How to get rid of the no-selling option

[Antoine]

1. Create a 'gold multiplier' variable. Set it to e.g. 2.
2. When the player sells something, make the 'gold multiplier' smaller (but never less than 1)
3. When the player goes a long time without selling anything, make the 'gold multiplier' bigger (but never more than e.g. 3)
4. Whenever gold is created, multiply the amount by the 'gold multiplier'
5. Remove 'no-selling' as an option.

A.

[ekolis]

Intriguing. I wonder if players could game the system, though, by selling only things of high value, and very rarely, so as to keep the gold multiplier high?

[Antoine]

Intriguing. I wonder if players could game the system, though, by selling only things of high value, and very rarely, so as to keep the gold multiplier high?

I'd be cool with that.

A.

[Antoine]

Uh, I'd probably make one further change, which would be that selling unidentified items does not reduce the gold multiplier. Thus, selling could still be used for consumables identification.

A.

[AnonymousHero]

I have a simpler solution: Remove the no-selling option, leaving it "true". "Sell" becomes "Identify" in the store interface.

[Mikko Lehtinen]

Why do you want cheap, risk-free identify? Doesn't identify by use of consumables interest you at all as a subgame? How about an option to auto-identify everything instead?

[Antoine]

I have a simpler solution: Remove the no-selling option, leaving it "true". "Sell" becomes "Identify" in the store interface.

That's a bad solution, because some people like to be able to sell stuff for money and would dislike the change.

A.

[Antoine]

Why do you want cheap, risk-free identify? Doesn't identify by use of consumables interest you at all as a subgame?

Personally, I don't like consumables-ID subgames in *bands. Works better in Nethack.

That's just me though.

A.

[Timo Pietilä]

1. Create a 'gold multiplier' variable. Set it to e.g. 2.
2. When the player sells something, make the 'gold multiplier' smaller (but never less than 1)
3. When the player goes a long time without selling anything, make the 'gold multiplier' bigger (but never more than e.g. 3)
4. Whenever gold is created, multiply the amount by the 'gold multiplier'
5. Remove 'no-selling' as an option.

A.

Currently "no-selling" means that that you get nothing from selling stuff. If you remove that you are not talking about no-selling. As such this proposition can't replace that option.

[Mikko Lehtinen]

Personally, I don't like consumables-ID subgames in *bands. Works better in Nethack.

I'd like to see (or code?) a patch that removed all unnecessary tedium (like id, eating, oil, digging for gold) and replaced it with increased difficulty level and/or reduced drops, just to be fair.

[AnonymousHero]

Why do you want cheap, risk-free identify? Doesn't identify by use of consumables interest you at all as a subgame? How about an option to auto-identify everything instead?

(Guess I should have added a smiley at the end of my post. While I wasn't joking per se, It was definitely tongue-in-cheek.)

Identify by "selling" for 0 GP is not free at the start -- it costs a WoR and you have to break the flow of the game. I usually don't bother to identify consumables by use because it's annoying to have to get into situations where it's not potentially very dangerous and where it's actually beneficial (other than as a last ditch effort) -- the balance seems to be in favor of deleterious effects rather than useful effects, but maybe that's just my experience.

[Mikko Lehtinen]

Identify by "selling" for 0 GP is not free at the start -- it costs a WoR and you have to break the flow of the game. I usually don't bother to identify consumables by use because it's annoying to have to get into situations where it's not potentially very dangerous and where it's actually beneficial (other than as a last ditch effort) -- the balance seems to be in favor of deleterious effects rather than useful effects, but maybe that's just my experience.

Ok, identifying consumables then takes some of your money and some time (an extra town trip now and then). Would you prefer auto-id:d consumables, if it was balanced by less money drops? Hey, that sounds like an option.

[AnonymousHero]

Ok, identifying consumables then takes some of your money and some time (an extra town trip now and then). Would you prefer auto-id:d consumables, if it was balanced by less money drops? Hey, that sounds like an option.

No, it doesn't sound like an option. The game designer chooses which should apply and implements it. (Takkaria was absolutely right to fight this option-itis tooth and nail. It's absurd to have to cater to everyone's tastes.)

I don't care much either way regarding auto-ID. Rune-based ID might be an interesting mechanic, but "know everything or know nothing" is not interesting to me.

Either way, this is off topic, so I'll leave it at that.

[Timo Pietilä]

Ok, identifying consumables then takes some of your money and some time (an extra town trip now and then). Would you prefer auto-id:d consumables, if it was balanced by less money drops?

Consumables should be id-by-use -type items. Problem with scrolls is curse weapon/armor -scrolls which still exist. All potions OTOH should be more or less safe to test.

Maybe "Examine item" could have clvl-based chance of revealing what the item does without actually using it. Maybe even some sort of pseudo-ID for consumables? pseudo-ID:s categories, like ability boosters (speed, true sight), resists/protections (resist heat, blessing), healing (CxW potions etc.), detections, weapons (wand of this and that)?

[Mikko Lehtinen]

Perhaps the majority of people are generally happy to sell items for identify, then.

It sounds like a disappointing game mechanic and a time waster to me, just like dragging items to town for selling, but maybe it's a compromise of some sort, for historical and community reasons. (Both removing the identify subgame and making it harder and more interesting would result in a flamewar.)