A Blacksmith walks into an Armory…
Thayn the Blacksmith: Good day, shopkeep! Do you have any special
orders you might need help fulfilling?
Fred the Armorer: Well met, traveler!
Yes! It just so happens I received this request from the royal guard for 20
suits of Shadow Platemail for their new recruits. They are insisting it be of
exceptional quality – Nothing less than the best will do!
Thayn: Very good, sir! I would happily fulfill that order for you. What are
the wages?
Fred: I would be happy to extend to
you a line of credit, good for the purchasing of up to 900 merchant credits worth
of rare items here in my shop or any other armory’s special collection. We
merchants agreed to only let those who fulfill such orders procure items from
it, and only accept these credits, so it is a tremendous bargain!
Thayn: A fair and honorable wage! I
shall work to fill it right away, good sir! Good day!
Fred: One moment, good sir! One
cannot simply fulfill the request..
Thayn: Sorry? Begging your pardon?
Fred: Well, you see, you can’t fulfill
that order until you have the 6 individual contracts for each piece!
Thayn: Oh.. I see. Well do you happen to have them?
Fred: Nay, I’m afraid not good sir.
Come back in a few hours, and I may have one then.
[Over the course of the next 2
weeks, Thayn visits Fred, always asking about the sub-contracts needed to fulfill
the large one. Fred frequently only has contracts that don’t meet the
requirements. Finally, on the final day, Thayn receives the last contract and
sets to work filling them all.]
Thayn: Hail again, Fred! It has been
a long journey, but I am finally able to give to you this completed contract.
Here are all of the suits, per your request. You’ll find none better in all of
Sosaria!
Fred: Indeed good sir! I have never
seen their likes before! I’ll happily accept these. The royal guard thanks you!
Now, on to payment!
[Fred walks Thayn to a special guilded case, housing items Thayn had never seen
before.]
Now, your reward sir! What will you have?
Thayn: Truly wondrous! Hmmm.. I see
you have a Shadow Iron Runic hammer! I could make some marvelous equipment with
such a tool! And only 550 credits! A bargain! I would like that, please.
Fred: Very good, sir! A wise
selection!
Thayn: .. And I’ll also take the
Prospector’s Tool for 200 credits.
Fred: Oh no, good sir. I’m afraid you
may not take that AND the hammer!
Thayn: But sir! You stated I had 900 credits, and I have only
selected a 550 credit hammer!
Fred: And you may have that! But only
that.. Only 1 item per contract..
Thayn: What?!
Fred: I am sorry sir, but those are the rules set down by the
guild.
Thayn: That is insanity! What good is having more credits than you can spend?! Can I keep the difference?
Fred: No sir, you cannot. However,
if you’d like, you can forgo making a selection now and instead save those
credits to purchase something larger…..
Thayn: Well, certainly a Verite
Runic Hammer would be…
Fred: .. At a rate of 2% for
sub-contracts, and 20% for full contracts.
Thayn: WHAT??!! So you mean to tell
me my hard work, my fine armor, of which we agreed would be worth 900 credits,
is only worth 180 credits if I DON’T buy something RIGHT NOW??!
Fred: That is correct sir.
Thayn: That is madness! Ugh.. Fine.
Then let me ask – If I should happen to save up 500 credits at a rate of 2% or
20%, if I then decide I want something that is LESS than 500 credits, do I keep
the difference?
Fred: No sir – Once you make a
selection, you forfeit any remaining credits..
Thayn: .... If I save up those 500
credits, fulfill another contract for 900 credits, can I purchase a 1400 credit
item?
Fred: Oh, no sir! They do not
stack..
Thayn: … Like everything else, it
seems.
Fred: Come again sir?
Thayn: [Thayn draws a sword] … Oh, nothing.. It won’t
be a problem for you for long..
And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is how the BOD system currently plays out
in an immersive world.
Just an aside, I was going to make that an animated Youtube video, but I don’t
think I’ll have the time for it. Maybe if there’s enough interest I would, but
that’s unlikely.
Having said all that, what would I change, and why? From the perspective of
immersion and balance, I submit the following for your consideration to the BOD
system for ALL professions, but I’ll use Blacksmithing as the example:
1) Remove the constraint of small BODs to fill large ones. This makes no
logical sense, as illustrated above. Small BODs of all types should be worth considerably
less to compensate.
2) Change the bank rate of points dependent on quantity, quality, and material
type (resource scarcity). I would suggest starting at 10% for small iron
(Remember, all small BODs have been reduced) and up to 30-50% for Valorite.
Larges should start at 20% for Iron, up to 50-70% for Valorite.
3) Allow turn in points to be combined with bank points to purchase one or more
items, and the player keeps the difference, just like a currency. Again, it makes
no immersive sense not to.
4) The distribution curve of item-to-points needs to be altered. I would make
the cost of each item more along a parabolic curve for a more steady
progression, not lumped in tiers within a range on a flat increase.
5) And this is the balance consideration – Certain tiers of items should have
limited availability per day or week - No more infinite stacks of Valortie
runic hammers waiting in the back to be cashed in on. The more useful the tool,
the less frequent it should available. I should be able to buy all 10 dull
copper runics in on purchase a week if I want, but never more than 1 Valorite.
I’m not sure how those merchants get those runic hammers, but I’m sure it takes
time..
I think this system would make more sense. It would be more immersive, provide
a better sense of progression, without upsetting scarcity of these items.
Let me know your thoughts. Thanks for reading.
Comments
Scripters will always be a problem, and will always work around it. Value always changes, due to population or rarity or exploits or what have you.
I'm more interested in discussing the merits and design of the system as it is. And in fact, the final limitation would actually curtail scripters (Not outright prevent, but certainly slow them down). 1000 accounts would only get 1000 hammers a week, versus, however much they can script.
I appreciate your concern and view in regards to EJ, but I'm not really discussing that here. What EJ does or doesn't do, we'll see
A big chunk of the problem is the fact that not all BODs bribe properly, which leave gaps in the point spread. Then there is the fact that there are several BODs that require special resources, yet give pathetically few points.
The system is far from ideal.
Far from ideal indeed.
They will simply migrate to another Game to take advantage of.
Once double class Scripter/Cheater Vultures, forever double class Scripter/Cheater Vultures, being it BiRL, in UO or wherever...
It would have made so much more sense to just make it like the clean up points. Let people horde points instead of BODS. Let people store the full point value and claim what they want without any penalty.
I swear this team like unnecessary complexity just for complexity sake.