I really like the idea of being able to become a merchant-type character. I was thinking this originally, because I have always been a fan of spellcasting characters. But then, I came across Planeshift, and I learned about real RPG\'s (I\'ve never played one before).
One of the first things I always read about was that the goal in an RPG is not to try to kill everything else in the game, but rather to make a name for yourself and gain a reputation. So I thought, what better way to become famous than to have a store!
I figured, for in Planeshift, I could start by using alchemy skills to make potions and sell them to people as a way to start making money. Then I could buy armor and stuff and get some experience in the caverns and such.
So I think that the most logical progression of being a merchant would be:
1) Just sell items to other players out on the street to start making money
2) Have a system where you can rent a little stand in a large open-market area, where you pay so much per day to run it. I think someone mentioned a thing with being able to hire an NPC to sell items for you when you\'re not there. I think this sounds really cool
3) Once you have a bit more money, then you can rent a small building where you can sell your stuff, probably in an area of town where there are a lot of other shops
4) After you have become very rich and famous, you could then build (or probably have some NPCs build it) your own place to sell your products. You could even have a multi-level building where your shop is on the bottom and your living quarters are on top! Smithing type characters could have an additional room maybe where they could contruct weapons, or alchemists have a bunch of tools they use to make potions.
Ok, that was a lot longer than I wanted, but I wanted to get across that I think this would REALLY enhance the role-playing aspect of Planeshift.
One last note: In some games, I have noticed that merchant NPCs seem to \"spawn\" random sets of weapons when you buy from them. I disagree with this. I think that NPCs can only sell weapons that they have either made themselves or purchased from another player/NPC, and the only way new weapons come into the game is when a smith creates one, or when a monster drops one. For one, this would create a more dynamic economy, i.e. if there are lots of people that need weapons, but only a handful of smiths in the town, you will have to either pay a higher price, or venture to a different town to hopefully get a better deal on what you\'re looking for. Also, this would help out all the merchant type players in Planeshift, as they would both be more needed by players/NPCs, and they could maybe increase profits by travelling (or perhaps hiring an NPC to travel) to other towns to sell your goods, if there is not very much demand locally.
Just some cool idea I think would be really fun!
