Getting a shop in Cordor: Halp?

[Rico_scorpion]

Hey,

Disclaimer: below is a factual approach to my situation without sugarcoating. It's not meant to be negative nor "stealthily criticizing anyone". Also, the subtext is me asking for help even if it doesn't look like it, which is not too common hehe.

In my 10 years of playing Arelith (with some big pauses, indeed), I managed to get a shop once. "I got lucky" is how (walk by a shop, free for the taking, i buy it). That was around 5 years ago, maybe 6.

Currently I play an "artisan" with craftsmanship gift and lots of points in craft mastery. A crafting powerhouse which had "trade" deeply imbedded in the char concept, and one of my goals would be to have a permanent shop in Cordor with lots of cheap quality wares for lowbies as well as some higher quality stuff.

I'm european and I am not really part of the Cordor-rp-stuff.

I check shops for availability from time to time to try another "lucky taking", but frankly I'm not too sure what to do to achieve that goal given that pretty much anyone has the same goal AND that if auctions take place (provided there is a public auction, never saw one in Cordor), it will sell for hundred thousands or millions which i don't really have (could grind for it but... getting crazy rich via killing stuff to be allowed to generate revenue via trading, feels a bit hollow: "If i'm stupid-rich, why bother with a shop?". I however understand that putting forth a decent investment to reap its reward, is normal.

Lastly: I guess my way to that goal is "mingling, nepotism, or just making friends in Cordor, and waiting for the right opportunity", but both through my char concept and timezones, that doesn't feel easy. I'm not too sure where to start that either.

Advice welcome.

[Xerah]

All of my shops I've gotten in Cordor were the result of Dumb luck (even when I was chancellor). Well, dumb luck and constant checking of status.

You can also run a shop by using the temporary stalls or having signs out where people can contact you. It's not the ideal situation but it's all you've got until you're lucky enough to find one.

[Archnon]

I would suggest trying not Cordor to start. Establish yourself as a merchant in Brog or Sibayad. A month with a decent stocked shop and you will have the gold and reputation to buy one. I do bang up business with a Brog tailoring shop.

You can also try and share a shop with someone. That is an easy way to get your foot in the door and when they are done you can take over.

[TimeAdept]

"Get lucky, and ignore everyone who wants to buy it."

[The Rambling Midget]

Apprentice or make an agreement to stock a portion of someone else's shop, while giving them a cut of the take. There are a lot of players who are open to this, because (and I'm not going to be stealthy at all about my criticism, here) they want to be shopkeepers, but they don't want to actually run a shop, and it's become a status symbol or a sentimental attachment. As Archnon said, it's a good way to put yourself first in line for when they inevitably become bored and sell the shop.

If you're a particularly prolific crafter, you can do this with multiple shops, and end up with more space and coverage than you would with just one.

But 99% of the time, you'll get shops through dumb luck, 7 days after someone quits or takes a break.

[Xerah]

Sadly, people hate that idea though. I've only had one or two people ever agree to it unless it's part of a larger faction.

[The Rambling Midget]

I've found three interested in it, in just the last month or two, and never had too much trouble finding that sort of arrangement in the past. The trick is to look for shops that are obviously being run by someone who's either lost interest or doesn't have enough OOC time to keep up.

[AstralUniverse]

Hypothetically, if your character spreads the word (widely and aggressively on boards) that they're looking to buy a shop and got the money to put on the table, OR to be someone's partner and list what sort of goods you can bring to the table - I think you have pretty decent chances to find a shop these days. Not sure it's something your character would/should do, obviously, but there are... creative ways to get shops.

[Mattamue]

Is it OK to sell a shop or a quarter lease?

[The Rambling Midget]

That's a little bit of a grey area right now, AFAIK. It used to be totally okay, as long as you were following the one quarter/shop rule. Snatching up properties on top of your own, just to auction them, has never been okay. In recent times, the staff has spoken against auctioning properties, especially in Cordor, because it's become such a predatory business, and they'd rather see the shops used than held while waiting for bids. I've seen no resistance to selling shops for a reasonable price in a reasonable amount of time, however, or interviewing potentials to find someone who will actually use the shop.

Same for quarters. If you're just trying to get rich, the DMs may smash you, and I'll be cheering them on, but if you're honestly looking for someone who will use the quarter and selling for a fair price, you should be fine.

[The GrumpyCat]

Same for quarters. If you're just trying to get rich, the DMs may smash you, and I'll be cheering them on, but if you're honestly looking for someone who will use the quarter and selling for a fair price, you should be fine.

Just confirming this.

[malcolm_mountainslayer]

Sadly, people hate that idea though. I've only had one or two people ever agree to it unless it's part of a larger faction.

from what i read in previous posts is because people want something they can reliably stock not relying on the player in question (especially with varying play times). Whenever i see successful/prolific shop sharing, its done by giving partners the ability to directly stock the shop. If you merely want to buy their goods and then sell at a higher price (which I have also done, but still force them find you. Or vise versa IC each time then you are better off doing bulk orders (to allow them to keep the price lower so that you can still make profit) that make the effort more worth their time.

I find there are people interested in both arrangements, but trying to confuse the 2 will probably lead non positive responses. In fact some are not interested in any shop sharing/stockimg responsibility and just want the gold now for their wands, etc. Those who are seeking to have a shop are not those people.

[Xerah]

It's more so that people can't think of it as a wholesale view and for some odd reason, then take offense to it being that way when the owner of the shop has to put in the work to make it a success shop.

For example, a known thing sells for 1000 gp. Tax rate is 5%. 950 gp profit from it, so I would offer to buy at 900 and still sell for 1000. This takes some of my limited shelf space and gives you gold upfront. In general, that should be seen as huge win and is something I would do all the time. There is a reason this exists in the real world.

[ReverentBlade]

I'd be curious to see how doubling the shop slots across the board would play out. Guilds can easily output more product than they can display.

We have a: Smith, Carpenter, Alchemist, Herbalist, Wand Maker, Potion Maker, and rune farmer and only three shops between them.

Certainly can't consign space out when there's already a bottleneck on our own output.

[Xerah]

Three shops for a faction is insane and one of the reasons for the issues with lack of shops.

[ReverentBlade]

Hard disagree. Its far more efficient to have seven people utilize three shops cooperatively than seven people each intent on claiming their own shops. The banner they RP under shouldn't have any bearing since everyone is entitled to have one by the rules.

Cooperatives should be rewarded and facilitated as it actually frees up stalls for lone agents.

[Ork]

If you could tag items placed by individual vendors operating through the same shop, and pay these individuals mechanically (with shop owner taking a cut) you'd have more people co-opting shops.

Increase shop item limit to 20 or 10 per cooperative, which ever is greater. Then guilds won't need many shops but one that is reliably stocked.

[ReverentBlade]

Trust me, I'd love to moderate one super-shop for our faction than many small ones.

[Barbur]

So is there specific rule when a shop is free to take again? Like if the owner hasn't interacted with the shop for X days. I know it's 1 hour with the temporary one's but what about the other ones? For example I saw a shop that hasn't had any inventory for like a week now - would be cool if someone who's at least using it could take it over.

[Aardra]

So is there specific rule when a shop is free to take again? Like if the owner hasn't interacted with the shop for X days. I know it's 1 hour with the temporary one's but what about the other ones? For example I saw a shop that hasn't had any inventory for like a week now - would be cool if someone who's at least using it could take it over.

They become available after 7 rl days of not being updated, iirc. It's free game then.

[The Rambling Midget]

The majority are 7 days, but some are 2 or 3 days.

When they're up for sale, you'll see an option to buy on the shop sign. If you're looking for a shop, you can go around reading the signs every so often, to see if one's become available.

[Frailman]

I believe it's also released at the exact time it was last interacted(not sure about this, please correct me if i'm wrong). So if Johnny McMerchant touches his shop at 22:33 and then never logs back in, it will become available at 22:33 7 days later.

I track all player activity by scraping the portal every few seconds and noticed a few things. When certain old characters suddenly get a new house, or a new shop, (many times a very attractive one) sometimes they will have logged in at an "awkward" time. If I compare their regular playtimes they're usually very consistent, except that one login I can see that coincided with them getting the shop.

This means they weren't regularly logging in at that time to check the shops availability. They were either a) warned OOC about it being available or b) have a tracking thing just like my own to track when that player was last online ( or c: I'm wrong and misinterpreting what im seeing )

I can currently input a character name into my little application and get a notification when they haven't logged on for X days/hours together with a timestamp of their last appearing online. This is how I believe many old characters and players seem to always get the most baller shops and houses (pure guess) and it gives a somewhat unfair advantage to anyone with such a tracker.

I'd prefer if there was some randomness to the release of shops and housing, like X days + random(0,48) hours + random(0,59) minutes or something to circumvent this.

[ReverentBlade]

That's super creepy dude.

[Frailman]

That's super creepy dude.

Oh, no doubt. That's not the point though