NPC Raw Material (and maybe more) provisions.

[Zontick]

I understand that the present system(s) of production are probably in place to assure that there is a community that works together and, at times, competes. That's part of the game. However, when no one is around, this can stall people from pursuing whatever it is that they want to pursue - be it a quest, for example, to learn how to make sharp & pointy things. The sharp & pointy things require raw materials, and unless someone is standing right there with the materials on hand it simply doesn't work.

So a quest or an aspiration may be shelved.

I also realize that this might be something that is already planned and is simply not implemented yet. But I'll ask anyway.

NPCs who carry raw materials can (and should) charge exorbitant prices and have a limited supply - perhaps per day, or ideally by what they've been sold by other players. In that way, flow for a character isn't necessarily stalled. It's just changed until a cheaper supply has been found - something which is economically feasible to the player. After all, when mining ore (as an example), if no buyer is around one can still sell to an NPC. Why not buy as well?

Just a thought.

[Gravemind]

Eh... I really don't see this being used.

Generally when the raw materials are unavailable, people go and mine them themselves

[Zontick]

Eh... I really don't see this being used.

Generally when the raw materials are unavailable, people go and mine them themselves

Yes, and ingots or steel stocks just come out of the ground. I admit I'm fairly new, but I'm not that new.

[khoridor]

Eh... I really don't see this being used.

Generally when the raw materials are unavailable, people go and mine them themselves

That's exactly the point. Not everybody should be a miner. You probably don't milk your own goat to cook your pizzas.

Zontick, the economy is know to be unbalanced. There have been some threads with suggestions, notably on supply and demand, up to the recent past. No idea of the current status, though. There may be developments going on on that matter; or it may be postponed. The aim is a players-controlled economy, therefore it's very fair to consider that PC suppliers are not available at every moment.
You can find some threads with very good detailing of systems auto-calculating the prices of goods, balancing NPCs stocks, etc.

[Zontick]

That's exactly the point. Not everybody should be a miner. You probably don't milk your own goat to cook your pizzas.

And, in case you missed it, I acknowledged that point in my original post. The point is that people aren't always available when someone gets a quest or wants to do something. At a higher cost,  NPCs can provide materials and allow more smooth gameplay. For people who've been ingame a while, sure, they might decide to wait on a supplier because of the relationship that they have built. Newer people, though, don't have that.

A good way to retain new players is to allow them to play while they don't know anyone and price things such that they WANT to know other people. Which is exactly what I am suggesting.

Zontick, the economy is know to be unbalanced. There have been some threads with suggestions, notably on supply and demand, up to the recent past. No idea of the current status, though. There may be developments going on on that matter; or it may be postponed. The aim is a players-controlled economy, therefore it's very fair to consider that PC suppliers are not available at every moment.
You can find some threads with very good detailing of systems auto-calculating the prices of goods, balancing NPCs stocks, etc.

Yes, I already saw those. However, this is a simple problem (whether you choose to acknowledge it or not) with a simple solution that could tie into the more grandiose plans.

There's no reason that a person's play should be stopped because they (1) don't have people that they can deal with for raw materials at the moment or (2) in roleplay they don't want to deal with someone because of roleplay reasons.

It's really very simple. But to acknowledge the problem, you have to look through the eyes of a newer user who doesn't actually know anyone yet - can you do that, or have you lost that?