Ye Olde Magick Shoppe

[PsychoBlonde]

So, here's an idea I was running through my head yesterday--the game could use a magic shop. No, no, not like the Portable Hole. I mean a place that you can buy basic gear like Bracers of Strength +3, that sort of thing. Here's how it would work:

• The gear would be the most basic stuff imaginable. Just one single bonus on a piece of gear.
• It would have its own color border to show that it was Store Gear. Perhaps black or gray.
• It would have a (slightly) higher ML than loot of the equivalent level. Kind of like the opposite of masterful craftsmanship. Call it "mass produced".
• It would be purchasable for platinum.
• Each bonus would occur in one, and only one, slot. So, Dex would be boots only. Strength would be gloves only. Etc.
• The best you could buy would be slightly less-good than what you could find on loot. So stat items would cap out at +5, say, and skill items at +13. (This is aimed toward heroic levels.)
• It would be Bind to Character On Acquire.
• You could not deconstruct it or otherwise use it for crafting.
• No weapons or armor.
• Perhaps have a method whereby you could add a single colorless slot to a piece.

So, why do this? Well, it'd make it easier for newbies to the game to get basic gear at a basic price. If you want to flesh it out a little more, make a couple of new low-level harbor quests that culminate in getting access to Ye Olde Magick Shoppe. Maybe the Coin Lords and Free Agents are squabbling over control of the store so it's temporarily closed down. Or possibly the Sharn Syndicate is involved. Having some kind of magic store is a staple of the genre.

[The_Human_Cypher]

This idea might fit into the new crafting system. Players could purchase basic gear of all times and add augments slots and other features. This could be another use for Mysterious Remnants, as the base material for slot and augment crafting.

[Wh070aa]

Augment slots already do this, only instead of plat, you have to collect collectables. I would not be opposed to it, but finding random loot that gives you such items is easy enough. We do need some new player initiatives tho.

[Allorian]

I like it, great idea!

[PsychoBlonde]

Augment slots already do this, only instead of plat, you have to collect collectables. I would not be opposed to it, but finding random loot that gives you such items is easy enough. We do need some new player initiatives tho.

You have to collect a LOT of collectibles, which are random. Augments are not easy for new players to get ahold of. Crafting and augments are both systems that work well for established players, but there's just nowhere for newbies to get some basic stuff reliably once they're out of Korthos. The learning curve is really sharp.

[PsychoBlonde]

This idea might fit into the new crafting system. Players could purchase basic gear of all times and add augments slots and other features. This could be another use for Mysterious Remnants, as the base material for slot and augment crafting.

Making this the basis for an entire crafting system kind of misses the point, which is to make this an easy and simple way for people to get some really basic gear. The idea of being able to add a colorless augment slot is that it would help with slot consolidation when people get up past the highest level of the gear that's available (assuming they still want any of it).

Also, this would help out people who have had a lot of trouble finding skill items lately, as it would make very basic skill items easily available without having to search the AH for 10 days for a Perform item and pay a ridiculous price for it.

[dunklezhan]

You can already go to the marketplace brokers - they will have a random selection of items of the appropriate range for what they trade. They should just apply that same principle to all equipment-specific brokers like the ones scattered through the Houses in Stormreach. No need for a new system unless you want certain items guaranteed available all the time.

[PsychoBlonde]

That's the point--to have the items available all the time instead of who-knows-what random junk. There are too many item pawnshops scattered all over the game for them to be an effective source any more, because good luck finding anything. Although I wouldn't mind also making all of the item pawns have a consolidated inventory so no matter where you sell, it pops up everywhere. That'd be a nice feature and I'd start using them quite a bit more consistently.