Business and Industry

[McGriddles]

Hey there. I've had this idea brewing in my head for about an hour and have been twisting and tweaking seeing how it might work out. Also, I've only been playing for two days up to this post, so if there is anything already done, suggested, or just plain impossible please go easy; I'm only a newb. Now then, lets get down to brass tax.

Could there be a way to create and use a secure industry or business model using the current game's rules? I've taken a look at the game and the wiki and so far from what I have read and researched the answer is "no." Or at least there could be a better way. When I say "secure" I mean managing and preventing resources from being stolen. How could you make it so you keep the players and your resources in check? What you could do is have 2 more possible types of stakable(sp?) land like the yeomanry skill. The two types would be divided, simply, into business and industry. You can only stake, or designate, these 2 new land types on land you already own. Of course, these would have to cost something (whether it be currency or LP, I'm not sure which should be used).
Business Stakable Land (BSL):

Only certain building can be built on BSL.
BSL can be chosen to either allow players limited access (only when the owner is logged in), full access (players allowed even when owner is logged off), and disallow (no players anytime).

Now, since hiring a real player isn't as efficient or reliable we would have to have an NPC step in. When you hire an NPC you will have to pay a daily wage; what ever that may be I'm not sure of. When hired they will wander around the BSL you have designated, they will never go outside this area. They will sell what ever it is you tell them too so long as you have it in stock and will take coins or items that you designate. The clerk has a limited carrying capacity, so if he/she sells out of an item then they will have to go and get more from the stock room.
NPC Shop Clerk:

Hire an NPC clerk
Set his/her pay rate
Designate what to sell
Designate how much to charge and/or trade

Special building can only be used on BSL. Their structure will always have three things: A sales floor for your clerk, a store space for your items, and a vault for your earnings. Building get more expensive as you climb the commercial food chain, but they come with more benefits.
The Buildings:

The simplest structure you can build is a vending cart: a small cart with limited capacity and limited types of items you can sell, your stores are in the open, easy to steal and your earning are all held by the clerk who can only hold a small amount and if killed can be stolen from.
Shack: Basically a vendor cart with a roof, four walls and a window. A very small, crude building with limited security and storage. Your money is stored in a chest this time, so your clerk can hold more money. Your money will be sitting right next to your stores, though, so its easy to steal.
Small shop: A big upgrade from the previous two. It contains two separate rooms, a sales floor (which allows room for a vault) and a store room. Its more secure and finally allows you to keep your money and stores separate. The downside is that you are required to build shelves/displays on the sales floor and provide a register. Depending on what type of item your NPC is selling determines the type and how many shelves/displays are needed. The item or items you are selling will show up on the shelves as a kind of quick preview to what your shop is selling (I'm not sure whether or not to make it possible to steal from shelves). Once there are no more items left to be bought the shelf will be barren.
Medium shop: Similar to a small shop but with a bigger store space and a separate room for your vault, called an office. The vault can now be built into the wall its self, if so desired, which would make it harder to steal from (how? hell if I know, just needed a reason to have a built-in vault because I think it would look bad ass).

Shops would continue to be upgraded in this fashion: Bigger sales floor to hold more shelves and bigger displays, bigger store room to hold bigger and more objects, bigger office for a bigger, more secure vault.

Business Model:

Player stakes land
Player pays for BSL
Player builds building
Player furnishes the building with what is required to run it
Player hires NPC shop clerk
Sets what the NPC can sell
Sets how much the NPC charges
Profits gets put in vault

Simple

If you've read all of that up to this point, thanks. Sorry for any grammatical or spelling mistakes, and any questions or friendly critiques are always welcome. I'll type up the industry portion later on if this goes over well.

[sabinati]

there are, in fact, vendor stands in the game already. you can put them on the edge of a personal claim and people can buy stuff out of them with coins. they can also go on village territory.

[McGriddles]

there are, in fact, vendor stands in the game already. you can put them on the edge of a personal claim and people can buy stuff out of them with coins. they can also go on village territory.

Well damn, that pretty much voids my idea. This was all based on the premise that only players could trade with each other and not through any medium. Does the cart manage itself? Can players buy from it without having to have the owner online?

[Chakravanti]

NPC

Fail.

there are, in fact, vendor stands in the game already.

To be fair. Those things suck.and operate counter-intuitive to the mercantile chain.

vending cart

I smell an RO import =P

[McGriddles]

Fail.

I don't see how it is. Could you explain?

[Cookie]

The dev's have already expressed the fact that if there is any way possible to do it, they will not be having npc's in game. I think Chak was using the word fail in regards to your suggestion of having npcs.

The other factor that might surprise -and possibly alarm you- is that the devs have also stated that they do not want any theft proof systems. Many players frustrated by thieves have come up with many suggestions to make business theft proof, but this goes counter to the game vision held by the two gentlemen who are designing this game as a hobby. They don't want theft to be easy, or to stop trade all together, but they do want it possible for a resourceful thief to have a chance in any situation.

[Peter]

OHHH! OHHH! I have a suggestion! How about they have this thing where there are these blue watery things going all over the place, and you can take trees and turn them into rafts to put on the watery things and sail around???????

[Jackard]

the OP feels a bit anachronistic with its talk of "businesses" and "offices" and "wages"

perhaps hearthlings should chat for a bit around the water cooler. or maybe go for a coffee. arrange a game of golf later

[McGriddles]

the OP feels a bit anachronistic with its talk of "businesses" and "offices" and "wages"

I thought this game wasn't about realism, I though it was more about fun. If the idea doesn't make the game more fun then it doesn't have to be used. I was just trying to throw an idea out there to make the game more enjoyable, sorry.

[Jackard]

to be fair you seem a nice honest sort and it looks as though you put a lot of effort into this. thats good. but id advise against making suggestions before you fully understand the game