(all ooc)
Based on what is in stock per the forum post, I would buy the following. Might do some shopping tonight actually. Also with some pricing notes (entirely my own perspective and speaking just for myself and how I personally value gold ofc). Mind you I don't spend a ton of time grinding for gold so I'm sure someone who smobs a lot has a very different view.
- Gold Ring - 250 is way too much. It's only 1db and 1mv above an emerald ring which loads on soloable minismobs. I don't see myself paying more than 150 or maaaybe 200 but eh.
- camouflage hood
- finelyspun hood
- cloth sleeves - Don't think I'd ever pay 75 crowns for this considering they load on quite a few fairly easy to solo mobs
- finelyspun sleeves
- riveted sleeves
- finely tunic
- bearskin tunic
- leather jerkin
- finelytailored shirt
- dark gloves
- earthen breeches
- riveted leggings
- cloth breeches
- lissome boots
- silvertooled boots
- welloiled boots
HEAD [40 crowns], ARMS [75 crowns], HANDS [40 crowns], FEET [40 crowns], LEGS [150 crowns], BODY [125 crowns]
Head is fair. Arms is... fair but I'm grumbling a bit - don't get why the price jump. Hands is fair. Feet is fair. Legs jumps up in price 3x over head/hands/feet which I don't really get. I'm not paying 150 crowns for any of the ones I listed except maybe the loose cloth breeches and even then only if I'm flush with gold. Body is a little cheaper than legs but same problem, really. I don't see myself paying more than 100 crowns for a finely tailored shirt and 50-75 crowns for the others.
- bonehandled blade
- amberhilted ironsword
- sredit prod
- silver warmallet
- yew staff
- sungwood staff
- bladedfeather staff
The weapons seem priced fairly more or less except for some of the daggers mentioned below. I'd pay 150 for a yew, maybe not an amber hilted though.
- silver etched shield - 150 seems pricey. Dunno about that one.
- dull black shield - 50 seems fine. I'd buy this all day over an etched for 3x the cost considering an etched isn't at all 3x as good. Would sell at this price, too, but would like it at 60 more considering the 10% broker cut.
I'd also in theory be interested in the following that are NOT in stock (per the forum post):
- Red Stone Dagger - 150 seems okay
- Silver-Winged Basilard - Unsure about 150.
- Pair of Steel Sai - Think I'd buy at 150, unsure about selling.
Sai and Basilard have the same issue: these items can be crafted for a total cost of 90 crowns if I smelt my own bar or ~120 if I buy it from a store, assuming if I bought the rings as well (they are negligible in cost though). Although since the smith is random and not likely to give Sai I'd fairly likely spend the 150 to guarantee I get the pair of sai versus the others. The inverse of this is that I don't think 135 crowns (150 - 10%) is sufficient to sell for. The cost of production + the random chance involved makes it worth more (wiki says 1 in 5 chance for sai, which seems more or less accurate to me). I suppose they also load at an okay rate in the Waste - although the wiki suggests that the load was changed...
However between kris or basilard I don't particularly care and so I wouldn't spend 150 for a basilard. If I got sai and wanted basilard I'd gladly save them for another time or sell them. Thus I don't see myself ever not going to Katar for a basilard.
- Red Robe - seems fair at 250. Not sure why this wouldn't be in stock, I might put one in myself.
- Mantle - same as above except I have none stored. Would buy a couple if in stock.
- Jeweled Wristcuff - This item in general is a weird one for me. Similar to gring it's only 1db more than a kcuff so functionally I don't see why it is valued so highly... nonetheless 500 is absurdly low given that the clan treasurer values this item at 3000 crowns (I'm assuming it isn't 3000 coppers?)
- Kandori Cuff - 50 crowns seems like a lowball. I'd certainly buy one for that but I dunno about selling. I feel like I could get at least 50ish from just selling to a jewelry store but if I had a couple to offload and the stores were out of gold yeah I'd put them up for sale.
- Obsidian Pendant - 250 seems too much to me.
- Gold Chain - 150 is fair, would buy or sell. Not sure why sid is 100 crowns more.
- C-belt - 150 is... okay I suppose. Wouldn't feel 100% happy on either the seller or buyer side which I guess means it is fairly priced.
- G&I Ring - 150 is okay. Not totally sure how rare these ones are on smobs/mobs but would like to see it at 100 from a buyer's perspective.
- Onyx Inlaid - this won't ever get put up for sale at the same price as an etched because it is a better and rarer shield.
I don't know if the Kris can be stocked but I'd happily buy/sell it at 50-75 gc. I realize this is less than the cost to craft but the kris is the bogey prize you don't really want from the Katar smith and so it would just be a good way to recoup some crafting costs on the seller side, and a good way to quickly get a dagger that is an alternative to jeweled for someone who is re-equipping. It's kind of a lateral alternative versus jeweled (slightly more damage, less OB) which can be acquired for free by punching some young thieves about, so mostly you'd be paying for not having to spend the time wandering around finding the one that loaded a dagger.
If we had access to the transaction data so we could see how often items are stocked and sold we'd be able to set a fair price a lot more accurately. Right now it's a bit of a guessing game as to where the ideal price point is to be fixed - ideally it would be amazing if the price could decrease/raise within a certain range based on # of that item in stock but I am assuming this is beyond the MOBOL's ability.
My other overall thought about pricing is that presumably we'd want to take a reasonable gold per hour rate that a solo person can achieve and compare that to the drop rates on similar gear gained via smobbing with others and keep things more or less at an even keel - such that the smobbers don't feel like the item that only drops 12.5% of the time is worth nothing in Lugard but such that the solo gold people don't feel like they have to grind for days to get some gear together. I realize there will be outliers here but if we base the system on "well X person can get 1,000 crowns an hour" then it won't work for the other 95% of players. It's just not going to work perfectly in that respect given the fixed prices and that'll have to be okay and isn't really that big of a deal anyway. Person who gets that much gold per hour is probably also adept at getting good gear faster than others.
It seems like there is maybe some price premium on the dodge trinkets which maybe is fair but as it is now is too much.
would you like it in sets similar to weary merchant? or would you rather just have it in bits?
I'd have no objection to sets in theory except that it seems like it would add a lot of work on the imm side in exchange for just a little bit of convenience on the player side. Having the items be piecemeal means that I can just get what I'm missing to finish out my gear (which is the more likely situation if I'm forking over a bunch of gold) or buy extras of a particular item in stock. So whether or not sets can be bought I think that the individual option should remain.
Finally, as a broader note, the lack of a bank branch in Lugard necessitates carrying large amounts of gold over somewhat dangerous roads which I think reduces the number of transactions that would otherwise be happening. Perhaps this is by design - the idea of rogues lying in wait to snatch up hundreds of crowns is something I find amusing.
On a note unrelated to the Lugard market I would find it intriguing if your guild offered buy/sell orders in some form, IE "I will pay X gold for Y amount of item Z" and facilitated the resulting exchange via holding gold/items in escrow. I've been kicking that idea around in my head for a while but not totally sure how much effort would actually be involved. Potentially lucrative though. For example I say "I'll pay 50 gc for 10 vials" and give you 550 gold (500 for the vials + a broker fee) and then people can come sell vials which I pick up later. Basically exactly how the Lugard brokers work but a little more flexible.