How to not townscum?

[Magnate]

Here are things I currently buy out stores to get in 3.0.9. Note that the character can carry 99 in a slot, so a mere 50 might mean buying out the store.

?phase
?id
?recharge
spellbooks [likely is not the same as guaranteed, and on a quick trip I might throw some away to take something else home before a restock happens]

?recall
ammo
[yes, I can dive too quickly and really use up above 2 faster than general store restocks]

!hero
?chant
!rCold
!rFire

!rLife [rare, but I have done it]
restore stat potions [uncommon, mostly time vortex related]
[the above two could be fixed with store services]

?+hit
?+dam
[those can be necessary to merge ammo being saved at home or Calris etc]

For comps or other extreme attention to turncounts:
?map

I can imagine resting for changeover to buy _telSelf, though that usually happens well before you have the money to think about buying out the store.

I am sure other people worry about
!CCW
_dEvil

I can see ?rCurse becoming necessary with the curse changes that are happening.

Grrr. The more I play Angband the more I hate the entire town (except the home-which-is-a-bag-of-holding). Making all that stuff available just causes you to rely on the town more, instead of less. IMO if item generation is done right there should be no need for stores at all - but in accepting that that's an unachievable holy grail, here's what I'd be willing to see as guaranteed in town:

?recall
ammo
?ID (at least until ID is reworked as per http://trac.rephial.org/ticket/752)
restore stats (pref as a store service rather than guaranteed potions)

... and (possibly) ?phase.

CC

[Larvitz]

restore stats (pref as a store service rather than guaranteed potions)

I really like that idea. A lot.

[zaimoni]

In 3.1.2, I'm going to be looking at the stores again, and I'd especially like some people to give essentials for certain depths so I can make sure they're in stock when the player reaches those depths. Basically, I want buying out stores to be a thing of the past.

Well, !restore [stat] isn't so much a "depth" thing rather than a "need" thing; Zaiband rigs it so that the Black Market stocks emergency items no other store does on next restock.

For priests and paladins, ?Beginner's Handbook becomes a money-ditch item at ~DL10 in V SVN/1204; this depth was DL8 in V3.0.9. V3.0.9 had ?Words of Wisdom become a money-ditch item at ~DL30, I'm not sure what the depth is in V SVN. I would assume magi have similar thresholds for their books. (As a matter of internal consistency, I am undecided as to whether these books should start appearing in stacks in the dungeon at these depths....)

[Pete Mack]

In 3.1.2, I'm going to be looking at the stores again, and I'd especially like some people to give essentials for certain depths so I can make sure they're in stock when the player reaches those depths. Basically, I want buying out stores to be a thing of the past.

I'm with some of the other posters on this: what I "need" is situational, and it varies a great deal by player, by depth, and by class. Given this, I don't see why you are anti-forced-restock.

There are just a few things that I (almost) always carry (ammo, ID, ?Recall, ?Phase, !CCW), and a whole lot of things that I might need.