Is Merchant an easy or hard beginner class? Two different stances from website.

[xoedusk]

I just created my first character and am in wait mode. I chose a merchant because, according to http://www.armageddon.org/intro/chargen.php,

It is highly recommended that your first character be either a warrior, a ranger, or a merchant.

After making my character, I probed a bit more, and found this quote from http://www.armageddon.org/help/view/FAQ_3:

Merchants are quite possibly the hardest guild to play, even more so than defilers. The life of a merchant is extremely hard unless he/she knows the land very well, and he/she must have a good working knowledge of the trading possibilities in the world early on or he/she will starve.

What's going on here?

[Gimfalisette]

You'll be fine. Consider joining a Great Merchant House clan (Kadius, Salarr, or Kurac) so that you can actually use your merchant skills in an environment where you'll get crafting materials, probably some teaching from your boss, and interaction from clanmates.

The truth about playing any guild as you start out in ARM is that it's hard if you don't know what you're doing. As you gain experience as a player, things get a lot easier. For now, rely on your fellow players for help--both in game and out, either here on the forums or by contacting the Helpers.

Welcome to Armageddon!

[Cutthroat]

Welcome to Armageddon! That's a strange thing you caught there. I'm inclined to think that the first thing you saw is partly correct for playability reasons. The "easy" classes are defined IMO by their employ-ability, in which case human warriors, rangers, and merchants are going to have the easiest time joining most clans and playing them, which gives you a better opportunity to learn from and play with others. Joining a Great Merchant House is great advice.

What is difficult, though, is playing an independent merchant (a merchant who doesn't join a clan) because of the stated reasons in the FAQ. That involves jumping into the role not only knowing nothing, but with limited ways to learn too. From that perspective, playing a merchant with the intent to join a clan is a vastly easier start for a new player.

[QuillDipper]

Playing a Merchant, the Guild, is easy. It entails mostly crafting/selling your wares. It is not that hard for social players.

Playing a Merchant, the -Job-, which entails making connections and having a good understanding of the world, is hard.

[Barsook]

Ask to be trained as a merchant trainie if you want to go the merchant way then the crafter way.  And welcome to Arm, dibs on his bots!

[Lizzie]

I just created my first character and am in wait mode. I chose a merchant because, according to http://www.armageddon.org/intro/chargen.php,

It is highly recommended that your first character be either a warrior, a ranger, or a merchant.

After making my character, I probed a bit more, and found this quote from http://www.armageddon.org/help/view/FAQ_3:

Merchants are quite possibly the hardest guild to play, even more so than defilers. The life of a merchant is extremely hard unless he/she knows the land very well, and he/she must have a good working knowledge of the trading possibilities in the world early on or he/she will starve.

What's going on here?

There's the merchant guild and the merchant profession. The guild is the coded skillset that you can pick in character generation. The profession is what you roleplay. You don't have to pick the guild, to play a merchant character. You also don't have to play a merchant character just because you picked the merchant guild. The two are mutually exclusive.

The merchant guild, the coded guild, is basically "the big crafter skillset" plus a bunch of other useful skills that most people would want to have. That's all the guild is. Skills. It is one of the most versatile guilds because you can do so much with it.

Playing the profession, going into the game and saying "Hi, I'm a merchant" means you are already established, know your skills and can make good use of them and know how to network with other PCs. As a new player you won't know much of that at all so it's very difficult to try it right away. But the guild, the coded skillset, is one of the most useful because there are so many options. You could play the professional Aide to anyone looking for an aide. Or you could play in Kadius or Salarr in either city. You could try and hook up with an independent group. Your skillset will support any of those choices.

[Delirium]

That FAQ is super old, I think - back from when merchants didn't even have crafting skills, even.

I would definitely go with "merchants being an easier choice" - especially as they are primarily a social guild, so you can stay safely in the city instead of going out into the wilderness where you run the risk of being eaten by aggro NPC #239048342.

[Fujikoma]

Hmmmm... add "special app sorcerer without karma" to to-do list, right after "mul".

... no, merchant is not easy, I don't think, without a clan. Once you join a clan, getting fully trained up will consume so many resources that it would be unrealistic for them to let you walk away to do your own thing alive. Getting there on your own will be difficult and require a lot of very creative problem solving, patience, and knowing a good opportunity when you see it, and once you do get there, well, your concerns begin to change.

... it can also get boring. It's unlikely you will be able, or allowed to, in the case that you're working for an employer, ride out and slay random beasts, like, ever. Boredom is a huge obstacle to overcome, as it can make dumb ideas seem brilliant, or even make you wish you'd picked something else. I find interacting with other characters is good, but this can be hazardous as well. I can't sit here and point out all the potential dangers without spoiling the game for you, so, have fun.

[Reiloth]

I think that's kind of the 'Fox News' rendition of Merchant...

It is an incredibly 'easy' guild if you join a GMH. It also leads right into Zalanthan Politics and the 'Game of Houses' if it were Wheel of Time. You will inevitably be asked to make orders you can't complete, or you complete correctly but are judged harshly, and so on. You will get involved with plots and relationships, which I think is the core of this game and its longevity.

Yes, you will not chop motherfuckers up with bone swords. Yes, you will not be able to ride out and kill random beasts. But some of my favorite characters in this game were Merchants, and I think it is a wonderful class for a newbie. I would actually say some of the longest lived newbies on their first PCs were merchants.

[Fujikoma]

I wish I knew which post you were calling a "Fox News" rendition. I don't like easy. Easy is boring. Boredom is a killer of characters. Politics kills characters, plots and relationships kill characters. Therefor, easy is hard. Likely flawed logic, but whatever, it works for me. In the end, no matter what you do, your character is going to die. All roles are hard. Merchant just happens to be one, like ranger and warrior, where your abilities will get you quickly involved in things, and happen to have quite versatile applications, as has already been mentioned.

Whereas, say, assassin, pickpocket and burglar may take some time, quietly forging unconventional relationships (this works for rogue (independent) merchants as well) becomes an essential part of getting involved without quickly getting dead. Same for say, a c-elf.

As far as chopping motherfuckers up with bone swords, that's someone else's job. As a merchant, should you come into possession of vast wealth, or at least control of its direction, it will become your duty to see to it that there's financial incentive for said chopping, so while you don't get to do the chopping most of the time, you'll at least get the joy of seeing to it that it's done.

[Patuk]

I had a sponsored character last year, and recruited someone's first character. They were a merchant as well.

Fast forward to earlier this year, and I found them to still be employed in said clan.

I think you'll do fine,

[Rahnevyn]

I went ahead and updated that FAQ to fix the discrepancy there.

[Ouroboros]

I went ahead and updated that FAQ to fix the discrepancy there.

Nicely put! I'd say that sums it up well.

To the OP...

As others said, welcome to Armageddon! Definitely give merchant a chance in a GMH, before you judge it as a guild in the long-term. It's both one of the easiest and hardest guilds to play, and takes a certain kind of player to really enjoy it. Many hate it, many can't live without it. If you do find it's not for you, then a warrior or ranger that joins the Byn should definitely be next on your list. There you'll get a feel for the combat side of the game and have a support network to learn from, much like a GMH offers for merchants. If you still don't find solace in either crafting or combat, the shady classes could be something to give a shot as well. I'd definitely suggest them once you have some experience under your belt though.