Would you like a "Requests for Items" system?

strebor2095

Kind of like a reverse guild trader, but provides a regular source of income for craftspeople across Tamriel.

Ideally it would have a guild store like interface, a list of the items required to craft the item, and what quality/style/etc. Any player could make a certain number of requests at once, and set the price they want to pay. They would then pay gold to the game itself, and the first player to submit the item receives the gold.


The benefits of such a system allow players to find niche items / weird styles without having to spam zone chats for that one crafter who knows Aldmeri Staves, Akaviri Shoulders and Draugr boots.


Perhaps it could be extended beyond crafted items and you can request any item in the game! Maybe you need a sweet Redguard Couch, Bolted but no one in your guilds has the recipe. Or you are just looking for a single Glass motif page but all you can find is the other 13 available ones.


The drawbacks of a system like this include potential confusion for players used to the Guild Store system, a decrease in cost on some commonly sought after items (although some items may also increase) and a significant chunk of developer implementation time.


Unknowns in the system include how this works - is it through the existing Guild Trader system (an additional tab with "Writ Requests")? A separate NPC in each capital? Or can you view requests at the craftsmen NPCs in each city? View all zone requests from them?

STEVIL

I hate your formatting

Something as simple as a player-based writ board would be sufficient.

Put one in every capital.

you go up and select the item you want with specifics from a nested menu thing.
you put in some gold
optionally put in some mats
submit.

anybody picks it up it works like a writ for them and when they turn in the goods you get yours and they get theirs.

strebor2095

Cool idea! I'd like any implementation at any location!

@STEVIL , I did briefly consider the "one person picks it up" system, but is there a limit on how long you can have the writ/how many you can have at once?

I think first in best dressed is better because no one can "writ grief" by just taking the most expensive ones and holding on to them.


Also, good option for submitting your own mats! I would also like to have an option to choose "whatever style" if you aren't fussy. Or choose a range.

STEVIL

I hate your formatting

strebor2095 wrote: »

@STEVIL , I did briefly consider the "one person picks it up" system, but is there a limit on how long you can have the writ/how many you can have at once?

I think first in best dressed is better because no one can "writ grief" by just taking the most expensive ones and holding on to them.


Also, good option for submitting your own mats! I would also like to have an option to choose "whatever style" if you aren't fussy. Or choose a range.

master writs hold you to one of each type active at a time so that mechanic already exists.

arguably i would allow a sunset date to be placed by the poster and if the writ is not done by then it all reverts back to them.

that way if you are wanting something for the weekends run you can have it sunset after and all reset.

Merlin13KAGL

I hate your formatting

There's potential here. A player hireling board, if you will.

People could even flip items if they happened across them in guild stores or wanted to go in search of the item under cost.

I could see the Devs having issues implementing this, though, for a number of reasons.

strebor2095

Cool idea! I'd like any implementation at any location!

@STEVIL I guess it could even be a simple 24 hr limit on accepting a request, most of the time I imagine people will only accept it if they can make the item right away.

@Merlin13KAGL yeah! It gives PvPers an option to make gold too, I imagine a lot of people would ask for Hakeijo / Alliance War Motif / Akaviri. Instead of having to be like "have 200k TV, pm for request" they could just view what people want.

Yeah, it may require too many dev resources for something that is only really wanted by a) the % of players that can't find niche items in Guild Stores and b) bored max crafters/PvPers. Although I think furniture has real potential, there are so many different items that are so hard to find specifics of.

STEVIL

I hate your formatting

@strebor2095

indeed

Merlin13KAGL

I hate your formatting

strebor2095 wrote: »

@STEVIL I guess it could even be a simple 24 hr limit on accepting a request, most of the time I imagine people will only accept it if they can make the item right away.

@Merlin13KAGL yeah! It gives PvPers an option to make gold too, I imagine a lot of people would ask for Hakeijo / Alliance War Motif / Akaviri. Instead of having to be like "have 200k TV, pm for request" they could just view what people want.

Yeah, it may require too many dev resources for something that is only really wanted by a) the % of players that can't find niche items in Guild Stores and b) bored max crafters/PvPers. Although I think furniture has real potential, there are so many different items that are so hard to find specifics of.

I don't even consider that it would be all that resource intensive (coding, or in game, either one). I just don't have much faith in how successfully they could implement what should be a fairly simple design addition.

Also, being lower priority, I suspect it would get QA'd even less than the normal stuff does, and we all know how much that is(n't).

Dracindo

The idea seems good, but surely people will be asking for things at a much lower price then when you'd sell stuff yourself.

strebor2095

Cool idea! I'd like any implementation at any location!

@Dracindo, if they ask for it no one is obliged to make it at the lower price. It's self correcting, like guild traders. When new items come out they are priced very highly (see: Celestial Motif, housing mats) and then their future price is dependent on how many new items are available (Draugr Motif, Ancient Orc, Nirncrux being consistently high value items).


If you try and buy something for such a low cost, no one will sell it to you if they think someone else will buy it higher. However, more exclusive and niche items have strange behaviour. If they are not worth much to the crafter, they will probably do a low cost deal so they can move inventory/make a small profit. The other case is hyper expensive items which the seller will drop if no one is interested in at their 400k price (looking at you Spriggan's daggers).

Reivax

If it were perfect...

A guild member sets up his "stall" in his guild's store. This involves indicating what he/she can make, and what the charge is for crafter-provided materials, or if you provide materials.

The player opens a guild store, then opens a separate guild crafter interface.

Player sets some some parameters for what is needed, like say "Rubedite Helm with Divines, Dominion motif".
If player chooses the option of providing materials, player puts sufficient material in "escrow" sort of like how Trade interface works.
Next time the crafter logs on, he goes thorugh the list of pending items, clicks "Craft" and in that one click the item is made, and shipped to the player who ordered it. That way the "crafter" never really takes possession of the players materials, or gold, the game handles that.
Maybe if after 24 hours no reply from crafter, player gets his materials back.

Evil_Rurouni

strebor2095 wrote: »

@STEVIL , I did briefly consider the "one person picks it up" system, but is there a limit on how long you can have the writ/how many you can have at once?

I think first in best dressed is better because no one can "writ grief" by just taking the most expensive ones and holding on to them.

The biggest issue of letting more than one person pick up the "writ" would be the impact on the people who weren't the first to hand it in.

Lets say somebody requests a gold hundings infused dagger in a very specific motif.
20 guys pick the "writ" up and make the item.
First guy gets paid.
The other 19 get lumbered with a item they may or may not have a use for and are down a pile of valuable materials.

I'd suggest that only 1 player should be able to pickup each order, with each player only able to pickup one order at a time, a time limit for hand-in, and possibly even a up-front cost to pick the writ up which is refunded upon completion as well.

Why?
Because the system would need to be robust and as troll resistant as possible to be trustworthy enough to get enough use to actually be functional.
.
If people picking up the "writ" can troll the person who placed it by picking up orders and not doing them then many potential customers won't use the system.
If people picking it up can be trolled (intentionally or otherwise) by being encouraged to make/find something then not getting paid for it then many potential suppliers won't use the system.

I like the idea at the core of this, but it would be a major undertaking for Zenimax to implement it satisfactorily , and a bodged implementation would cause players using it a lot of grief.

strebor2095

Cool idea! I'd like any implementation at any location!

Yes, @Evil_Rurouni, that is definitely a consideration.

So, most people like the idea of only 1 person having the writ quest at time, with like a 24 hr time limit max?

I do not like the upfront cost to take the writ, I see it as a way for some people to make gold and even a small cost may drive people away.


With regards to 20 people making it and 1 handing it in, that is definitely a big problem.


Would you guys like to see the system work with non-crafted items? Like, overland sets? Or should that remain the domain of guild traders?