Because Farming has gone so well, we've adjusted our release schedule to make it all the more fun! Please note that this was supposed to be done after ???ing released, so it'll be bumpy.

Introducing Market Orders!

Market Orders are generated at the start of each season, and represent cities or organizations making requests for tradegoods. These requests can be found at the market in Esterport, listed via MARKETORDER LIST. You can fill the 'general' category of requests with MARKETORDER FILL <#> <amt> using goods in your inventory. In return, you'll get gold and experience!

For example:
*******************************[ Market Orders ]*******************************
ID Requester Request Quantity Filled Time Reward Size
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 General cotton 356 0 24days 6408g -

This is a request for 356 cotton, giving 6408g, or about 18g per. If you were to MARKETORDER FILL 3 170, you would get 170*18g = 3060g, and some experience! The experience is actually based on how much you deliver AT ONCE, so delivering all you can at one time is worth more. In this example, you've delivered 170, leaving more to fill... which anyone can fill! First come, first rewarded.

At the moment this is only engaged for farming goods. Other tradeskills, talents, etc will be keyed into this, given time. We also have hooks that will allow us to change shop goods based on the delivery of required ingredients, or their behavior, etc. So in the future we'll be making the NPC economy less static!

The astute among you will notice that there's more information shown there than I just explained...

Introducing our second practical skill, Provisioning!

Provisioning is the skill of acquiring and selling tradegoods. With it you can see other orders...

*******************************[ Market Orders ]*******************************
ID Requester Request Quantity Filled Time Reward Size
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Oried strawberry 1375 - 24days 2750g l

Aww, Oried wants strawberries! A rather... large amount of them, even.

These market orders are accepted by a single player, and your skill in Provisioning determines how many/large you can take at once. Once you've accepted an order it is yours for the time limit, costing an escrow deposit (about 50%), and needs to be filled in full. Doing so nets you a good 40-60% more experience than a general order, and you have no competition!

Other skillranks of Provisioning also let you place your own orders, protect goods on a caravan, and as previously mentioned, pay less in deposits or accept larger/more orders. There are also other things, but I can't show them yet!

Provisioning is increased by successfully filling orders, with lesser amounts coming from general orders. Currently it is capped at Skilled, as it has intended interactions with Mining and ???ing, as well as other tradeskills, so we don't want it all rolled out at once. Provisioning is also a bit of a 'mastery' skillset. As noted above, anyone can take General orders, and they tend to be capped at the maximum output of a single farm. Provisioning gives access to market orders that would require multiple farms working together and depending on a lead Provisioner.

ALSO

Market orders may only be filled with FRESH produce. Fresh produce is that which has been harvested, and never dropped, damaged, put in a shop, or stored in anything but your inventory. The exact timing of how freshness vanishes is left as a mystery, but assume keeping the goods in your inventory is the best way. I will admit it's not tied to decay rate!

-T

PS. This will be bumpy! Please use the forum thread to discuss ways we can imporove it, and please don't be frustrated if it isn't enough yet. I'll be making a lot of tweaks. For instance, we might want to discuss raising prices on produce in cooking supply shops to make it viable for players to want to use grown things.

PPS. Helpfiles will take me a few more hours, I have to update the drafts to match what changes I keep making.

PPPS. The promo will be a bit (at most 24 hours) late because this nearly broke me.

Penned by my hand on Falsday, the 21st of Ios, in the year 482 MA.
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http://forums.aetolia.com/discussion/3250/announce-post-2992-market-orders-and-provisioning