Barter & Exchange

@enf0rcer sure. Thanks.

@enf0rcer perhaps we can continue the conversation about "resupply vouchers" in this thread, as the idea seems to me a subset of the broader concept of barter and exchange of goods and services.

I left the concept of "resupply vouchers" purposely vague so it could be adjusted or tweaked so as not to create unbalance. I'd like to see the NPC's have greater utility in the game. Alot of them appear to be business people to one degree or another. So imv they should have diverse ways to interact with players. As dealers or smugglers, trades people, traders generally, having them dispense only gold seems limiting and boring to me. Having a diversity of interaction makes interacting and dealing with them much more interesting. We want ideally to have a diversity of quest types and missions. We may have different needs at different times. It all doesn't boil down to gold. Thus, barter and exchange.

What if... a "resupply voucher" was just one of many different kinds of favour or benefit, or reward, or payment, one could receive for services rendered.

The "resupply voucher" could have its own variety of types also. They could be limited by expiry limits, to just one type of supply, or multiple, to quantity of supply.

They should certainly not be collectable by players. That would render them no different than paying gold for them. So a voucher should be a rare, precious perk for players; not something you find regularly or are offered regularly. Certainly not something you can hoard.
Ideally, it should be something you hold on to to use when you REALLY need it.

Solo sloopers would really benefit from this as they resupply individually, which takes alot more time to do alone.

But of course all players can benefit. I think crew's with more than one player should be limited to one resupply voucher to one crew. Also, one voucher to be saved in one's inventory unused, at one time.
I don't think these resupply vouchers should be free... unless they are VERY RARELY free.
I think resupply vouchers should be earned, and NPC's should be offered only randomly and not all the time. Maybe as part of some particularly grueling quest, and only AFTER the conditions of the quest are either complete or certain conditions of the quest met.
They could also be incorporated into a barter mechanic. So occasionally an NPC asks if you would rather trade your loot for a "resupply voucher". But the supply might not be worth what you are trading in terms of loot. What he's offering may not be what you want or the quantity you think it's worth.

It would be great too if you could make offers as a player.

So you approach an NPC and he asks; "Buying or Selling?", so you click Selling. The NPC says, "What you have to sell?", with a list of items. You choose "Gunpowder Kegs". They say, "How many you want to sell?", with numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 or more. You click 4 or more. He says, Okay give me 4 kegs and I'll give you 30 bananas and 30 wood and 30 canon balls.

That's just an example, but you get the idea. There could be countless variations depending on what they offer and what you offer, and you can always turn down the offer.

I see an almost infinite number of potential variables for trade and exchange that doesn't involve gold alone.
But that doesn't mean it won't involve gold. But the predominant focus of these NPC's will be barter and exchange for both goods and services.

@enf0rcer said in Barter & Exchange:

@starship42 I wish to discuss the vouchers here im ok with that. As far as having them a consumable item from a player inventory sound good as they gave player an extended inventory with Barrel 2.0, but i'm not sure how you could limit it to one per crew. One per use or one per person i can see but not sure how you'll make one per crew.

Not being a dev, I'm not sure whether or how it could be implemented either. It could be regulated one of two ways;

1. Solo players get larger vouchers, 2 player crews get slightly less, 3 player crews less still, and 4 player crews the least (assuming one voucher per crew limit. Could also depend on ship type instead of crew size). The idea would be any player could hold the voucher, and only one can be utilized/redeemed at any one time, then once supplies reach a "low minimum threshold", a 2nd voucher, if obtained later, can be redeemed, but only at any outpost or seapost with an NPC. It could also be that each player can hold at least one voucher each, but only one voucher can be redeemed at one time, then once supplies reach that low limit, a 2nd voucher can be redeemed, again, only at an outpost/seapost.

2. Only one player per crew holds the voucher for redemption at some decided upon time. Perhaps it is held like a quest, and voted on on the quest/mission table. (Again, only would be redeemable at an outpost/seapost). Just a thought.

@enf0rcer said in Barter & Exchange:

@starship42Also don't thing your system for interacting in the trade with your example of the keg would work as the loot are physical objects that can be tracked to a player i could see this if it were also in the player inventory. The trade system would definitly need to be thoughout.

Well, we currently carry GP kegs to the Merchant and receive payments. We carry all manner of cargo and loot to NPC's, and receive payment. In my example, we would carry each keg to the NPC we were dealing with, and once the last keg was delivered, we would get a boost of 30/30/30 in each of our supplies aboard ship, or a voucher/raincheck to be used within a specified time period.

@enf0rcer some other ideas have occured to me as well.

Expanding on the previous example:

So you have delivered 4 GP barrels to the NPC, and he now has the option to honour the deal by;

1. Instant delivery of 30/30/30 supplies in ships barrels (I know you're not a fan of this so...)
2. Supplies appear in your personal inventory, or a crew members inventory, making you run back and forth until you have received the agreed upon amounts.
3. The NPC says, "Your supplies are located in barrels behind the Tavern". At that instant, the supplies spawn in barrels behind the Tavern for you to transfer to your ship (this still makes you work for your supplies as you and the crew have to run back and forth.)
4. The NPC says, "Your supplies are with 'X' at the OOS on Golden Sands." So then assuming you are not at Golden Sands, you will then have to sail there to pick up your supplies.
5. The NPC, once he has your GP barrels, could say "I'll make you another deal... how about you do a quest for me and I'll pay you double my offer of supplies!!" Then you can accept or refuse.

This kind of ongoing wheeling and dealing amoung players and NPCs could become very involved and fun.

I imagine each NPC has a different personality and should potentially react in different ways to you, and therefore each will also have differing degrees of trust worthiness and temperament. Some may threaten you if they feel you are untrustworthy, or are late with your delivery, or you cheat them; "You know, I have a special relationship with the Megalodon in these waters... It would be a shame if something were to happen your your ship while you are sailing today.", such a warning could result in a Megalodon then attacking that player as soon as they leave the outpost, and even repeatedly thereafter.

You could also have really shady NPC's that make you go into debt and work for them to "work off your debt".
So another way NPC's could interact could be as "Lenders". You wish to borrow some supplies in an emergency. Maybe you need a rowboat fast. But you have no intention of paying the NPC back, or paying his fee. The game could then punish you for reneging on your debt with that NPC. The NPC may then not want to deal with you in future, or if he does, he sends you on a quest which results in you being ambushed and killed/destroyed mercilessly. Or maybe he gives you a chest which is really a trap; an explosive or something else destructive or harmful.

The sky is the limit as far as having diverse interactions and deal making with NPC's goes.

@enf0rcer I see no reason why not. I just think it would be interesting, for the sake of variety, if the amounts varied and were not always neatly packaged as they would be as crates. Plus, you were concerned about instant replenishing of ship barrel supplies - well this way the pirate getting the deal would have to still work and do the back and forth of filling up their supplies. It's just now those supplies have been spawned in one or two barrels at the outpost (or another location far away) and the player still has to transport them to his ship.