solecist
Sergeant

so there is this new system wherein you trade based on the actual number of a commodity that a town has, rather than trading an unlimited amount of ANY commodity they have in stock. this is a great idea poorly implemented (surprise!). here are the problems i've noticed so far (pardon me if this has been mentioned, my search brought up nothing new):
assess local prices is still way off the mark. if a town has at least ONE expensive item, that will be the item that is assessed, regardless of whether or not the town has enough of that item to create a caravan (and let me tell you, they rarely do). now let's say assess prices works and it actually shows you an item you are able to caravan...here is another opportunity to get screwed: the prices will typically be assessed for fortresses, which can no longer accept caravans. i realize some people trade on foot and that this type of assessment is still useful, but at least provide a separate option for those who are trying to use the caravan system. or, at the very least, don't assess the same item three times. maybe show the prices of 3 different items and 2 locations for each item.
now, onto another annoyance. what's the point of providing a caravan guard if the limit is 20 men? there is absolutely no opportunity here to send a caravan off by itself, which i thought was the whole point of the new system. not only that, but hiring a full guard (small as it is) is fairly expensive, considering that the caravans aren't worth nearly as much money due to limited commodities. it also seems silly to force us to buy one caravan guard when i fully intend to guard it myself. it's just an unnecessary additional cost.
i will say that it is at least nowhere near as exploitable...and yes, i can still make OK money trading, but it is incredibly frustrating trying to assess the price of CHEESE (because good lord, these towns love their cheese), when there is ONE item of powder, spice, or velvet in the shop's inventory.
ahem. anyway, sorry for the rant. it's a bit late in the development scheme to be complaining, i know, but hey, your patch got me playing again...so please fix it!
assess local prices is still way off the mark. if a town has at least ONE expensive item, that will be the item that is assessed, regardless of whether or not the town has enough of that item to create a caravan (and let me tell you, they rarely do). now let's say assess prices works and it actually shows you an item you are able to caravan...here is another opportunity to get screwed: the prices will typically be assessed for fortresses, which can no longer accept caravans. i realize some people trade on foot and that this type of assessment is still useful, but at least provide a separate option for those who are trying to use the caravan system. or, at the very least, don't assess the same item three times. maybe show the prices of 3 different items and 2 locations for each item.
now, onto another annoyance. what's the point of providing a caravan guard if the limit is 20 men? there is absolutely no opportunity here to send a caravan off by itself, which i thought was the whole point of the new system. not only that, but hiring a full guard (small as it is) is fairly expensive, considering that the caravans aren't worth nearly as much money due to limited commodities. it also seems silly to force us to buy one caravan guard when i fully intend to guard it myself. it's just an unnecessary additional cost.
i will say that it is at least nowhere near as exploitable...and yes, i can still make OK money trading, but it is incredibly frustrating trying to assess the price of CHEESE (because good lord, these towns love their cheese), when there is ONE item of powder, spice, or velvet in the shop's inventory.
ahem. anyway, sorry for the rant. it's a bit late in the development scheme to be complaining, i know, but hey, your patch got me playing again...so please fix it!