Another idea!

[jackel1994]

Hey guys what about a gift system? I noticed after talking to some guys online that they have so many items they dont know what to do with them... Like for instance if someone's luck is pooring out their ass and they have lets say like 6 GS, that they can gift the items off to players who cant seem to get one for the life of them. (by this i dont mean a trade system, although that would be cool too)

Also i think its time SO got its own theme song, and you can have the option to have it play in the backround or disable the bgm.
(something like the original zelda is what i mean, but differnt tune)
What do yous guys think? =]

-Jackel1994 (ishboo21)

[Lingus]

I actually don't necessarily agree with a gift system. The idea behind a trade system is that an economy develops. I don't want to trade one of my 6 GS to any random person unless they have something in return that is of similar value that I can use. A gift system essentially eliminates this possibility. Or, at least it does not allow for the infrastructure to be set up. Technically two people could trade items by gifting eachother the items, but it would be based on an honor system rather than built into the game.

The idea behind gifting people items is okay, but I would rather there be a way to trade and have the economy develop so that you don't have everyone just giving away their higher level items to any random person. Without a trade economy duplicate items are worthless so you might as well give them to someone. I, and I know others, do not really like the idea of newbs running around with dragoons and GSs who you know did not spend even a day grinding for that gear.

[Lucifer]

The concept of trading, in the various shapes it can be, has been discussed numerous times on these and older forums. I'd have to agree with Lingus here and say a gift system would not be the way to approach it, but I can't say I can offer a good suggestion. I remember one idea I agreed with was to place a level restriction placed on traded items. However, personally don't care for any kind of trading/item transferring system to ever be implemented into Stick Online, I actually enjoy the fact that it's nonexistent. Sure it's a pain to find epic lewt on an account that doesn't need it, but if Meiun were to give those rare items very high selling prices, and create a logical purpose for gold, then I think it wouldn't bother people as much. I personally can't think of a way that trading in this game wouldn't screw with the entire point of finding your items yourself, on that specific character. If any kind of trading system were to be implemented, I can only imagine that suddenly everyone would have the best items, and the pure joy of finding that awesome item yourself after hours and hours of farming (or the sudden surprise after one boss) would be lost.

[SoulKeepz]

I don't know. You could approach it the way World of Warcraft did. Some items bind to your character, others can be traded. Mainly based on how awesome the item is. I.e. if you pick up a GS, it's stuck to you. But on the flipside, you could leave it, and if someone just kinda saw it and picked it up, it'd be stuck to them. Just an idea, though. Probably not a good one, either. :p

[Lingus]

I don't know. You could approach it the way World of Warcraft did. Some items bind to your character, others can be traded. Mainly based on how awesome the item is. I.e. if you pick up a GS, it's stuck to you. But on the flipside, you could leave it, and if someone just kinda saw it and picked it up, it'd be stuck to them. Just an idea, though. Probably not a good one, either. :p

That would only work if item drops were server-side which they are not in SO. And I don't agree with making them server-side. I want the opportunity to pick up my own items. If an item dropped and everyone saw it and they picked it up before me I would be pissed.

The real solution to the problem presented here is to develop a balance between the rarity and value of items. If you receive a rare and valuable item that you already have, you would not simply give it away to the first random person, and maybe not even to one of your closest friends. You would trade that item to someone else for an equally rare and valuable item that you do not currently have. This is how trade economies work in almost all MMOs. Obviously, there's some amount of twinking that occurs, but that's inevitable.

[Seifer]

I don't know. You could approach it the way World of Warcraft did. Some items bind to your character, others can be traded. Mainly based on how awesome the item is. I.e. if you pick up a GS, it's stuck to you. But on the flipside, you could leave it, and if someone just kinda saw it and picked it up, it'd be stuck to them. Just an idea, though. Probably not a good one, either. :p

That would only work if item drops were server-side which they are not in SO. And I don't agree with making them server-side. I want the opportunity to pick up my own items. If an item dropped and everyone saw it and they picked it up before me I would be pissed.

Who knows, things could change in So3.

[jackel1994]

"you receive a rare and valuable item that you already have, you would not simply give it away to the first random person"

So the solution is hang on to the item and dont give it away

[Lingus]

I don't know. You could approach it the way World of Warcraft did. Some items bind to your character, others can be traded. Mainly based on how awesome the item is. I.e. if you pick up a GS, it's stuck to you. But on the flipside, you could leave it, and if someone just kinda saw it and picked it up, it'd be stuck to them. Just an idea, though. Probably not a good one, either. :p

That would only work if item drops were server-side which they are not in SO. And I don't agree with making them server-side. I want the opportunity to pick up my own items. If an item dropped and everyone saw it and they picked it up before me I would be pissed.

Who knows, things could change in So3.

I understand that... and I did mention that I would not agree with the decision to make it server-sided. Unless, of course, drops were tied to a specific person for a period of time. That person would have the right to pick the item up over anyone else, but if they left it there for say 10 minutes or left the area or logged out anyone else could pick it up. That I would be okay with.

"you receive a rare and valuable item that you already have, you would not simply give it away to the first random person"

So the solution is hang on to the item and dont give it away

No, no. The solution there would be to have a developed trade economy for items in the game so that you would want to trade the item with someone else who has an equally rare and valuable item that you do not have... Didn't I explain that in my post? I guess in effect you are correct. You hang onto the item and don't give it away... until you trade it with someone.

[Lucifer]

I guess I'm not really thinking about the big picture in trading economics. What Lingus is saying is correct, if there is a good rarity and value balance in items, then you're going to be pretty less inclined to give away your shit. It's not going to be exactly like it is now, with everyone having duplicates of most rare items. I think I could see it being implemented without any limitation, that's the way I'd want it if at all. Everything about Stick Online, although it might not look it, is very refined, the game feels smooth. If a trading system were implemented, I don't think I'd appreciate item binding or level restrictions, it sorta messes with the flow of things.

[jackel1994]

i get what you guys are saying lol but in my opinion there arnt enough "rare" items to be able to have a trade economy. Even in SO3 there probably wont be that many items. Lke trading only really works when theres atleast 100+ items and atleast 15 differnt super rare ones right?

[Lingus]

There's absolutely no reason why that can't happen. With a talented and dedicated artist they could potentially have well over that amount of items. And even then, base sprites can be slightly modified either by code to change the color or some other feature of it. This would multiply the number of potential items given a set amount of base sprites. And keep in mind items don't only have to be hats or weapons. There could be non-combat related items, burnable items such as arrows or potions, additional equipment such as talismans or scrolls that add stat bonuses, spell related items (such as spell books that you need to acquire in order to learn the spell)... Which is not to mention trade skill related items. Of course, several of these things may or may not be implemented in the game, but the idea is that there's plenty of potential items that could both give purpose to gold, and create a viable trade economy, if that's the direction the game is going to take. Obviously there's no point in assuming one way or the other given there is no information on the new version.

In effect, my point is, there will either be enough items with varying levels of rarity and value to develop a trade economy, or there will be a lesser focus on items in v3 and there really shouldn't be a trading system of any kind. I would prefer the first option... but who knows what's going to happen.

[jackel1994]

I doubt doubt meiun or any of the spriters, but with what your saying is going to start taking SO and making it WOW part 2

[Lingus]

In what way? Having a lot of items does not make a game similar to WoW. It makes it a good RPG. Almost every RPG I know of has a good set of items. There are some which go light on the items (think Zelda) and that's another good possibility for the future of SO. But, as I said, if that is the case then I don't see a trading system working. In my opinion either the quantity and variety of items are increase drastically, or the item system is simplified greatly.

The way it works now is kind of half assed. There's a certain amount of items such that you want to be able to collect them all, but some of them are just rare enough that it's nearly impossible to get if you aren't constantly playing and/or really lucky. It makes for a grind-fest. What I'd rather have is a more long drawn out item hunt over the course of the game. I don't want to be sitting at one location grinding to try to get a single item. I'd much rather be out hunting monsters and happen across certain things. Eventually I acquire enough rare items that I can go and trade some of them for some other rare items that I may want.

Actually, to be completely clear, that's a lot more how Diablo 2 works... though I do not expect the sheer vast quantities of items in that game.

[jackel1994]

i mean like how all the stat boosters and quests and items that will provide power ups that u mentioned. kinda taking the SO effect outa the game? Though everything else besides that, that u mentioned, would be something id look forward too seeing in SO3

[Lingus]

Those were really just to show that there are many different ways to increase the overall item count in the game. I'm not saying any of that will get implemented. And besides which, without any of those additional items, just hats and weapons, if you take the idea of using a set of base sprites and modifying them to some degree, there's still plenty of items in that... Anyways, my point was not to suggest that SO v3 be made into something entirely different. I agree that the simplicity of the game makes it what it is. But I think there's a possibility of balancing that simplicity with a little bit of complexity in the item arena. And if there isn't, then forget it and don't have trading...