Shattered Kingdoms

I'm fresh out of the Academy when I use my initial earnings to go to the shop and buy a new weapon. Next time I log on, it's stolen. I get curious, buy the same item. Next time I log on, it's stolen. Someone is kind enough to give me a replacement weapon. Next time I log on, it's stolen. My armor breaks and I can't find the repair guy. I buy new armor. Next time I log on, it's stolen. I've made it to apprentice, buy myself a shield, resize it to fit. Next time I log on, it's stolen.

Ahem... "WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND GRACIOUS IS GOING ON?!"

I completely understand that there exists a mechanic to prevent you from using higher level items. I do not understand how this should apply to the standard equipment that can be bought in any capital city. It's not an issue of price, because you can afford this stuff right out of the Academy. I flat out do not feel safe buying anything at all!

This cannot help but be an observable IC phenomena. As such, I seriously think there should be a way to determine if an item is 'beyond your abilities' by looking at it prior to buying it.

I wholeheartedly agree with you. There should be a command that lets at least up to journeyman know that an item is to advanced for them. I'm not saying that the shop keepers deny them to buy them, However, just a little command.

Most of us know the armor levels and know not to buy them and expect them to still be there, but for real novices, people coming back to the game after being gone, or people who aren't 'quite' newbies but still need some help, it is really discouraging to log on and have all your things taken.

For real newbies, it is a slap to the face and leaves them with a sour taste in their mouth about the game itself.

Maybe it could be worked into the 'value' command at shops? Something along the line of "The shopkeep says: This item is of XXXX quality, I'll give you $$$$ for it."

That doesn't help when -purchasing- an item, which is the issue at hand. A true newbie isn't going to have coin-harvesting abilities and be able to purchase a bunch of things to compare and figure out what they'll keep.

Plus, the "quality" of an item is only helpful to someone who knows the ranges for the qualities. Again, not helpful to new players.

Yeah, but that can only be used after you buy it, which is a bit late anyway.

It would be really nice to have -some- mechanic before buying something to tell if it might be taken by thieves.

But for you, Incendax, I would suggest sticking to steel weaponry until journeyman or so: After that point almost every -normally- storebought item should be fine. Items that are sold by other players, of course, could be only keepable by grandmasters at times.


Out of curiosity, what are the items in question? One of the biggest "dangers" now for new players is that one of the chief ways to gain money in the game now is for the higher-level characters to sell armor and weapons (Often times very nice armor and weapons) for profit, which means that anyone can then come along and buy them unwittingly only to have them stolen at next login.

The first weapon was a Cold-Iron Rose Engraved Double-Bladed Axe. The second item was the same as the first item because I was unsure the thieves were a fluke. The item gifted to me was a Jagged Stone Axe that hummed. The armor was half a set of glimmering from the maile merchant in Exile (this was a very expensive loss). The last was a small mithril shield bought from a merchant in Grahmn.

That's surprising that some of those items were taken, considering that they are part of Taslamar's typically sold armor/weaponry.

Sorry about the experience that you had, and again I'd suggest just buying iron armor and steel weaponry from the Taslamaran academy (the stores are always available even after novice status is passed) until you hit veteran: After veteran status pretty much every item that you find in a capital city store that wasn't sold to it by another player should be fair game. The good news is that the cheapo academy armor and weapons will definitely tide you over until that point.

IDEA: Script on armorer/weapon dealer NPCs in newbie areas.

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NB: status

The idea is not bad. It would certainly be better than getting surprised by the login thieves. However, the solution is just a band-aid over an infected wound. A real solution would involve being able to look at items (even items being offered in a store) to learn if "This item looks luxurious enough to attract thieves" or "You may not be strong enough to defend this item from thieves."

If you want to make it safe for players, you could ensure that a player is always aware of when an item could be taken by thieves. If you want to maintain some mystery, you could allow items within a level or two of the player to appear safe, so there is still a slight element of surprise.

While my initial argument was against thieves stealing items commonly available in capital cities, and I wouldn't argue for anything more extensive than this, this solution would also defend against other strange robberies.

For instance, I found a knapsack lying in the street the other day. I cast identify upon it and discovered that there was absolutely nothing special about this knapsack, so I felt safe that thieves wouldn't take it. Sure enough, the next time I logged on the knapsack was stolen along with everything I unwisely put into it.

Ahh the old knapsack and loot trick. Seems they got another one.