P-merchant testing!

[silverdragonams]

Thanks to LP77 and Nastr0nd, we seem to have working p-merchants. The next step is to test them live, and for that we need your help.

I've set up a test merchant at the Bastion Gates near the airship. She is now selling some cheap consumables and purchasing gems for a very good price. All I'm asking is that you buy a few kits or potions and/or sell her a few gems. Please be courteous to other players and don't totally buy up all her inventory or take all of her gold. Report any problems to me.

Be aware, that there may be some debugging messages I missed. If she spouts nonsense at you, ignore it unless something else seems broken too.


If you've never used a p-merchant before, they are pretty self explanatory. To purchase the item, simply choose the correct dialog menu items. To sell items, put them in her crate, and the merchant will automatically start a conversation with you, offering you a price for your goods. You will have the option not to sell if you don't like her offer. Make sure the crate is empty before you leave. The Hala Team will not be held responsible for lost or stolen goods.

[Gregpooh]

Worked fine for me.

*Bows down before LP77 and Nastr0nd, then does the happy dance!*

[_JM_]

Tried examining an item. Worked.
Tried popping something she didn't want in the crate. Item recognised, rejected, and returned to inventory.
Tried popping something she wanted in the crate. Item recognised and price quoted in conversation.
Cancelled the sale. Worked.

[Rudiki]

Sold a few gems and bought a healing kit; all worked fine, except that she apparently has something against topaz; didn't want it. Picky lady!

[silverdragonams]

Awesome, thanks for testing.

Sold a few gems and bought a healing kit; all worked fine, except that she apparently has something against topaz; didn't want it. Picky lady!

This is an unfortunate but expected limitation to these p-merchants. Two items that may look the same to the player may not actually be the same in the toolset. In this case the merchant will not recognize the item as being the same thing she is supposed to purchase.

The next thing I need is a PM from those who reserved a spot in the trade hall. Since a lot has changed since my original plans for the place, you guys get to choose from one of 3 options:

1. Leave your merchant where its at in the hall. (The hall will still be active and you will still get business there)

2. I will move the merchant into an existing area for you. This move will be minimal - I'll only add what's needed to get the npc/chests in the area and make it look good. This is intended to allow merchants to be moved to existing houses and shops, but other locations may be considered with an appropriate fee attached.

3. Have the merchant removed until you submit new player housing or a player housing update. This will count as an update for the purpose of player housing rules, and if you've already reached your limit you'll need to go with #2.

In any case, you will still be responsible for paying for the merchants and any chests you requested before you are given the keys. Each merchant is 120,000 gp, and each chest is 150,000 gp. You may also decline the merchant you have reserved if you wish and owe nothing.

If you did not reserve a merchant, they will soon be available for new player housing (or updates) or for purchase at the trade fair.

[Akai]

Soleis put a gem pouch mostly full of fire agates with one stack of rubies in the crate. The gems unloaded into the crate. Got several repetitions of the message, p_cont_disturbed, line 32, item copied. Test merchant said she pays 10 each and could take 92. Said OK and got 920 gp. The rubies and gem pouch automatically went back into inventory, picked out the remaining fire agates manually.

[Rali'vinee]

Silverdragonams,

Could you please post what exactly people who have the new p-merchants should be paying, and what they're paying for in terms of size and pages of the p-merchant and chests? There seems to be confusion.

Thank you!

[silverdragonams]

Upgrades:

an extra 200 squares should be 40,000
unlimited squares starts at 1,040,000 minus whatever you've already put into upgrading space (So if you've already bought 200 squares, you can upgrade to unlimited all at once for 1,000,000)

menu pages are 60,000
unlimited menu pages start at 1,140,000 minus any pages already purchased.

This should be stated in the p-merchant upgrade dialog. If you are getting something different, let me know.

[Rudiki]

What are "squares", in this context?

[speedracer]

Squares like in your inventory. a stack of bullets occupies one square, a potion two. A helm four.

[LadyPhoenix77]

1x1 squares is correct. What is different about squares in this context as opposed to looking at your inventory or chest, is that the p-merchant doesn't cheat you out of squares by the way the inventory is arranged.

For example, a magic bag has 35 squares, 7 across and 5 up and down. If you fill it full of potions which are 1x2, You would only use up 28 squares, because you can't turn the potions sideways. Sure, you can put other items in those squares, if you can fit the dimensions.

Another way to look at it is a standard p-chest that might be in your house has 875 total squares. If you only put potions in it, you would only use up 625 squares because of the way it is stored. A p-merchant with 875 squares, as an example you could use up 874 squares with potions. So, a stack of potions is 10, and that would occupy 2 squares. A chest would only hold a max of 3500 potions of Cure Light Wounds. A p-merchant could hold 4370 potions of Cure Light Wounds, even though they both "have" the same amount of storage space.

Hope this helps explain a bit better.

Edit: hopefully my math is right this time.