Allanaki Fashion

[Morrolan]

It would be nice to see different prices offered to different social classes.

"You, an independent commoner, want silk?  Well, it's gonna cost you."

It would probably be a coding bear to implement and then balance.  So it would be an awesome thing to see in 2.Arm.

Plus, sumptuary laws... *drool*

[Anaiah]

Plus, sumptuary laws... *drool*

I used to play a mud with this. I quit because it annoyed the hell out of me. Just sayin. Who are you to try and enforce it, either? Because there could very well be a lot of reasons to wear it. Not all of which would be told. Bastard noble? High ranking GMH? Banging lord templar hardnose? The list goes on, too.

As to Allanaki fashion: I don't see why the shops would want to NOT make money off of something just because it was made by someone else. If you have the skill to see who made what, then use it and tell them you don't want it if it's not 'Kadian Made'. The thing about these GMH's monopolies is... they're universal. They are everywhere. So yes, I can definitely see them hauling items from one place to another in a single trip every month or so. Just because it's not in fashion in Allanak doesn't mean it wouldn't be in a place where they could ship it.

Barsook: No, you're about right on there. There's a specific place I imagine a lot of people with tailors go and spam their way to greatness, but just because you don't doesn't mean you suck.  I don't either and I'm kinda awesome.

[Sam]

Plus, sumptuary laws... *drool*

As to Allanaki fashion: I don't see why the shops would want to NOT make money off of something just because it was made by someone else. If you have the skill to see who made what, then use it and tell them you don't want it if it's not 'Kadian Made'. The thing about these GMH's monopolies is... they're universal. They are everywhere. So yes, I can definitely see them hauling items from one place to another in a single trip every month or so. Just because it's not in fashion in Allanak doesn't mean it wouldn't be in a place where they could ship it.

I agree with you, but to a degree. They aren't going to make money from items that noone is going to buy, i.e. northern fashions. They may have some in the back room, but they aren't going to buy it often and then only at a steal.

[Synthesis]

Plus, sumptuary laws... *drool*

As to Allanaki fashion: I don't see why the shops would want to NOT make money off of something just because it was made by someone else. If you have the skill to see who made what, then use it and tell them you don't want it if it's not 'Kadian Made'. The thing about these GMH's monopolies is... they're universal. They are everywhere. So yes, I can definitely see them hauling items from one place to another in a single trip every month or so. Just because it's not in fashion in Allanak doesn't mean it wouldn't be in a place where they could ship it.

I agree with you, but to a degree. They aren't going to make money from items that noone is going to buy, i.e. northern fashions. They may have some in the back room, but they aren't going to buy it often and then only at a steal.

That's why GMH's have wagons and shit...if nobody in 'nak will buy it because it's Tuluki-ish, just pack it up and haul it north.

[Lizzie]

Plus, sumptuary laws... *drool*

As to Allanaki fashion: I don't see why the shops would want to NOT make money off of something just because it was made by someone else. If you have the skill to see who made what, then use it and tell them you don't want it if it's not 'Kadian Made'. The thing about these GMH's monopolies is... they're universal. They are everywhere. So yes, I can definitely see them hauling items from one place to another in a single trip every month or so. Just because it's not in fashion in Allanak doesn't mean it wouldn't be in a place where they could ship it.

I agree with you, but to a degree. They aren't going to make money from items that noone is going to buy, i.e. northern fashions. They may have some in the back room, but they aren't going to buy it often and then only at a steal.

That's why GMH's have wagons and shit...if nobody in 'nak will buy it because it's Tuluki-ish, just pack it up and haul it north.

If it's being packed and hauled north, then it's being removed from the "list" of the NPC. That isn't happening though. Northern fashions are typically and commonly available for sale in Allanak at the Kadius shop. Sometimes, the shopkeeper "sells a few items" to generate more sids so he can buy from PCs again. But usually, most of those northern fashions are still on that "list" with only one or two items removed - and those might not even be northern fashions at all.

You can say that we can pretend this is what is happening, but when the evidence is staring you in the face, it's hard to suspend your disbelief. When the Kadian shop buys northern fashions and tucks them into a virtual box instead of presenting them for display, then this will make good sense and hopefully others will embrace the idea. For anyone who thinks this would be too hard to code, it's already coded. Some of the shops do this already. Some did do it, but don't anymore because they weren't supposed to do it. The code is already there, it's already implemented. It just needs to be applied to specific shopkeepers.

[Cutthroat]

Plus, sumptuary laws... *drool*

As to Allanaki fashion: I don't see why the shops would want to NOT make money off of something just because it was made by someone else. If you have the skill to see who made what, then use it and tell them you don't want it if it's not 'Kadian Made'. The thing about these GMH's monopolies is... they're universal. They are everywhere. So yes, I can definitely see them hauling items from one place to another in a single trip every month or so. Just because it's not in fashion in Allanak doesn't mean it wouldn't be in a place where they could ship it.

I agree with you, but to a degree. They aren't going to make money from items that noone is going to buy, i.e. northern fashions. They may have some in the back room, but they aren't going to buy it often and then only at a steal.

That's why GMH's have wagons and shit...if nobody in 'nak will buy it because it's Tuluki-ish, just pack it up and haul it north.

If it's being packed and hauled north, then it's being removed from the "list" of the NPC. That isn't happening though. Northern fashions are typically and commonly available for sale in Allanak at the Kadius shop. Sometimes, the shopkeeper "sells a few items" to generate more sids so he can buy from PCs again. But usually, most of those northern fashions are still on that "list" with only one or two items removed - and those might not even be northern fashions at all.

You can say that we can pretend this is what is happening, but when the evidence is staring you in the face, it's hard to suspend your disbelief. When the Kadian shop buys northern fashions and tucks them into a virtual box instead of presenting them for display, then this will make good sense and hopefully others will embrace the idea. For anyone who thinks this would be too hard to code, it's already coded. Some of the shops do this already. Some did do it, but don't anymore because they weren't supposed to do it. The code is already there, it's already implemented. It just needs to be applied to specific shopkeepers.

You can say that Kadian shops operate in the following manner (in Allanak, for example):
- Someone sells a north-style item to the shop.
- It stays on display there for a while, for any of a number of reasons. Perhaps someone can be suckered into buying it. Perhaps to catch a Tuluki traveler's eye. Perhaps because a Fale bard might need it for a performance about how style-less northerners are. And so on.
- Either it gets sold, or it doesn't. If not, it goes away at the reboot. The reboot is when it's packed up and sent off to the north.
- A vNPC in Tuluk buys the now-virtual item.

[Lizzie]

vnpcs in Tuluk are paying MUCH LESS for that tuluk-style item, than the NPC paid out to the seller in Allanak.

Example: a green silk gown, in Tuluk, is on display in the Tuluk shop for 200 sids.

The same gown, given to the Nakki shop, nets the seller 500 sids, and is on display in Allanak for 1200 sids.

Summary - Kadius LOSES money every single time they return Tuluk fashions from Allanak to Tuluk, IF they paid money out *in* Allanak, for the privilege of reacquiring their own product. They also LOSE money every time they buy crafted goods in Allanak and exports them to TUluk for sale, virtually or otherwise. Codedly whenever my Kadian merchant needed to sell something to a Nakki, in Allanak, it was MUCH cheaper to have it sent from Tuluk, or even hire the BYn to escort me to TUluk and bring it down myself, than it was to have the item loaded on the NPC in the Allanak Kadian warehouse.

Doesn't fly. Not believable. Not coded to work that way, not believable enough to pretend it's coded that way.

[Nyr]

I was torn between posting two things, so I'll post both.

Thing 1:  Behind the scenes, what actually happens is that the green silk gown is taken into a secret Kadian facility behind the shop.  NPC merchants come in and codedly decide based on a roll whether or not to sell it at the shop there using a d10.  If the roll is 2, they all kill each other in a frenzied, alcohol-induced spree of violence, spraying many silks in the back area with blood.  Not to be daunted, other NPCs will come up at this time to take the bloodied clothing before Kadian NPC agents.  Without err, they decide that the bloodied silks that the merchants were wearing should be sold in the shops in an attempt to start a new fashion trend.  We usually don't show the code behind things, but in this one case, I thought it was worth it to show that sometimes the game does more than you think.

Thing 2:

Summary - Kadius LOSES money every single time they return Tuluk fashions from Allanak to Tuluk, IF they paid money out *in* Allanak, for the privilege of reacquiring their own product. They also LOSE money every time they buy crafted goods in Allanak and exports them to TUluk for sale, virtually or otherwise.

You're absolutely correct; they lose money every time!*





*except for the following scenarios which are virtually occurring, every time:

• Kadius travels from Allanak to Tuluk, anyway, on a regular basis (both with PCs and virtually).
• Kadius, when making this trip, will be carrying things from the south to be sold in the north.
• Materials come from regions.  Agents and Merchants will mark them up or down appropriately as they are sold to other areas.
• Overall, the trip is an overwhelming 'sid boon to the House.  Any losses incurred by moving products that won't sell are more than made up for by moving valuable products that can and do sell at a high markup.

When you limit your perspective to what is codedly possible, you are missing the point of the game.  That was the entire point of this post that was targeted directly at this concept.  I think it'd be a great idea to review it.  Remember:  limiting the game entirely to what is possible with code is an extreme that undermines roleplay.  It is just as true that the opposite is an extreme that should be avoided.

This has been a healthy discussion of Allanaki fashion, but unfortunately, much of it has strayed far from the mark, and separating the two threads would be more than I'm willing to handle this morning.  If anyone would like to continue discussion of code, sales, believability, or bloody silk, you can do so in a new topic.  I think that there is enough adequate response to the concept of Allanaki fashion that this thread can be locked.