Shattered Kingdoms

Or an 'inquire' command - could also help purchase the right thing when one shopkeeper sells three sizes of, say, a bracer.

>inquire bracer

Shopkeep says, 'The tiny spiffy bracer? It's very good quality, might be a bit rich for you.'

Just have the shopkeeper state the name of the thingy, its quality, and then a comment based on level of item and level of inquiry-maker. Perhaps leave an opening in there for builders to vary what the shopkeeper says, to allow them personality.

Once again, it would have to be explained in the newbie areas, might not hurt for newbie shopkeepers to explain the process.

Actually, I think this would be bad for newbies.

First, they now have to explore a city multiple times as they increase in level, to find out what's being sold. That's a lot of wasted time and PE, even assuming the newbie figures out he needs to do it.

Second, it assumes there are appropriate weapons and armor of very low level in every city. I'm sure there aren't, especially if you're looking for a weapon of particular type.

Third, it grossly violates the "You can't do that" policy. Having shopkeepers sell things by level makes us look like other MUDs, when we should be showing our colors proudly.

Fourth, newbies have to learn about this policy sometime. Why not at the start, when mistakes are cheap to correct? Especially when a mid-level weapon can really help them get their first few levels?

One sign or script in each newbie area does not seem too much to ask.

If by 'remove the option to by buy the item' you mean that it will not display the item, then I think this is a terrible idea and a huge mistake.

I agree some idea of whether an item is likely to be stolen is needed, but if they can't see the item for sale then how on earth, after X amount of time exploring, are we supposed to learn where specific items are sold? Part of the fun of finding new places is the 'oooh factor' when you see something nice for sale.

Personally, the inquire idea is a great one. I dread to think how much coin I have wasted buying the wrong 'thing' when multiple similar things are for sale...

The list command already allows you to sort things by keyword. List gauntlets at Zemar and you will be shown all the gauntlets in his inventory for sale. I'm more for a shopkeeper warning when an item is purchased. You buy a high level armor from the shopkeeper and he says, careful, this item is of very good quality, thieves might try to take it from you. It could even give warnings kind of like consider. They might be interested. They might take it. They'll definitely take it. No chance you'll keep a thief from stealing that.

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You are overstating. Items below journeyman status are never stolen by thieves, which is most/all of the normal stock of a newbie town, so they would all show up just fine.

The items that wouldn't show up are the ones that other players have pawned off from their travels. These are the ones that are going to be a waste of money for a newbie due to them getting quickly stolen. And if it's something other players sold, it probably isn't great anyway.

It's good to hear that we're only talking about stealable items.

Still, that's quite a lot: All the griffon weapons in Nerina. The silver protective items in Sith, which seem placed and priced for new characters. The only lowbie +strength item I've ever seen in Ayamao. And that's just what I know offhand has eventually disappeared from some of my lowbie characters. Considering the rarity of some weapon types, I suspect quite a few more fall under this list.

Is it really in the best interest of newbies to hide that gear from them? Searching through a city takes a LONG time, especially with lowbie PE. Shouldn't dedicated searchers receive the fruits of their labors?

If you're convinced this needs a forced mechanical solution, please at least let newbies see the items they can't buy. "You can't do that" is more IC than mysterious disappearing items, and less OOCly painful as well.

I really think this is a wonderful idea and it solves the problem of shop keepers. Perhaps even have a command like inquire so people can take their newly "won" eq and have it checked out. Limiting options just seems to go against one of the principles this MUD has stood for, even though it won't say "you can't do that."