Merchants & Closing

[Shiroi Tsuki]

I would be nice if, instead of saying they're closed, merchants just disappeared from their shops when they were closed.  (read: turned invisible and stopped responding to people.)  This way they could go home, have some family time, etc, instead of standing around 24/7.  It'd also have the added benefit of characters knowing whether the merchant was open or closed without having to have them yell at you.

[Mood]

Sounds good. They could also lock up their shops, allowing a skilled burglar to slip in and nab some loot while the shopkeeper's watching 'Zalanthan Idol' with his family.

[Dakkon Black]

Sounds good. They could also lock up their shops, allowing a skilled burglar to slip in and nab some loot while the shopkeeper's watching 'Zalanthan Idol' with his family.

PLEASE! Breaking into a place as it stands now usually feels like ooc city. Since most of the city is friggen ooc.

[daedroug]

There has been talk of this before and the general consensus is that all the NPCs should actually leave their shop and codedly walk from their place of business to their home.

[psionic fungus]

PLEASE! Breaking into a place as it stands now usually feels like ooc city. Since most of the city is friggen ooc.

Could someone please translate this?  I don't understand what is being said.  Breaking into places is out of character?  Breaking into shops is out of character?  The city is out of character?

I think you're out of character, dude.

[Angela Christine]

There has been talk of this before and the general consensus is that all the NPCs should actually leave their shop and codedly walk from their place of business to their home.

That is crazy.  They should close and lock their doors, but why would they leave?  I'd live in the damned store, my bedroll goes on the part of the floor where the customers stand.  If I had a family maybe we couldn't all live in the public area of the shop, but surely having a shop with living space in the back room or upstairs would make more sense than having a shop and a house.  

Unless you live in Tuluk, where the turned a village into a mercantile district and kicked out all the people who were living there.

[daedroug]

I think that most successful merchants would not sleep in a tiny booth in a bazaar, not to mention those that don't even have that much.

[Yokunama]

Hrmm... I wish to see merchants have shifts for those shops that stay open all hours of a Zalanthan day. You know... Seeing one merchant during the day and another at night.

[Angela Christine]

I think that most successful merchants would not sleep in a tiny booth in a bazaar, not to mention those that don't even have that much.

I was talking about shopkeepers that have a store, a real building, with walls and a door that locks.  If all you have is a booth, kiosk, or a blanket laid out on the ground, then of course you are not going to live there.  But you are not going to leave your valuable merchandise there either -- you pack it up and take it home with you.

You just aren't going to find a flimsy, unguarded booth full of valuable prizes, because all the would-be merchants that try that route will go broke the first week.

[daedroug]

I agree, though those merchants that are making their way home might also present with interesting opportunities.
Example:
If you kept an eye on them maybe they each take a different route that varieds from day to day. Maybe theres an elven merchant that has that obsidian blade you've had your eye on and after doing a little recon you notice that on nekrete he likes to stop off at the grocery to pick up some food, thus causing him to go through a deserted alley as a shortcut. Thus giving you the chance to get that blade.

Of course maybe it wouldn't be as predictable as them doing the same thing every week and maybe the once they got mugged once they didn't go that way for a -very- long time (IG year at least) but it would an an interesting new dimension to the game.