Job Suggestion - Rat Catcher

[Pariah]

So I was looking at HELP JOBS:

help jobs

Jobs                                                                (Culture)

   There are a plethora of jobs within Zalanthas, performed by rich and
poor alike.  All people do something to survive within their respective
cultures, even if it is just scavenging or begging for a living.  You are
limited only by your imagination when it comes to enacting your character's
profession.  Skills and guilds offer a framework, but there is no reason
why you cannot play a gardener or stable-hand or tutor, for example, just
because there is no class that directly corresponds to the job.

   The following jobs are available depending on your location and are
a way for any character to make money.

     Clay Digging     Cotton Picking      Dung Scraping     Logging
     Mining           Salt Gathering      Spice Sifting

   Within clan structures there are certain jobs which have hardcoded
aspects.  For example there are 'recruiters' and 'leaders' and positions
denoted by ranks, such as Private, Corporal, Lieutenant and so on.

   See the helpfiles listed below for more information on clan jobs.

See also:
   clan jobs, clan ranks, classes, subclasses

And have thought of this before but never really bothered to put pen to paper.

Why isn't there an NPC that buys rat corpses or Pelts?

I know in certain areas of the game there are NPCs that buy whole corpses of big animals in exchange for sid.  Rat catcher job would be a great job for newbie or city based folks.

Have a dude like the Dung Buyer, or the corpse buyer, maybe have him pay more for the pelt of a rat cause that takes some skill to remove, and a base price for the whole ass corpse of the rat?  Say 10 sid a piece?

Could even get crazy enough to just take the skin table from rats and add the ingredients to the buyer, and have them be worth more piecemeal than full corpses.

That gives folks a little water money or mount stabling money, it's IC and makes sense cause fuck all these rats right?

I can see Byn runners running around killing rats and cleaning up the streets.  House Jal employees the same.

Maybe make it a faux pah if you're rat killing and you're too well established as rat killers are either House Jal doing their job or bynners being shitty bynners?

It has RP benefits and coded benefits.

So that's the idea, why not have rat catcher job be a thing to add to that list?

And if you wanna get REALLY crazy, maybe pay more for if they are brought in alive to the rat catcher via Subdue, since rats don't trigger crime code, would give folks an outlet to subdue other than just bynners playing rough circle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat-catcher It was actually a thing back in the day.

[Riev]

This I am on board with.

[Hestia]

It's already a thing for House Jal employees. At the present time, House Jal has no PCs in it. Virtually, however, VNPC Jal employees are killing VNPC rats as part of their paid jobs.

Those with a "useful" skinning skill will find rat parts that are sellable.

[Riev]

Just make rat corpses and barakhan corpses and snake corpses (etc etc) all sellable to the slaughterhouse for a pittance. Definitely not worth as much as them, skinned, but something anyone can do.

A slightly better occupation than shoveling stables, or *gasp* going outside.

[Pariah]

Just make rat corpses and barakhan corpses and snake corpses (etc etc) all sellable to the slaughterhouse for a pittance. Definitely not worth as much as them, skinned, but something anyone can do.

A slightly better occupation than shoveling stables, or *gasp* going outside.

That would make total sense too, just add them to the "shit he buys" at the slaughterhouse.

Honestly I never understood why the slaughterhouse doesn't take any body item.

That would give folks a reason to not just leave dead bodies laying around in the desert, they would pack it up to sell to the slaughterhouse.  Plus another reason so people don't just leave critters laying mortally wounded instead of taking the five seconds to kill them.

[Hestia]

Slaughterhouses are where you bring living things to be slaughtered. If they're already dead, the slaughterhouse is not where they go.

As I said - you can skin them, if you have the skill. Any resulting product of the skinning process should have at least some value to someone.

[creeper386]

I think it's a great idea.

The only thing I could see as problematic is usually this sort of automation is kind if anti-Armageddon. Because it feels like fetch quests that hack-n-slash games have.

I personally think giving small things for people to do, makes sense.

Is the pushback because unlike the dung seller, the rat catcher would have to use some sort of skill to do it? Because I'm pretty sure the plateau of killing rats is probably reached fairly quickly.

In terms of say, House Jal VNPCs doing the job being some excuse for not having it, I assume in the north, VNPCs kill big animals as well. We still have ways to turn in their body parts for profit. What's the difference there?

[Pariah]

Slaughterhouses are where you bring living things to be slaughtered. If they're already dead, the slaughterhouse is not where they go.

As I said - you can skin them, if you have the skill. Any resulting product of the skinning process should have at least some value to someone.

It's already a thing for House Jal employees. At the present time, House Jal has no PCs in it. Virtually, however, VNPC Jal employees are killing VNPC rats as part of their paid jobs.

Those with a "useful" skinning skill will find rat parts that are sellable.

I feel, and I mean this with all the respect in the world that you are focusing on the wrong thing here.

The initial idea was thrown out as a way to give folks who are citybound or lower classed a thing to do that's not as bad as shit shovelling or causing them to suddenly decide they want to go outside to kill Chalton because anyone can kill chalton and get a lump of meat or bone possibly.

I'm not saying make it a multi million sid enterprise, besides we know the guild would probably lean on the rat collectors anyways, as they should...

I feel like we are debating here "What Mcdonalds sandwich is the best." and you're going, "Arby's doesn't make cheeseburgers!"

Which while true doesn't really go with the main feeling of the discussion.

I think it's a great idea.

The only thing I could see as problematic is usually this sort of automation is kind if anti-Armageddon. Because it feels like fetch quests that hack-n-slash games have.

I personally think giving small things for people to do, makes sense.

Is the pushback because unlike the dung seller, the rat catcher would have to use some sort of skill to do it? Because I'm pretty sure the plateau of killing rats is probably reached fairly quickly.

In terms of say, House Jal VNPCs doing the job being some excuse for not having it, I assume in the north, VNPCs kill big animals as well. We still have ways to turn in their body parts for profit. What's the difference there?

This I am on board with.

The only reason I brought up the corpse buyer and others thought of the slaughterhouse is ease of adoption or making it easier to do.

I read that post about how long it takes for new code to go into the game they posted, and it seems like it's a lot of red tape.

So when I can think of a way to adapt or use a system already in place like the slaughterhouse I just mention it as an "easier" way to accomplish something.  Not trying to usurp or break existing stuff at all, just trying to think of easier ways to do it.
Edited to change my metaphor

[Brokkr]

And the plot twist is...


There is already a corpse buyer.

[Pariah]

And the plot twist is...


There is already a corpse buyer.

Gtfo, where is she?

[dunecrawler]

I was biting my lips so hard trying not to spill the news of "WE ALREADY HAVE THAT". Pretty sure that has been in the game for more than 15 or 20 years! 

[BadSkeelz]

And the plot twist is...


There is already a corpse buyer.

Gtfo, where is she?

Find out IC.

[Pariah]

I've been playing since 2007 and I've never found this body buyer in allanak, I only found the one north because I played a tuluki legionnaire.

[Pariah]

New dwarf focus activated, find allanak rat buyer.

[Tuannon]

+1 there is a person who buys your stiffs (even HGs), but it's gated by certain factors.

[Pariah]

+1 there is a person who buys your stiffs (even HGs), but it's gated by certain factors.

Ohhh that guy, that's shitty for multiple reasons

Nobody wants to risk death to sell a rat corpse.

That is taking this idea way out of context and ability of newbs.

[dunecrawler]

+1 there is a person who buys your stiffs (even HGs), but it's gated by certain factors.

Ohhh that guy, that's shitty for multiple reasons

Nobody wants to risk death to sell a rat corpse.

That is taking this idea way out of context and ability of newbs.

Noob gear is perfectly safe.

[Pariah]

+1 there is a person who buys your stiffs (even HGs), but it's gated by certain factors.

Ohhh that guy, that's shitty for multiple reasons

Nobody wants to risk death to sell a rat corpse.

That is taking this idea way out of context and ability of newbs.

Noob gear is perfectly safe.

[LindseyBalboa]

+1 there is a person who buys your stiffs (even HGs), but it's gated by certain factors.

Ohhh that guy, that's shitty for multiple reasons

Nobody wants to risk death to sell a rat corpse.

That is taking this idea way out of context and ability of newbs.

It's not risking anything if you don't look too rich to be selling dead rats.

[Pariah]

Addendum:

Proposed idea is for a place that anyone can walk to under the safety of His Shadow.

[Tuannon]

Ohhh that guy, that's shitty for multiple reasons

It's not a 'guy' and its not in the 'Rinth.

I'm done with you.

[Pariah]

Ohhh that guy, that's shitty for multiple reasons

It's not a 'guy' and its not in the 'Rinth.

I'm done with you.

Alright I'm back to clueless then if you're not talking about that dude.

Why is this mystery person not documented and rat killing not an official, coded job in the help jobs then?

Don't know why you'd wanna keep it a secret if it's accessible for all.

[Hestia]

It's not secret, just like whether or not /your/ shield is better or worse than the other guy's shield is secret. This is stuff you can - and should - find out in game. If your character WOULD care - then they'll care to ask.

[xonn]

Why isn't there an NPC that buys rat corpses or Pelts?

Short answer : No one has pursued this particular activity as a full-time occupation. You are welcome to do it, and become the first official rat-catcher.
Long answer : This is not something that has been noticed as an essential addition to the game world. If and when it does, it'll be added in. And there are options already available in-game that do take care of this niche. You'll need to FOIC.

[Shabago]

It's not secret, just like whether or not /your/ shield is better or worse than the other guy's shield is secret. This is stuff you can - and should - find out in game. If your character WOULD care - then they'll care to ask.

Guys, seeing a pretty drastic up-tick on IC info bleed on the boards and discord.

I get it. Most of you have been around a long time and it is non-factor. Or, because of your tenure, you feel you should know. While I may or may not disagree on the should know part, it still needs to be tempered for players who actually still enjoy finding things out organically, are explorer types or are new to the game. "No big deal" to you, was once a noobie "Wow" moment, and this takes away that hook sensation from others.

As to the post;

The job already exists. In a sense. Where it should. It would not be terribly thematic elsewhere. It's a rat. There's a hundred thousand of them. They have no value. Selling one while five more run across your feet in the very same area is... not a supply and demand issue, heh. Conversely, hunting them enmasse (job of it) suits no-one. Think of the children, man. You want them going hungry? Shameful.

Side edit* Dammit, Xonn, you beat me.