uncomfortable, heavy and hard to move as there was never meant to be that reinforcement on armor. No, you can't 100% repair armor or weapon. And improving it MUST have good side and bad side. Its not like you just magically make it lighter or sharper(you can sharp weapon but I don't recall weapon with "Dull" in it).

Eogan's idea sounds very intresting.

 

[Stonewall382]

Indeed--Eogan, very nice, mate.
Now what if you could capture the cities, and govern them, and receive taxes, and...

 

[Gregor Eisenhorn]

1. Sounds good.

2. EDITING: I was going to make a suggestion about smiths being able to repair and improve items (eg bent, cracked, battered etc.) but I've just noticed someone already did that in another thread. Very good idea though.

OK Lets see. Your armor has numerous sword cuts and mace crushes on it. How the heck you repair it back to normal? An even more improve it?? put even more iron/steel on it so its thick and very uncomfortable, heavy and hard to move as there was never meant to be that reinforcement on armor. No, you can't 100% repair armor or weapon. And improving it MUST have good side and bad side. Its not like you just magically make it lighter or sharper(you can sharp weapon but I don't recall weapon with "Dull" in it).

Eogan's idea sounds very intresting.

Well, takes skill. They did it.