- Proposal
- Master Merchants given radial option to rent out one of their placed vendors to another account's character which gives them admin/control on that specific vendor.
- Justification
- Building owners currently have no access to vendors placed by other admin, and cannot remove them when necessary.
- Motivation
- Current system has inherent limitations in how control is given to vendor placement and usage. Added feature could provide more depth to merchant game play/credit earning while alleviating the previous limitations simultaneously.
As posted yesterday by Laschana, the vendor management system in shared structures could use an overhaul. Instead of just mitigating one problem in the current system, I thought why not use it as an opportunity for added depth and improvement? Rather than derail their suggestion, I figured I'd make a new post to gauge interest.
Master Merchants given radial option to rent out one of their placed and initialized vendors to another account's character which gives them admin/control on that specific vendor.
-MM still have "ownership" and either party can pay the vendor maintenance fees. While rented, the MM may not interact with item inventory or pack the vendor.
-MM have an option to charge a daily rental fee on rental setup that is auto-deducted from the renter's credits. Alternative option: No daily fee but given a percent of sales as a rental tax.
-While rented, sale proceeds go to the renter's character.
-Vendor fees, greetings, and item limit still based on the MM.
-Limit: can only rent one vendor per account (MM can rent out up to their full vendor amount).
-The renter running out of funds to pay the rental agreement automatically ends the agreement and sends a notification Mail.
-Vendor running out of maintenance funds treated same as now.
-Credits may not be withdrawn from maintenance while vendor is rented to mitigate money laundering.
-Renters can cancel rental at any time.
-The MM can cancel the rental, but has a day (or longer) window before the cancellation is finalized so that items may be removed. The renter is sent a mail when the cancel is initialized.
-Vendors still have to be placed in a building owned by the MM with all current restrictions before a rental can commence.
Pros:
-Current issue of stagnating vendors unable to be removed is alleviated.
-Safeguards in place to prevent MM being stuck with inaccessible vendors in their buildings and renter's inventories protected.
-MM no longer have to share building admin so renters will not be able to mess with decorations.
-It allows people to have a storefront to sell items/loot without having to decorate or invest in artisan, but new feature still benefits artisan players.
-MM can now profit from formerly unused vendor slots.
-Provides another play option for someone who likes playing merchant and decorating, but not necessarily stocking every vendor.
Master Merchants given radial option to rent out one of their placed and initialized vendors to another account's character which gives them admin/control on that specific vendor.
-MM still have "ownership" and either party can pay the vendor maintenance fees. While rented, the MM may not interact with item inventory or pack the vendor.
-MM have an option to charge a daily rental fee on rental setup that is auto-deducted from the renter's credits. Alternative option: No daily fee but given a percent of sales as a rental tax.
-While rented, sale proceeds go to the renter's character.
-Vendor fees, greetings, and item limit still based on the MM.
-Limit: can only rent one vendor per account (MM can rent out up to their full vendor amount).
-The renter running out of funds to pay the rental agreement automatically ends the agreement and sends a notification Mail.
-Vendor running out of maintenance funds treated same as now.
-Credits may not be withdrawn from maintenance while vendor is rented to mitigate money laundering.
-Renters can cancel rental at any time.
-The MM can cancel the rental, but has a day (or longer) window before the cancellation is finalized so that items may be removed. The renter is sent a mail when the cancel is initialized.
-Vendors still have to be placed in a building owned by the MM with all current restrictions before a rental can commence.
Pros:
-Current issue of stagnating vendors unable to be removed is alleviated.
-Safeguards in place to prevent MM being stuck with inaccessible vendors in their buildings and renter's inventories protected.
-MM no longer have to share building admin so renters will not be able to mess with decorations.
-It allows people to have a storefront to sell items/loot without having to decorate or invest in artisan, but new feature still benefits artisan players.
-MM can now profit from formerly unused vendor slots.
-Provides another play option for someone who likes playing merchant and decorating, but not necessarily stocking every vendor.