LE Initially hidden damage, armor, & value

[stebbinsd]

Ever thought that it was immersion-breaking that you could tell, immediately upon picking something up (or even hovering over the time in the game world) exactly how much damage the weapon would do or how much armor rating the piece of armor had, as well as the EXACT amount you'd get if you sold it for 100% its worth?

 

Sure, there are some people out there who could tell, at a glance, how much a particular item is worth, but those guys are what we call "master traders." In Skyrim, you have this uncanny ability that would make you the envy of every trader in the real world ... literally at the beginning of your adventures!

 

And if you're just starting out in combat, how is it that you instantly know EXACTLY how much damage this sword can do? For example, I can go onto smith-wesson.com or glock.com and browse their selection, and the specs they list are just random letters & numbers to me ... mostly because I don't know jack about guns!

 

Same thing with armor in the real world. I don't know the goddam difference between "Level IIIA threat protection" and "Level IV threat protection." I assume "Level 4" is better than "Level 3," but is "Level 4" better than "Level 3A?" What does that extra "A" mean?!

 

I'm just looking for a 9mm pistol to protect my home with; do I really need all this jibberish?!

 

But in TES, you aren't even given the minor specs, and left to figure out the damage output through your own equations; they just hand you the damage output on a silver platter, despite you being a complete novice in the field at the start.

 

The only time this would even slightly make sense is if you were buying it from a merchant. Then, the implication could just be that the merchant is advertising the damage output to you for purposes of enticing you to buy it.

 

However,

 

A ) that doesn't explain how the damage you see on-screen goes up based on YOUR skill (only master traders could look at your muscles and gauge how good you are with a blade), and

 

B ) that only accounts for armor rating and damage output, not the base price.

 

I'd like to see a mod that does this:

 

1. Hide damage, armor, & value at first. Make you go to the trouble of trying the item out, or taking it to a merchant, to figure out what it's worth (both on the battlefield, and for selling).

 

2. Slightly modify value. This would prevent veteran players knowing, from previous playthroughs, what these items are worth from memory. If you can find a way to do it without unbalancing the game, do that with armor/damage ratings as well.

 

3. Randomly-generated price offers. Merchants may try to "cheat" you by offering you worse deals than what you could get elsewhere, if you knew where to go. Meanwhile, other merchants may be more generous with their offers. While others may offer you a "middle of the road" deal (aka exactly what you would get if you didn't have this mod at all). The prices they offer would randomly generate between -25% and +25%, determined when you walk in the store, and reset after every day.

 

My reasons for wanting this are twofold:

 

One, add some variety and uncertainty to the trading process.

 

Two, prevent people who don't know the newly set value (as requested above) from simply inserting the price being offered to them into the known "trade prices" equation to deduce what the item's worth. Sorry, but no shortcuts on this one; you've gotta do it the natural way!

 

4. Methods for revealing price & armor/damage rating. Eventually, you'll be able to tell, at a glance, how much an item is worth either for an adventurer or a seller. Conditions which reveal these stats could include

• Reaching 100 Speech to become a master trader (the only way, besides magic, to reveal the price for ALL items).
• Reaching at least 75 in that particular weapon/armor skill. For enchantments & potions, reach at least 75 in enchanting & alchemy.
• Take an item to an appraiser. There'll be one in each hold capital. These guys won't be interested in buying the items (thus freeing them from an incentive to "cheat" you), but will unlock the stats for that base item for a price of 5 gold each.
• Selling at least 100 copies of that base item to at least five different merchants (so 100 amethysts sold would reveal to your character how much the amethysts are worth). The "five different merchants" rule is so your character can get a good feel of whether or not you've been cheated.

Most of these conditions could be configurable.

 

Any takers?

Edited December 23, 2014 by stebbinsd