What happened to the Luna vendors?

[packrat]

I haven't been shopping in Luna in a while. I noticed a couple of players are attempting to buy up all of the Luna vendor houses and are doing a good job at it. So, I tend to stay away from greedy people.
But, I was bored and decided to see what they had to offer and noticed that a lot of vendors are either empty or just have left over junk on them. This is on Napa. I could not find 1 tailor, fletcher or blacksmith repair deed. I did find one vendor with 3 verite hammers and 3 heartwood fletchers kits.
I recently noticed that a couple of these house sold for $500 real cash. Crazy IMO. I was wondering if it was like this on other shards?

 

[Teufel_Hund]

I haven't been shopping in Luna in a while. I noticed a couple of players are attempting to buy up all of the Luna vendor houses and are doing a good job at it. So, I tend to stay away from greedy people.
But, I was bored and decided to see what they had to offer and noticed that a lot of vendors are either empty or just have left over junk on them. This is on Napa. I could not find 1 tailor, fletcher or blacksmith repair deed. I did find one vendor with 3 verite hammers and 3 heartwood fletchers kits.
I recently noticed that a couple of these house sold for $500 real cash. Crazy IMO. I was wondering if it was like this on other shards?

On GL two peeps own at least 10 of the houses inside Luna walls. I believe that another house is soon to be on the market and I believe that with the real life coin these two are throwing around that it will be 11.

 

[Nine Dark Moons]

some shards are like that, some shards (like atlantic) are crazy busy and mobbed with vendors of every type. some of the empty vendors or lack of vendors came after draconi burnt down the cheater's houses - any vendors that rented spots at those houses (but weren't affiliated with the cheater or cheating) went *poof* along with their items and any money they were holding. some people got scared and cleared out their vendors to wait out the current round of house burnings, in case the house they rent from suffers the same fate. there's 2 common websites (can't name them here) that allow you to search for anything you're looking for on luna vendors and the outlying houses around luna. very handy. but not condoned by EA. if you need more info, PM me.

 

[Beefybone]

Dying game, shrinking population. Eventually Luna will be owned by one guy with 50 accounts and no one to sell to but himself.

 

[Azazel of LA]

Well on LA in the last 2 months alot of Houses have sold and been placed. I myself managed to get one and Im running a nice lil one stop shopping supply shop. Just like your shard though alot of houses are owned by the same people (7 by one and 4 by another that I know of) and they dont even use them. As of right now 3 Luna houses are for sale on LA and hopefully the people who buy them just use them right.

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

I try to avoid Luna vendors whenever possible.

Unfortunately, it's getting harder and harder to find good, frequently stocked vendors away from Luna. Old shops have gone out of business and newer shops either can't advertise well enough to survive or they can't keep stocked up. If they undercut Luna vendor prices then all their goods end up for resale on a Luna vendor.

Small, non-Luna shops could benefit greatly from a shard-wide vendor search. I'd like to hear a developer at least comment on whether the idea has been tossed around at the table.

I do frequently use the 3rd party web sites to find items I need. It's just not worth my time anymore to spend hours and hours searching vendors and bags looking for a specific item, at least not around Luna anyways.

I've seen the same thing you have with regards to a select few owning many houses inside Luna. I knew of one vendor that had 3 - 5 Luna houses on most shards. Most charge outrageous fees to place a vendor there and they are raking in millions per week just in rental fees. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with this but it could be leveled out with a vendor search feature.

 

[packrat]

I've seen the same thing you have with regards to a select few owning many houses inside Luna. I knew of one vendor that had 3 - 5 Luna houses on most shards. Most charge outrageous fees to place a vendor there and they are raking in millions per week just in rental fees. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with this but it could be leveled out with a vendor search feature.

I think a vendor search feature is a great idea. This might urge other players to open vendor houses, and it would make things easier to find. The way things are, I won't shop Luna houses unless I really have to. And when I do, I shop the houses that are not owned by the greedy, money/gold hungry people. Mostly i shop the house that put runes on the ground and give them my business even if it is more expensive than Luna.
I would like to see a legal vendor search feature.

 

[legendsguy]

yup. on legends the same guy owns 8 or 9 houses. and guess how many have vendors on them? that's right, one. but when i try to bring it up people shrug their shoulders and say it's his money to do with as he pleases.

personally, i have a problem with it because it means less houses/vendors for other people and now Luna, the best place to see vendors, is fairly barren. oh, and on his one plot, the vendors are 50k each. so i just don't undestand why no one else is upset that someone is hoarding perfectly good land just so he can be a 'virtual' tycoon.

 

[Connor_Graham]

So...how much are Luna houses going for these days in gold. I'd never pay RL money for pixels.

 

[Pickaxe Pete]

Mythic has had the market explorer feature in DAoC for over 5 years now, making them one of, if not the the oldest with that feature. So, unless they laid off all of the programmers and lost the code (sounds familiar, no?) it should be possible to add something like this into UO..... obviously an over-simplification since I'm sure it is easier to code for DAoC (cleaner).

 

[packrat]

So...how much are Luna houses going for these days in gold. I'd never pay RL money for pixels.

No one is selling these houses for gold. All the ones i have seen being sold are sold for real cash only. And those sold any where from 300-550 US dollars.

 

[NewThunder]

yup. on legends the same guy owns 8 or 9 houses. and guess how many have vendors on them? that's right, one. but when i try to bring it up people shrug their shoulders and say it's his money to do with as he pleases.

personally, i have a problem with it because it means less houses/vendors for other people and now Luna, the best place to see vendors, is fairly barren. oh, and on his one plot, the vendors are 50k each. so i just don't undestand why no one else is upset that someone is hoarding perfectly good land just so he can be a 'virtual' tycoon.

Can you please point to one vendor that is paying 50k in rent? If you do not know the facts you should refrain from typing.

 

[Black Sun]

If scripters have the technology and know-how to create the illegal websites that search vendors, It should be a no-brainer for EA to set up something similar for us to use.

To the OP:
I think the current round of turn-ins has done it's part of clearing vendors off. Everyone is pulling items that haven't sold well, and are turning in what they can for the reward points. Can't say as I blame them either. I've done that with a few items myself.

 

[Priam_Sonoma]

What I noticed of Sonoma last night in Luna was pricing. Items at 6, 7, 25 and 35 million gold. On and on. I thought to myself, how is a new player ever going to be able to get better armor? This game and it's duping and economy shuts out new players. Vendors are out of whack.

 

[Black Sun]

Can you please point to one vendor that is paying 50k in rent? If you do not know the facts you should refrain from typing.

Now I've never seen the house in question, but I know from experience that on cats there are vendor spots that go for that much around Luna.

 

[Nine Dark Moons]

on atlantic, the vendor fee for the houses right near the luna moongate is 500k/week. talk about crazy... thankfully there's at least one reasonable luna landlord - i rent a spot at his house for 20k/week - a bargain on atlantic.

 

[NewThunder]

Now I've never seen the house in question, but I know from experience that on cats there are vendor spots that go for that much around Luna.

Guess I am stupid because I have been offering free vendors spots at my luna house.

 

[Azazel of LA]

Guess I am stupid because I have been offering free vendors spots at my luna house.

Same here , I give free spots to people as long as they keep the vendor stocked.

 

[Pickaxe Pete]

On many small shards, free is the only way to get renters even in Luna, presently. I can confirm the 500k/week rates on some Atlantic pads.

 

[Crysta]

Have the people railing for a "vendor search" ever considered that all it would do is solidify high prices further because the scripters would probably be able to buy anything priced lower than their own merchandise the moment it becomes available, 24/7? You would *never* be able to find a good deal again. Anywhere.

 

[Connor_Graham]

No one is selling these houses for gold. All the ones i have seen being sold are sold for real cash only. And those sold any where from 300-550 US dollars.

I have seen some houses for sale for gold in the past. I know it's not common practice, but it does happen. I was just wondering what the going rate was.

 

[Pickaxe Pete]

I was just wondering what the going rate was.

I saw a smallish Luna pad for sale on a small shard recently for 250m OBO. It was not in a prime spot.

 

[Black Sun]

Guess I am stupid because I have been offering free vendors spots at my luna house.

I must be stupid too then, because I don't charge for spots in my vendor house. Granted, it's not in luna, but still.

 

[Azazel of LA]

In the last month on LA , I know of 2 houses (both max storage) that were sold for in game gold , 1 for 160mil and the other for 200mil.

 

[Connor_Graham]

In the last month on LA , I know of 2 houses (both max storage) that were sold for in game gold , 1 for 160mil and the other for 200mil.

Heh, if I could find one on Pac for those prices I'd buy it right now lol. The last one I saw for sale was 400mil.

 

[Pickaxe Pete]

Heh, if I could find one on Pac for those prices I'd buy it right now lol. The last one I saw for sale was 400mil.

Pacific is one of the larger shards. Of course, only relatively speaking.

 

[Setnaffa]

So...how much are Luna houses going for these days in gold. I'd never pay RL money for pixels.

I just sold my Napa Luna House for $525. I bought it a few years ago for $380. I probably made around $1,000 in 3 years from the stuff I sold from that house (basically turning BOD rewards into gold, then selling the gold), so it definitely paid for my 4 UO accounts, plus expansions and add-ons (i.e. 7th char, house storage, some Advance Chars, etc.).

Say what you will about paying RL money for pixels, but it's no different than paying $1,200 for a good set of golf clubs; except with the golf clubs, you'll probably never get your money back.

 

[RoycroftLS]

Have the people railing for a "vendor search" ever considered that all it would do is solidify high prices further because the scripters would probably be able to buy anything priced lower than their own merchandise the moment it becomes available, 24/7? You would *never* be able to find a good deal again. Anywhere.

At this point scripters are going to get rich one way or another. It's an inherent flaw with the 2d client that affects all portions of the game. Which means any new feature added to the game will be better utilized by scripters. By your line of reasoning the devs shouldn't add any new content to the game.

A server wide vendor search would make it harder to find the good deals out there.. but who exactly are you getting these good deals from? Hmm, people who cannot afford a house in luna and don't know market prices and don't know about the third party vendor search sites... ahh, yes... new players.

An in-game server wide vendor search would help those new players the most.. They would be able to gauge what their goods are worth, and be more fairly compensated for those items so they could get the items they needed. Which I would think would make them more prone to sticking around longer.

You have every right to oppose a vendor search. But at least stop playing the scripters card. It's okay to admit that a search feature would stop you from filling your pockets by taking advantage of the uninformed.

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

An in-game server wide vendor search would help those new players the most.. They would be able to gauge what their goods are worth, and be more fairly compensated for those items so they could get the items they needed. Which I would think would make them more prone to sticking around longer.

I completely agree. Comparing and setting prices is the second most common reason I check out prices in Luna by accessing 3rd party web sites. It's a great way to price your items on vendors accurately.

 

[Theo_GL]

No one is selling these houses for gold. All the ones i have seen being sold are sold for real cash only. And those sold any where from 300-550 US dollars.

Thats cheap.

The one across from the burning house on GL (says Gone to Afghanistan) was purchased for $1500 US.

Thats just crazy. Who in their right mind would spend that $$ on something that doesn't exist?

 

[hawkeye_pike]

Dying game, shrinking population. Eventually Luna will be owned by one guy with 50 accounts and no one to sell to but himself.

Oh well, I was just waiting for a constructive remark like that.

 

[Violence]

If scripters have the technology and know-how to create the illegal websites that search vendors, It should be a no-brainer for EA to set up something similar for us to use.

Don't bet your money on that... :loser:

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

Have the people railing for a "vendor search" ever considered that all it would do is solidify high prices further because the scripters would probably be able to buy anything priced lower than their own merchandise the moment it becomes available, 24/7? You would *never* be able to find a good deal again. Anywhere.

Save your breath. I agree. I have said the same thing.
People dont get all the gold in the game.
It 3 seconds. A soon as something becomes rare or needed for a quest etc.

1 player or 2 would buy up everyone.

Not only would it further kill the game.
It would it even more "dumbed down".

I can already recall everywhere. Now I dont even need to go to vendors.


Why not start bringing spawns to my front door.

As a merchant. My success comes from shopping for deals. Putting time in.

Yeah I want some lazy shmoo being able to search the entire game and grab everything.

WOW DOESNT THAT SOUND LIKE A FUN SOLUTION.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

I completely agree. Comparing and setting prices is the second most common reason I check out prices in Luna by accessing 3rd party web sites. It's a great way to price your items on vendors accurately.

BLAH
Listen to yourselves.

NOW YOURE SAYING (after bashing luna for high prices and gauging), it be good to use Luna prices as via a search system for setting your prices.

You do get, I would log on, search, buy all the freaking hot items, put them on different vendors at higher prices, youd search vendors, see higher prices, raise your prices... And I would go to BRIT BANK and sell all my stuff cheaper that I got cheaper and make some gold. (SARCASM) See how the system would be manipulated.

Are you all kidding me.

How about keeping the game a game?

Go learn.

What have we become? 3rd party addicted. Everything and any moment must be know to us.

*YAKS*

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

I just sold my Napa Luna House for $525. I bought it a few years ago for $380. I probably made around $1,000 in 3 years from the stuff I sold from that house (basically turning BOD rewards into gold, then selling the gold), so it definitely paid for my 4 UO accounts, plus expansions and add-ons (i.e. 7th char, house storage, some Advance Chars, etc.).

Say what you will about paying RL money for pixels, but it's no different than paying $1,200 for a good set of golf clubs; except with the golf clubs, you'll probably never get your money back.

Exactly
Or the 6000 flat screen
Who cares what others spend their money on. DID I SAY THEIR money on.

People have different lives, jobs, and interests. So be it.

Sell away.

EA is responsible for making their game flawed.
They are responsible for repairing it.

Lets see.
EA F-up with XSHARDING. Who wanted that? No one.
EA screw-up with soulstones. Who wanted that? No one.
EA messed up with free 15-30 day accounts? What was the point.

EA ruined this game. Not a scripter, not a duper, no one else but the company.

They need to step up and fix it.

Oh, please someone call me a duper, scripter and gold seller.

ARGH.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

How many bitter LUNA haters are there?

Origin luna is dead.
The vendors I have there are free. You can get them for free. They we free when luna was hoping and are free now luna is dead.

Atlantic luna is alive and kicking
I have vendors there at 3 places from players I dont know.

1 place is way to expensive so I went from 1 to 3 vendors there.. and us it for selling new items.

The other 2 owned homes are the nicest players and they charge about 100k a month to rent. Fully worth it. Completely fair. Very nice establishments on the other side of the shady GOLEM smashing vendor areas.

Anyone can set up a vendor with them.

Dang people set up a luna vendor. Sell stuff. Have runes in it to your LUNA vendor and you house vendors.

Work a little.

 

[Coppelia]

I just sold my Napa Luna House for $525. I bought it a few years ago for $380. I probably made around $1,000 in 3 years from the stuff I sold from that house (basically turning BOD rewards into gold, then selling the gold), so it definitely paid for my 4 UO accounts, plus expansions and add-ons (i.e. 7th char, house storage, some Advance Chars, etc.).

Say what you will about paying RL money for pixels, but it's no different than paying $1,200 for a good set of golf clubs; except with the golf clubs, you'll probably never get your money back.

Except you actually own the golf club, not just an access to it.
Say whatever you want, earning money from a game is stupid. That's why Magic card game is stupid, too.
It spoils the game for everyone.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

Except you actually own the golf club, not just an access to it.
Say whatever you want, earning money from a game is stupid. That's why Magic card game is stupid, too.
It spoils the game for everyone.

You pay to play this game and dont own it.
Whats the point again?

 

[Connor_Graham]

Say what you will about paying RL money for pixels

I never said there was anything wrong with it, just that I wouldn't do it myself.

Thome people are tho thenthitive...

 

[packrat]

The reason I don't shop the Luna Houses is because of the greed of the players. And the way some of the houses were acquired.
When the big check duping was going on they opened dummy accounts and loaded the bank accounts and closed the accounts. They had billions in checks stashed away. When the Luna houses burned and the price of gold started going up, the accounts were opened and they had access to a few billion in gold. They sold the gold for real cash and started buying up Luna houses as investments. They also buy game time codes with this gold. So they play for free. You can say they laundered the illegal gold.
I don't condone this type of thing and am sure not going to help them by buying products from their vendor shops.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

The reason I don't shop the Luna Houses is because of the greed of the players. And the way some of the houses were acquired.
When the big check duping was going on they opened dummy accounts and loaded the bank accounts and closed the accounts. They had billions in checks stashed away. When the Luna houses burned and the price of gold started going up, the accounts were opened and they had access to a few billion in gold. They sold the gold for real cash and started buying up Luna houses as investments. They also buy game time codes with this gold. So they play for free. You can say they laundered the illegal gold.
I don't condone this type of thing and am sure not going to help them by buying products from their vendor shops.

Clever.
Another reason I hate 15 day accounts.

How freaking hard is it to make this.
FREE ACCOUNT.
25 bank spots.
No housing.
1 characture slot.
Limited BODS.

Bingo.

 

[Beefybone]

Oh well, I was just waiting for a constructive remark like that.

Okay, how's this?

THE GAME IS DOING GREAT! THOUSANDS OF NEW PLAYERS ARE FLOODING TO UO, AND THE GAME IS HEALTHIER THAN EVER! THAT'S WHY YOU CAN GO TO THE GAME'S HUB OF ALL COMMERCE AND... NOT SEE MANY VENDORS! BECAUSE BILLIONS OF HAPPY NEW PLAYERS BOUGHT EVERYTHING! YAAAY UO!

 

[Connor_Graham]

Okay, how's this?

THE GAME IS DOING GREAT! THOUSANDS OF NEW PLAYERS ARE FLOODING TO UO, AND THE GAME IS HEALTHIER THAN EVER! THAT'S WHY YOU CAN GO TO THE GAME'S HUB OF ALL COMMERCE AND... NOT SEE MANY VENDORS! BECAUSE BILLIONS OF HAPPY NEW PLAYERS BOUGHT EVERYTHING! YAAAY UO!

*grabs a towel to wipe off the sarcasm that just covered him from head to toe*

 

[Llewen]

I can tell you one reason some Luna vendors are suffering on some shards right now is due to the fact that xshard'ing is currently blocked. A lot of the high end vendors bring in items from other shards, and obviously that can't be done right now.

As for the idea of a Sosaria wide searcheable vendor index, I'm all for it. It would allow vendors to survive in places other than Luna. Please don't make it an auction house, those aren't bad, they are fun, but they aren't UO. But a Sosaria wide vendor search engine would be a very good thing in my opinion.

Maybe it is "dumbing down" the game, but I think in this case the benefits to honest merchants, smaller merchants, and merchants who either can't afford, or weren't lucky enough to get a vendor spot in some prime location in Luna, would far outweigh what is lost.

 

[RoycroftLS]

BLAH
Listen to yourselves.

NOW YOURE SAYING (after bashing luna for high prices and gauging), it be good to use Luna prices as via a search system for setting your prices.

You do get, I would log on, search, buy all the freaking hot items, put them on different vendors at higher prices, youd search vendors, see higher prices, raise your prices... And I would go to BRIT BANK and sell all my stuff cheaper that I got cheaper and make some gold. (SARCASM) See how the system would be manipulated.

Are you all kidding me.

How about keeping the game a game?

Go learn.

What have we become? 3rd party addicted. Everything and any moment must be know to us.

*YAKS*

Cornerning the market on an item isn't as simple as you make it out to be. You need both the initial capital to purchase all the items on the market, and some degree of certainty that there will not be a continued influx of items to the market which would undermine your investment.

The problem with your example is that supply and demand determines the market price. If the market has settled on a price, it's because that is what people are willing to pay for the item. Buying up all the items and relisting them for anything higher than the going market rate (even if you try to bait and switch) is likely only going to give you a large surplus of those items... especially if there still is a way to obtain that item in game.

And for those items that are rare or not obtainable in game anymore, people are already wise enough to know that the best way to get fair value (on a vendor) is to have that vendor in Luna. That's where most people look because of the existing third-party search engines, and that's what drives house prices in Luna to ridiculous amounts.

A server-wide in-game search would help break that monopoly and give the rest of the player base a fair opportunity to price and sell their items while getting rid of one of the third party programs you are so opposed to. Unless you are a part of that monopoly, I don't see why you would have an objection to that.

 

[Setnaffa]

Except you actually own the golf club, not just an access to it. Say whatever you want, earning money from a game is stupid. That's why Magic card game is stupid, too.
It spoils the game for everyone.

Whether I actually owned it or not, whatever I paid for, I used until i was tired of it, then I sold it for more than I paid for it. What's stupid about that?

Tell any NFL, MLB, NBA, or NHL player making millions that it's stupid to earn money playing a game. They'll laugh at you all the way to the bank.

Tell any Golf pro they are stupid for playing a game. They don't own the golf course, but they still make money playing the game they love.

 

[azmodanb]

On Baja last year there was a point where one guy owned 12 houses around Luna ... Most of the corners, and good spots .. most of the big houses... he used to run the biggest vendor in Baja ... but when luna hit he sold it, used profits from the vendor and the sale of it to buy up luna houses because that's where everyone shopped. Makes since but the way he ran it is ... putting the same stuff on most houses, with the same prices, thus making all of luna go to the price's he started. Basically people would run around luna and see what to price things for, barbed kits for example were X amount .. not knowing that he priced them on most of the houses, they would then price there's high also because "everyone else is" ... when it was just one guy controlling the prices. heh.

Talk about monopoly. but a smart business man none the less.

 

[TheScoundrelRico]

LOL, I can't remember the last time I bought something off a vendor. I prefer to wait for someone else to buy an item...then steal it from them...la

 

[Loqucious]

Visit my Fel vendor shop two gates west of the Brit Moongate. You can't miss em. I restock daily the most basic PVP/PVM supplies and I've been in business for over 4 years.

 

[Seismic]

Cornerning the market on an item isn't as simple as you make it out to be. You need both the initial capital to purchase all the items on the market, and some degree of certainty that there will not be a continued influx of items to the market which would undermine your investment.

The problem with your example is that supply and demand determines the market price. If the market has settled on a price, it's because that is what people are willing to pay for the item. Buying up all the items and relisting them for anything higher than the going market rate (even if you try to bait and switch) is likely only going to give you a large surplus of those items... especially if there still is a way to obtain that item in game.

And for those items that are rare or not obtainable in game anymore, people are already wise enough to know that the best way to get fair value (on a vendor) is to have that vendor in Luna. That's where most people look because of the existing third-party search engines, and that's what drives house prices in Luna to ridiculous amounts.

A server-wide in-game search would help break that monopoly and give the rest of the player base a fair opportunity to price and sell their items while getting rid of one of the third party programs you are so opposed to. Unless you are a part of that monopoly, I don't see why you would have an objection to that.

/signed. This is a GREAT idea..