Are temporary shops reliable in a reset?

[Pyracantha]

Had an unfortunate incident today and am not sure what exactly happened.

Laurea took over the temporary shop in front of the Hawk's Nest in Bendir. I kept the shop active for a couple hours, but I was delayed and got back to the shop about 10 minutes after the 1-hour timer. When I got back, the shop was now available to rent (it was not owned by me or anybody), all the merchandise was gone and there was no additional money in Laurea's account, so the items had not been purchased.

Alas, it was a valuable inventory including 3 grand bows, a stable template and a very very old Buckler of Vigorous Defense that Laurea acquired when Ryan Valtheran was still a boy.

Either someone in the 10-minute window that i was late took over the shop, took out the items, and then abandoned the shop, which seems unlikely (or at least bad RP form). Or something else happened to empty the shop - like a reset or some such. Could it have been a reset? (this was between about 4:10pm and 5:20pm Eastern on Sunday)

Could something else have stripped the shop? Or was it just another player with lucky timing?

Thanks!

[TimeAdept]

Sounds like another player struck it rich.

[The Rambling Midget]

Either someone in the 10-minute window that i was late took over the shop, took out the items, and then abandoned the shop, which seems unlikely (or at least bad RP form).

This is the most likely case, and it's not bad form, it's just bad luck. This is an island of corpse-looters. If it really put your character out, you can post up some notices asking that whoever cleaned it out return your items in exchange for a reward or something.

[Pyracantha]

Thanks - already posted a notice of reward.

As for bad form - there's a message every time I open a room chest that says basically "Unless you have an RP reason, you can steal only 1 item in any 24-hour period and the DMs are logging and watching...". The message is pretty clear - cleaning someone out is perfectly acceptable if RPed. Otherwise, show a little restraint.

[Cybernet21]

I mean OOC'ly speaking it would be "polite" RP i guess to at least leave a IC note saying something like "Whoever wass selling on this shop,you just got robbed loser!" or something similar,but not that they *have* to do that,plus it doesn't break the one item per 24 hours rule since during that time window,in theory, it didn't belong to anyone unfortunately (And if i a temporary shop is avaiable to be taken over i don't think there's that message)

So i guess it's just an unfortunate "Bad things happen to good adventurers" thing i guess.

[Maladus]

If that doesn't fall under the one item per 24 hour rule, then I think the rule should be amended.

[The Rambling Midget]

As for bad form - there's a message every time I open a room chest that says basically "Unless you have an RP reason, you can steal only 1 item in any 24-hour period and the DMs are logging and watching...". The message is pretty clear - cleaning someone out is perfectly acceptable if RPed. Otherwise, show a little restraint.

Doesn't apply to abandoned properties.

As for the warning, there's absolutely nothing about a RP reason. It's just only 1 item stolen per 24 hours. No ifs, ands, or buts. If you have permission, it's not stealing.

If someone buys a loaded temp shop, everything in it becomes theirs, thus nothing is stolen. The same for abandoned quarters and such. Nobody owns it.

There's definitely room for OOC courtesy in these situations, but none is required by the rules, and it's not something the DMs will enforce.

[Maladus]

In the case of a normal shop/property, I would agree that it's all fair game because that means you didn't refresh your property in the last week. With the temporary shops, I think an exception needs to be made.

[The Rambling Midget]

With the temporary shops, I think an exception needs to be made.

The one hour time limit is clearly stated, and it's just there so you don't have to be constantly tapping the shop sign while you're out peddling your wares.

If you walk away and don't get back in time to refresh it, that's on you. You made an informed decision to abandon your stuff.

The solution to this (if it's even a problem) is not to create new and unnecessary rules, or track down and punish players who didn't break the rules in the first place, but to adjust temporary shops or add a new class of temporary shops that have a longer time limit, which would be more useful to the current playerbase.

[Maladus]

I mean sure, this can be avoided by not walking away but is there a notification letting you know that it's about to run out? Should there be one?

[Nitro]

I mean sure, this can be avoided by not walking away but is there a notification letting you know that it's about to run out? Should there be one?

I mean, that could be added sure. But it can also be accomplished easily on the end users part by using a timer of their own, or simply noting the time when you last clicked the shop.

[The Rambling Midget]

Should there be one for regular quarters and shops?

Education will always trump hand holding as a lasting solution. Better to have a paragraph in the purchasing menu that explains the purpose of temporary shops and warns about the risks. Some colored text would go a long way, too.

[Baron Saturday]

Last time I saw a thread like this, the DM or Admin response was basically that temp shops are designed for active peddler RP, not absentee sales.

Going forward, if you're gonna put anything valuable in a temp shop, I'd strongly advise sticking around. If peddler RP isn't interesting to you, you might be better off forming a partnership with someone who owns a permanent shop.

[Aftond]

I dont dare leave tempshops with valuables on it. Think about it like this.

If there is a counter with this legendary weapon on it, and The shop owner leaves to do something. Is it not the owner Who took that risk to leave it? Who knows what kind of thugs wander about.?

[Pyracantha]

I mean OOC'ly speaking it would be "polite" RP i guess to at least leave a IC note saying something like "Whoever wass selling on this shop,you just got robbed loser!" or something similar...

You don't have to leave a note - just don't abandon the shop after you buy it and clean it out. That's enough to allow the prior owner to RP the incident. I've taken over temp and perm shops that had stuff left in them, but (1) it was after a long period of the shop being vacant, and (2) my character's name was then on the shop and I was available and locatable for RP.

Thanks for all the discussion. To some other posters - I've said nothing about rules changes or punishment - just a chance to RP. This is on me. And no warning message or counter would have helped - it was real life that intruded.

Oh well, back to the saw horse...

[Cybernet21]

I said leaving a note or something similar,like waiting the owner around to RP about it like giving it back for a price,etc.. Anything that would at least let your character know what happened and produce RP.

But it's not a rule,just some "polite" way to go about that i guess,OOC courtesy. Nothing people have to do

[Elena]

You would be surprised how many people actually act selfishly beyond all measure when given an opportunity that grants guaranteed anonymity - such as taking over a shop, abandon it and walk away with everything they can grab.

Throughout my career on Arelith, I've been subject to multiple (temporary and longer term shops, also 2 quarters) "bad luck" releases. And while some of them were barely profitable for the new owner, the majority pleasing and some downright royally (we're talking about 80+ Gold ingots or permanent essences worth multiple 100'000 gold), I've had one single opportunity to contact the new owner (respectively find out who it was), have some follow up RP - which was actually great - and buy some of my former merchandise back.

But I've learned that the major mindset is: loot and leave.

My advice: Only keep what you can carry on your character, there it's safe - and your gold in the bank account. Sorry for your lost items. Also shops sometimes don't show the previous owner, which makes it even more appealing to loot and leave.

[Rooshi49]

My advice: Only keep what you can carry on your character, there it's safe - and your gold in the bank account. Sorry for your lost items. Also shops sometimes don't show the previous owner, which makes it even more appealing to loot and leave.

Inventory is not safe, there's a subset of players who play pickpockets. Anything 1×2 or 1×1, which alot of valuable things are, can be pickpocketed. I suggest using city storage.

[naturaly]

It should be said that in city storage, if you have your box open, anyone can go up and remove items from it like any container. That’s not safe completely either.

[Durvayas]

Last time I saw a thread like this, the DM or Admin response was basically that temp shops are designed for active peddler RP, not absentee sales.

Going forward, if you're gonna put anything valuable in a temp shop, I'd strongly advise sticking around. If peddler RP isn't interesting to you, you might be better off forming a partnership with someone who owns a permanent shop.

This. You'd be amazed how few people try to sell things on consignment with existing merchants. When I played a merchant, this was part of my bread and butter. Peddling and consignment.

[Lexx]

It should be said that in city storage, if you have your box open, anyone can go up and remove items from it like any container. That’s not safe completely either.

This. Pickpocketing happens FAR more than people want to admit. Nothing is EVER 100% safe unless it's in citizen storage closed up. ( as it should be.