LE merchanting/trading mod - can be play as a (pro)merchant! long sug

[ribanckak]

i've browsed through some merchant related mods and couldn't find this kind of mod...

the main idea is that you can play as a merchant. i know you can be it without mods like you scavenge some things, sell it. or hoard it and sell it. or make it (weapon, food, jewelry, potions) and sell it. but why can't you be more professional?

(i haven't checked the price variations of the goods in different settlements so if there is exist then it could make the mod even easier!)

so every settlement could have different prices based on its location/settlers (for example the venison and fishes are cheaper in riverwood than in whiterun, the ores are cheaper in markarth than in riverwood). it could be even cheaper if there's more of the goods. how could be even more? there should be a script based on the weather, the day, even the demand (export). let me explain it: every day, there is an average "income" of fishes like 100 (+10 , -10 for realism)... if the weather is better for fishing it is 120... if there is weekend 80... if there is higher demand (export - for example if you are constantly buying fishes) it rises a few percents.

and there should be demands (import) per settlement (for example riverwood could gladly buy ores). it has the same logic like export. if there is lot of imported goods, the price drops.

like this: buy cheap (especially from there are lots) and sell high (especially where is few).

there should be a "global market" for each settlement and "private market". the global market has standardized prices, the private market is changes by buyer. (for example, there is a high venison demand in whiterun, for example, for 200 gold, but, if you take it to the innkeeper he or she pays 230 gold/pieces but he or she doesn't want that many like the global market. let's say the global market needs 50 venison, the innkeeper just 6-7. but, because you have feed the innkeeper, the global market price for venison drops like -5, -10 percent.)

the global market looks at the "long run", the private market looks at the recent happenings.

because there are villages that has not merchants there should be a "merchants' stall" or "village storage" or a representative of the settlement who handles goods.

there should be contracts too (that has advantages like standardized prices) but it could have limits like pieces/time (for example 20 ores/day). for example whiterun wants wood and made a contract like at least 200 firewoods/day and it wants it for 5 days. if you fail to do the daily quota it can cancel the contract, even fine an amount of gold (you can refuse it but this way they can take your whole goods, or put bounty on you, or jail, but one thing is sure:) it troubles your reputation.

if you give them extra goods (more -within reason, like 10-20 percent - than their demanded quota), they give you bonus, and boost to your reputation.

about the reputation: each contract demands a reputation, if it is low, then you can't do that yet. there should be a "global" reputation, like a skill, and a local reputation (based on the things you have done in an area/settlements). for example, you made a very bad route between whiterun and solitude, so the global reputation suffers badly. but you have never caused problems in markarth area. because of it, the local rep in markarth is 200 (just a plain number), but the global is 150. there is a contract in markarth that needs 170 rep. based on your global rep you couldn't do this, but in markarth you can do this, because the local rep affects the global (for example every local rep's 10% affects the global rep. like 150 + 20).

the rep depends on succesful contracts, the buy/sell price difference (and how many pieces you have been sold).

cancelling contracts in progress also hurts you.

 

this far i think you don't need another mod to help.

but now comes the problematic side:

for the immersion and advanced features that are coming you must have other mods i think - strongly adviced.

so, this "idea" needs more features to work well, like:

- horses with package place (to store more goods)

- more than one companion (to have more goods with them)

- horses with cart behind them (for more professional trading, more goods to sell)

- a carriage! even carriages! (for make complex trade routes!)

 

the different levels of trading (not like the vanilla walking/running, or horseriding) needs quite high reputation, gold, and "allowance" (of using carriages, for example). for example you can be a "city merchant" - this means that you can buy cheaper EVERYTHING in the city (after a very high local rep), but the city demands to do some trading run once or twice in the week. if you fail to do global market runs in the city than they can take this title away, and the local rep will be in negative.

 

when you get your first horse with cart you need a resting place for it (and the goods it carries). this can be "merchant's stall"/"village storage" or, for example the stable. these should be the "temporary" resting place, so it needs some gold to maintain. if you have a house in the city then it will be free. these temporary/free resting places can hold only one horse with cart or carriage, and have limited extra storage (for even more goods), if you manage to have a "free" one (so you have house in the city) the extra storage becomes greater.

the next level is when you become city merchant. now you have an own resting place for carrieges/carts, where you can have 2 carriages/carts, high amount of storage (but can buy - like house customizations - more free space, carriage/cart space), for totally free as far as you are city merchant.

 

whenever you have a house in any city it becomes your "base of operations"/origin place. that means if you have forget to pay the cart's/carriage's rest place, and your carriage/cart is still here then the goods will be brought to your house into a big chest (infinite space) for a certain, quite high penalty (in golds, depends on the goods' weight). if you can't pay for the goods, then they take all away and you must pay the cart's/carriage's price, if you can't even pay this, then they take it also. if you don't have base of operations and you forget to pay the rest place's price then the automatic take-away happens.

 

the base of operations have other advantages. if you reach a certain high reputation you can hire people. they can be hired if you are using a packaged horse or more complex merchant vehicle (cart, carriage). in the beginning just guards (like companions but they aren't customizable... i mean their priorities are the protection of the goods, nothing more. there should be some options, like if they see a hostile being attack it, avoid it if possible, or just defend.

if your reputation goes higher then the number of guards can be higher also.

after a certain reputation you can hire drivers. these drivers just going from A point to B point, so you don't have to lead the horse/cart/carriage... you can be guardlike, passenger on a cart, or you can collect other things in the meantime. the driver wait for some time, if you don't react, after some delay (let be 30 min, 45 min) goes back to the origin place.

after you become a city merchant you can also pay for hirelings: like collectors (ore/plant/etc), hunters (animal/woodcutter), crafters (if you let them use the raw materials), and even traders - of course the number of allowed hirelings is 1 in the beginning, then become more and more. the first three can be deployed anywhere you have been in game (so explored area), and in a certain radius he will do his job (the radius area don't have to be explored). it could have a toggle like realistic (for example he can harvest like if you would be him) or logical (checking the area's type and calculates a logical amount of materials that can be obtained). the trader can be different, he cannot move, he has a stall near your house, and the method is like the logical mode of harvesting. though you can make priorities (what to sell on the first place, what should be its minimum price, what to buy on the first place, and its maximum price), which can be even more complex after your skill progresses.

and there should be the ultimate hireling, the assistant.

 

the assistant could be an "automatizer", or a moving script guy. if you want to use them you must take him with the horse with (one assistant per) cart/carriage the following way: you tell the assistant what to put on the cart, the travel route (you can even make waypoints to stop), what to sell in the destination settlement (various options, min. price, max. price, amount of goods), what to buy.

of course on very high rep level you should even make complex, almost automatic trading, like this:

 

Alpha-carriage: origin place A, destination place E. on the carriage: driver, assistant, hunter, collector, and 3 guards. picks up the stuff (mostly wheat, this will be the main package to destination), the amount of gold (the assistants need a certain amount of gold or they can't work), and starts the route, passes B point without doing anything, C drops the hunter (there's a large wildlife in the area), make him hunt, going onward, D drops the ore collector make him mine, and there is also a cheap wheat location.. if the wheat is under x price he buys some if it is not then going onward, E destination, sells all the wheat, buys some wood, waiting for 5 hours in rest place. the way back: D calls the ore collector, if he is on carriage/near the cart, they going onward, C picks up the hunter, if they buy the ore on high price sell some, then onward, B sell all ore you have mined, going A. end of the automatic trade.

 

Beta-cart: origin place A, destination E. on cart: driver, near it: assistant, 3 guards. picks up the stuff (various stuff that needed in B, C, D, E), goes to B sell some, C sell some, buy some, D sell some, E sell some, buy some. don't wait, go back immediately, D pass, C pass, B sell some (stuff that bought in E), go back to A.

 

these two carts are working at the same time, and you can do all the quests you like in the same time, however, in the and you get a message with a bird (can't think of better solution now) that everything was ok, if you ask it before, you get a detailed message. the time between sending and receiving is like 30-60 mins. if there is something problem happened (bandit attack or the assitant ran out of gold) you also receive a message with the same delay but you can answer it (you can re-set the trading route or modify it). he will receive it with the same delay, so for 2 hours the trading is halted.

 

if you want to start trading from a distance (so not status report) the bird is very slow (3 hours to the recipent to ask to work, 1 hour to get the "OK" message, and 2 hours back with the details, also, if had problems, then not 1 hour then 2 hour - it prevents the player to farm gold easily, and if you want to be a merchant, you should work as a merchant). this delay is also the same if you are another city's merchant.

 

about the problems that can happen: first, bandit attack, if you are attacked by bandits, you can either let them take an amount of goods (this option works with the packaged horse, under this the bandits simply try to kill you), or fight. if you are using an assistant, or you are far from the "caravan", then if you have guards, then they autoattack the bandits - if all of the guards are dead, then they take an amount of goods. if there were no guard at the beginning, they take all of your goods. if your cart is empty, or almost empty there is a chance (not big) that they will destroy it. if that happens then a city guard comes to you and tell the sad story. the bandits attack happens totally random, but the chance of it becomes higher if you are using the same routes over and over.

 

second problem is that the horse have to rest or something like that for an amount of time, it needs water so you have to fetch some. or the driver becomes sick, you have to give him cure disease potion or he dies after a time... rocks, trees barricades the road (spawn a lot of them on the road) - you have to take it away (takes time, less if you have guards or companion), cart/carriage problems (takes time to repair, if there is a blacksmith near you can ask for help - he makes some thingies to repair it instantly), and there could be various and more. if these things happen with a caravan that uses an assistant and he or she can solve it (and if there is no human/goods cost) then the trade run is not halted, and you receive information about these happenings in the end report. also, these problems have an automatic solution that takes a high amount to time to proceed (except if the driver dies), but if you intervene these problems will be solved very easily and fast.

 

i think that's all for now, i have more ideas but that's enough for now, i'll be shocked if there would be somebody who even read these words...

but i think this wannabe mod fits the skyrim lore, and the idea that lets you play as a merchant in this world is not a very bad and ignored one.

shame that i can't make a mod so this is a request, nothing more.

 

tell me if you are interested in it!

sorry if this is chaotic, or illogical sometimes, and sorry for the grammatical problems, i can't speak english very well!

[ribanckak]

haven't played the game and visited the forum/site for a long time... has someone made something similar mod since then?

[LadyMilla]

Thread necromancy.

Necro-bumping a 2-year old topic is not a good idea.

Locked.