Value

I think the weight factor on value needs to be changed a bit.
I was holding a small object... one that I could easily fit 3 of in the palm
of a hand, yet value assessed it at weight nearly 88 stone.
I.e. 8 ten-stone, more then my character.

Now I understand thats a sign the skill isnt too great, but even a semi
logical person wouldnt assess something in the palm of his hand as
weighing more then himself... that seems silly really.

Like let me go pick up a marble, look at it, hm... this weighs about 100 lbs.

If possible I think it should be tweaked to give more correct numbers,
while still not being exact at lower skill levels. the monetary value can stay
the same because people's worth of things vary, but weight seems pretty
constant, and there is no way to mistake a marble, or a flower or some
such as weighing more then yourself, if in fact you can pick it up and
realize 'its very light' or whatever.

Thanks in advance.

[Angela Christine]

When I get a totally unbelievable result with Value I use it again.  On the one hand I feel a little twinkish typing "value flower" two or three times in a row, but on the other hand I should be able to tell the weight of most things I can lift to within 20 pounds or so.

AC

[blob]

When I get a totally unbelievable result with Value I use it again.  On the one hand I feel a little twinkish typing "value flower" two or three times in a row, but on the other hand I should be able to tell the weight of most things I can lift to within 20 pounds or so.

AC

lol i picked up a triangle of sandstone and it wieghed like 2345464 stone sumthin like that and it was worth 100000 sid

[SailorMars]

I agree. The average person has some basis for weight and value. It seems like the number returned is totally random instead of ~+/- the actual numbers. Perhaps it could be changed in that way. E.g. a breastplate weights 50, looking at it you can guess it weights between 35 and 65. Value may be a little harder. Wisdom could rein in the +/- a bit, and of course skill would do so much more.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why weight can't just be given when using the assess command.  Only for individual objects, not containers.   I don't see how knowing how much an object weighs could be turned into an exploit of some sort.

As far as coin value as a skill, I'd rather see it not be practicable at all and rely, instead, on bartering.

So, if a merchant is able to barter down the value of an item to a certain number his or her value skill may get a minor bump as well to signify how well they are getting a grasp on the values of raw and crafted materials.

As it stands now value seems to work more like a Psi skill where a merchant can innately learn how much something costs while having ever to have set foot inside a store.

I'd also like to see value be more black and white.  You either have a clue or you don't.

[mansa]

Well.

The value code -has- been changed, over the years.

I remember when it used to give wacked out values for items...

The immortals changed it to give a better result...


And now, you guys want it to be even better!
Sheesh..  Sometimes you fail, and sometimes you succeed.  Maybe you had a brain fart at the time...so value it again!

also most subguilds can get value without the barter skill.

like all crafter classes get value because you learn the 'value' of what you make, but you dont get to barter... because your not a merchant.

[RideTheDivide]

Also, a merchant - particularly if they are working as an agent for a House - may have many items with her.  Sometimes it is very useful to be able to "value" an item on the spot when conducting a transaction (buying or selling) with another PC.

[Quirk]

In different parts of the world, different prices will be paid for the same item. Hence, even having a perfectly working "value" command isn't much of an advantage unless you have enough other knowledge about the item to relate the pattern of its pricing to some other item you know already. In the end, it's usually better to take it round the shops to find out for certain a) what you can raise for it easily and b) what other PCs would have to pay for a similar item from the shops (the relation between what you sell the item for and what it is sold for is far easier to work out than the more complex task of figuring out what an arbitrary item will sell for in a given city). These two figures are far more meaningful than anything the "value" command will give you; they represent what you can raise at short notice, and what you can persuade other city-bound PCs to pay.

Given the dubious worth of the working value skill, its initial uselessness for its purpose makes it a total waste of time. If it were to be useful, it would have to produce more information than it does currently.

Quirk

[Bestatte]

Perhaps I've just been lucky, or maybe something about the combo of skills I have is doing something that other people don't experience. I doubt the latter, my skills aren't all that unique

But I've done relatively well with Value. When I use it, often the initial attempt will show some wierd thing.. but it will also show its city/house of origin. In some cases this one bit of information alone can make value well worth having. Also after the first attempt, a second attempt will *often* (but not always or even usually) provide a much more accurate result. I've compared values with Kadian and Salarr shops.. what these shops offer to BUY them from me...and they're usually fairly close to the mark.

If you're trying to figure out the value based on what the shops will sell them for after buying them from you, you can figure that out a couple of different ways. Experimentation helps.

[Angela Christine]

I find the value skill to be useful.  Not useful like a spell of ultimate invisibility/invulnerability would be, but a nice little skill none the less.  Like any other skill you can count on dozens, or hundreds, of failures before you start getting reliably good results, but value failures are never catastrophic.  If Value tells me that my kalen fruit weights 60 stone or that my steel goblet is only worth 3 'sids, I chuckle to myself and move on.  I don't feel bound to ICly believe these virtual brain farts, any more than I believe it when an attempt to use the hunt skill tells me I find no tracks despite the fact that I (and sometimes an entire troop of bynners) have just entered the room leaving tracks everywhere.   :roll:  It is easy enough to build up the skill without spamming simply by taking a good hard look at every item that comes into my hands and trying to value it.

To my mind it represents a lifetime of experience in handling Zalanthian goods and wandering Zalanthian market places.  Sometimes I'll find an item that I am pretty sure would be worthless in Canada, but I value it and find out it is worth 25 sid to some Zalanthians, so I hang onto it until I find the people that want it.  I may never have seen the item, or similar items, in shops but I assume my character has seen simililar virtual items in the virtual shops.  So it is useful for scavengers, to see if an unfamiliar item is worth hauling around.  It is also useful if you find yourself bogged down by too much weight (perhaps you've lost your mount in a hole) and have to decide what to leave behind.  It is useful when you are trying to sell an item to 2.merchant, since you need to include a number in your offer.  It is useful when you are trying to sell an item to a PC  that none of the local shops will buy, or trying to buy one the shops don't sell, so you know what a fair asking price is and know if you are being taken advantage of.  It helps bridge the gap between what I as a player know and what my character as a native of Zalanthas would know.

AC