Suggestion: Way to fix several issues around shops

Lefty

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Shops need visibility, and in a MMO game, that visibility comes first from being located where new players see them early, and situated in ways that make access easy and convenient. It also needs to be easy to clearly indicate what sort of merchandise a shop is stocked with, without requiring interested passersby to jump through too many hoops. At this time the only place I know of that meets those criteria is the Quarry on Arkadia. The old Bank in Port Atlantis also has potential, but needs two improvements to really qualify:
- Outdoor ledges to place shopkeepers, shelves etc on
- Port Atlantis keeps getting farther and farther from the natural stream of play for new players
My suggestion is to create ledges all around the walls of the Bank and divide those ledges into small sections ownable by many different vendors. Routing is a tougher issue because Port Atlantis' missions make a bit of a tangled maze, but it's our Capitol and we love it so imo the best answer there is let it be. CDF Outpost Charlie nearly fills that gap on its own, although South Swamp Camp could see major improvement (its missions are too grindy for many new players - not many of us enjoy picking all those cherries).

These are only two examples, one done well, the other with lots of potential. The Entropia Universe is peppered with pretty good shop settings (honorable mention to Celeste Harbor and Cthylla Tower) but those two were the most use in illustrating what I see.
 
All you need is a shop terminal, where players can search items and it tells them which shops have them items and the prices.

If the player wants to buy they just look up also via the terminal the shop location and then off they go.

There could also be a button “other items sold in shop”
 
All you need is a shop terminal, where players can search items and it tells them which shops have them items and the prices.

If the player wants to buy they just look up also via the terminal the shop location and then off they go.

There could also be a button “other items sold in shop”

so the same as the auction house?
 
so the same as the auction house?

not quite, but similar...

Shop Directory
shop directory
Shop directory

It's been suggested before by some to move all shops in every planet to one town similar to the old Hadesheim but Mindark and quite a few in players don't necessarily like that idea...

Well, the Falco Hadesheim Mapping Project (FHMP) is finished and ready for publishing, after weeks of running around in the hugest city of Calypso.

After I startet as a settler in Eudoria, I got lost several times in this city. Therefore (and because the name is similar to that of the city Hildesheim where I was born) I decided to make a map, because I did not found any satisfying map of Hadesheim in the www.

Because the city is so huge, it is not possible to publish a single map. I have made 5. One overview, one detailled map of the NW, NE, SW and SE, respectively.

I hope you can use the maps for your purposes. And I hope, the city will become more populated because now I think it is easier to find one's way.

These Hadesheim maps can also be found on my Entropia Homepage.

:wave:



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Overview
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NW Parts
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NE Parts
[br]Click to enlarge[/br]
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SW Parts
[br]Click to enlarge[/br]
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SE Parts
[br]Click to enlarge[/br]
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Before Planets came Twin Peaks was the most popular mall shop town on Calypso, an it was not for beginners since you had to do some adventuring just to get the tp. Back in those days Twin was the shopping place for experienced folks and Port Atlantis was the shopping place for new folks... since that time and planets came the entire shopping experience in game has been - meh...

Shop owners cannot compete vs the 24/7 available on every planet, in nearly every town auctioneers... a shop directory could help that, and it's been something asked for over and over, even by Ludvig before he joined Mindark... but it's not been done yet, and is low on Mindark's priority list. Guess a new graphics engine is more important to them?

Once a shop is sold to the players in game Mindark's money making potential on it drops a lot since they only get a portion of the tax after that, so they don't prioritize it as important, just as they don't with many other things in game after they get in the player's inventory... sadly... need to go make another new continent to sell off for a few more bucks every year, etc. instead of really working on making what's already in game work well for those that invested in things already existing... need new shiny shit to bring in more people with lots of bucks so we can afford another vacation in a couple of months... been an ongoing issue with Entropia for over a decade. May change some day, but hasn't yet.
 
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