Marketplace saturation

[Talyn]

So, I wanted to write a post about this because I know I complain about it via Voice chat. Please note that just because I complain doesn't mean I won't still use it or anything will change from it. Mostly, I'm writing this topic because I'm curious about the player's base thoughts on this. How do you roleplay it or how does your character view it. I know there are a few things here because of the player count, two factions don't exist yet, and so forth.

Market place saturation. What I mean is, weapons and armor. What does you the player or you the character think when you go to the market in a frontier town and on said market has enough weapons/armor to field a small battalion of troops. Sure, I'm exaggerating a little since a battalion of troops is anywhere from 300 men to 1000 men strong. In a real economy and even player economy over saturating the market with items tends to get people not wanting to buy it or for some, like myself, doesn't want to sell on the market. There are a few rare cases out there but 99.9% of the players buys a set of armor, a weapon they enjoy, and never seek to replace it. (unless it's a newer, rarer metal). I'm not saying character should seek to replace their equipment, especially if they're adamant on keeping it in good condition.

Long story short, what do you all think of over producing armors/weapon for the sake of riln and xp? Baako could simply sit in the tannery all day for xp just making coats, armor, and other leather work goods but I don't because there's already about 100+ leather pieces on the market as is for a small frontier town. On a RP stand point for myself that's a bit strange to me, although I'm welcome to hear other thoughts. Other than it's just a game, please I know this.

EDIT: Sorry! I wanted to add this part in as well, I'm not saying anyone is playing the game or roleplaying wrong! Far from it! People do what is fun to them. I'm just more curious of thoughts. Thank you.

[Maina]

I think spending all day crafting isn't any less realistic than spending all day killing things. Honestly, it's far more realistic; blacksmithing and leatherworking were day jobs. Standing armies are a recent thing (for most of history it was more conscription) and even then they aren't killing things all day.

That said, I do think the market should have NPCs buying things player sell (making the stock decrease at a rate based on supply/demand) and have NPCs populate the market with some simple items (based on supply/demand) to ensure there is never an issue with there being no players producing something important (which will be more important when the pbase is split across two factions).

[Talyn]

On a side note, I think it would be cool for some crafting tasks, for those who do enjoy crafting.

Tor's request of 20 iron weapons, donate them to the Town Annex - Player with this task makes whatever weapons they want but they must be made from iron, when they donate the item it could then have a counter on however many is left.

The same could be made for leather products or even tailored. This could lead to some fun RP events as well, perhaps New Emberlight requests weapons and armor to bulk up against the encroaching Dominion, or during winter they request certain clothing for winter. It gives crafters a goal, and the community ideas that the world breaths. Plus, breaks away from so much on the markets.

In a Balance aspect of this I'm not the greatest so I'm not sure what rewards said tasks would give, and sure 20 iron weapons people could just make 20 iron daggers and call it a day. But the idea is out there and it would be neat. Even if I don't do a lot of the crafting myself, and if these ideas are scrapped because of the potential Artisan guild further down the pipeline then that's okay too.

[Navi]

What does you the player or you the character think when you go to the market in a frontier town and on said market has enough weapons/armor to field a small battalion of troops.
How I view the situation.
COGG is a game and requires some amount of suspension of belief. There’s 30 plus active players on any given day. If we say half are crafters and half are not, there’s obviously going to be some saturation regardless of what you do. As you state, a player can buy one set of armor and make it last their entire play through. In relation to numbers, one character could outfit every other character that comes around. A system that drains the market of supplies over time seems sound; it already works like that for other items. I was surprised to be told it didn’t work for weapons and armor. I imagine this was so that rare weapons didn’t get taken off never to see the game world again, but that’s what consignment is for. However, this doesn’t address the issue that seems to be more important, at least to me. Everlasting armor and weapons? Eventually any piece of armor is going to be repaired so many times it’s nothing more than stitched stiches.
Rather than copying the other game’s system of lowering total durability with each repair, instead, lower the effectiveness of the armor’s defenses. Maybe not to complete uselessness, but at most half the original rating.
How my character views the situation.
Wow, this is a town that really takes care of its adventurers. I think I’ll stick around here for a long while!
I hope that helps.

[Lexx416]

I think spending all day crafting isn't any less realistic than spending all day killing things.

This is basically my answer to "What do you all think of over producing armors/weapon for the sake of riln and xp?"

The market is generally oversaturated with many crafts. Folks kill and process sometimes dozens of deer and elk a day to sell to the market. People carve stone all day to sell to the market. And folks go out and murder dozens, if not hundreds, of NPCs out in the world every day. It's just a symptom of it being a game. Some things will be unrealistic and 'gamified', and it's just best for people to suspend their disbelief for someone making a hundred daggers the same way they'd suspend their disbelief to go and kill a hundred wechuge, or suspend their disbelief that they walked from Shadgard to New Emberlight in a handful of minutes.