The Tradesman's Inn

This thread is primarily directed at un-clanned merchants. The following two quotes suggest that clans will have a greater than normal control over resources.




Last edited by belthize on 07 Jan 2009, 07:38, edited 1 time in total.

I have been wondering how I am goign to get going too. Seems kind of strange that the level of griefing will be so high for a month or 2 that you wont get sod all done near any town. This means going hours away an finding somewhere with no people to mine/harvest in hopes of being left alone. Then the trick is going to be getting back to town with anything in your pack.

Just to get this in there, it will cause more than just some long term image problems. Speaking as a prospective land owning Clan in Darkfall, if I find anyone is harvesting from our nodes without consent there will be ramifications. You have to make an example of any doing so or there will be no end to those that choose to steal from you, besides if I choose to look at this is a darker fashion this is an oppurtunity.

Many Crafters may become part of Crafting nations after a time as it will be safe, there won't be special deals with your own Clan (As you'd need in a normal Clan), and there are likely to be other benefits that appear.

Normally speaking, noone in their right mind would touch a Crafting nation, their clients would be pissed off and attack them. If a crafter of a Merchant Nation steals from my mines, what's to stop me from declaring that they need to kick that member and compensate me or face the machine of war? A few Clans might step up to defend you, but with a legitimate claim against you quite a few less would.

This also works for a normal Clan, if you're part of a normal Clan and steal this is my oppurtunity to get that really tactically sound city you control without having to face the wrath of any nearby for unjustly attacking your Clan.

Yep, I was intentionally stopping short of saying 'you're screwed' because I figured folks would hop in and say how you could avoid being screwed :).

Clearly stealing from clans is a problem, that was pretty much the point of my post. Given that clans get to 'claim' resources and know when that claim has been violated I was curious how other merchants (crafter or harvester) planned to deal with it.

Some clans will likely allow non-clan players to harvest but a those with control over the higher end resources almost certainly won't. Non-clanned crafters have to either find a way around them or relegate themselves to beginning/mid game items.

Thorsen Belthize

Well as I previously stated, I know for one my Clan will be actively seeking good crafters, and honest ones, to offer special deals with. Whether we give them a village of their own (And resources associated with it), allow them to regulate it as they wish, and ask for a discounted price on all goods we buy from them.

A Crafter, whether as part of a group or as an individual, needs to form a symbiotic relationship with either a War based Clan or a group of Mercenaries. No Crafter, again whether as part of a group or an individual, will be safe on their own as the reality is that when many see a Crafter they see free loot.

Another means, if you don't wish to form such a close bond with a Clan, is to write up a different contract where we harvest our own materials but sell them at a reduced price, again for a discount or for sole rights to the goods produced by what's given.

As to gathering resources from clan owned nodes... couldn't you just ask the owner to allow you to gather in return for a discount on items or just simply pay the owner to harvest from his node?

Absolutely (last item on my list). Nodes may have 'volume'. They may only support X pieces harvested/time unit. This isn't at all clear if they do.

A smart clan will allow external people to harvest their nodes right up till that limit is reached. That way their members get all they want and the clan can then tax the outsiders. How that tax works I have no clue. It's possible they get a direct volume, so if you gather 10 and they set the tax rate and 20% 8 goes to your pack and 2 goes to their bank.

It may well be it's merely a trust thing. You can harvest if you give us 25% of what you gathered. Whether you give it to them or they trust you is purely up to both of you.

I really have no clue but in general I'm sure some clans will permit it. How many do probably depends on game mechanics and how valuable the resource is.

Thorsen Belthize
ps: Check out 6.69 at http://df.warcry.com/faq/view/39 The implication is resources are distributed in a 'natural' way not a 'fair to teams' way. There's probably balance in terms of rarity radiating out from the Capital cities but in terms of type. Each kingdom won't have one of all resources. This is excellent for trading :).

I'm assuming that any clan owned resources are clearly marked?

I know we don't know yet but mines and farms for example would be nice if there is a sign post indicating the owner or failing that when you try to harvest you get a pop up letting you know?

Personally if I take up harvesting I will only take free resources, owned ones I will seek permission. If life as aharvester turns out to be too depressing due to constant death then I will resort to buying my resources and setting up deals with potential customers.

See, that's where I'm hoping members will either strike up deals with the clans who own/control the resource, OR, if the clan won't deal with you, then hire mercenaries to protect you while you DO take the resource :D (I wouldn't mind helping with the latter).

Lady S.

I plan to harvest from the environment until I can get a feel for the real value of logs/ore/grain/whatever. After that I'll probably seek out some friendly clans having trouble keeping up with their resource production and try to strike a deal with them beneficial to both of us. Without getting a sense of how much that stuff is worth you might end up screwing yourself over working out of a clan's mine.

A more interesting (and much less carebear) possibility is to find a clan that's already hostile to your race and simply harvest from their mines. I'd be hesitant to do this if they're members of an Agon-wide trade association however. (DMA?)

Hell, if there's ever opposing trade organizations for the different factions you could even get a "letter of marque" and call it privateering instead of stealing.