I have a two-part question, with the first part aimed at Petra and the second part aimed at everyone else.
(1) Would it be possible to create a stickied thread in each shard's main forum (and in the subforums for the Asia forum) where players could post information about a shop they run (like the thread that's existed on Siege's forum for a long time), and (2) if such a stickied thread existed in each shard's main forum, would players who run shops actually take the time to post in it and then maintain their post over time (e.g., list their location; include a screen shot; list the types of items they normally sell; any amenities they offer such as public dye tubs, portals, or rune books; indicate if they rent out vendors to other players; and also say if they periodically run events)?
I checked the rules for the Trade Forums and they say the following about advertising player-run shops (see the text that I put in bold italics): "Events hosted by a mall, auction or that are crafter-related may be posted on the trade forums. All other events should be posted on the respective shard forums. Event coordinators are advised to contact the associated shard news reporters and utilise the shard event board. Advertising Malls, In-Game Auctions or Merchant Events may also be posted on the Shard Forums however, please do not cross-post them. Instead, contact a News Reporter to get it in the Event News. "
My main reason for bringing up these questions is that on many shards, it's become an extremely time-consuming and frustrating experience to find shops that sell the most basic items that are helpful to shard newcomers, whether they are new players, returning players, or people who are checking out a shard with the idea of perhaps relocating to that shard as their new "home shard." If you ask in general chat if anyone sells something like a full spellbook, you often get no reply, and you're almost 100% guaranteed to get no reply if you try the trade channel in chat because no one uses that channel on the quieter shards. At least if there was some kind of a list, people who do visit Stratics but don't run their own shop would be able to refer to it if a newcomer asks if anyone on the shard sells specific items.
Maybe it's a dumb idea. Maybe people won't want to participate because they're afraid that if they advertise for a non-Luna shop that isn't listed by the search websites, someone else will buy up all their stock for their own shop. I don't know. What I do know though is that on many shards, the life seems to be slowly seeping away and anyone new who tries that shard surely will not stay if they can't even find basic items like full spellbooks, empty rune books, BOD books, simple suits of LRC or dexxer armor, weapons for skill training, cheap and useful artifacts, potions, etc. And not everyone who is new will necessarily notice or pick up runes on the ground or (if they have no rune book yet to put it in), even be able to figure out where the shop is to run to it if they can't get there any other way. And with being able to dye runes, I suspect that some old-timers who are just returning might see a brightly colored rune and be leery of using it because they can't easily determine where it goes.
(1) Would it be possible to create a stickied thread in each shard's main forum (and in the subforums for the Asia forum) where players could post information about a shop they run (like the thread that's existed on Siege's forum for a long time), and (2) if such a stickied thread existed in each shard's main forum, would players who run shops actually take the time to post in it and then maintain their post over time (e.g., list their location; include a screen shot; list the types of items they normally sell; any amenities they offer such as public dye tubs, portals, or rune books; indicate if they rent out vendors to other players; and also say if they periodically run events)?
I checked the rules for the Trade Forums and they say the following about advertising player-run shops (see the text that I put in bold italics): "Events hosted by a mall, auction or that are crafter-related may be posted on the trade forums. All other events should be posted on the respective shard forums. Event coordinators are advised to contact the associated shard news reporters and utilise the shard event board. Advertising Malls, In-Game Auctions or Merchant Events may also be posted on the Shard Forums however, please do not cross-post them. Instead, contact a News Reporter to get it in the Event News. "
My main reason for bringing up these questions is that on many shards, it's become an extremely time-consuming and frustrating experience to find shops that sell the most basic items that are helpful to shard newcomers, whether they are new players, returning players, or people who are checking out a shard with the idea of perhaps relocating to that shard as their new "home shard." If you ask in general chat if anyone sells something like a full spellbook, you often get no reply, and you're almost 100% guaranteed to get no reply if you try the trade channel in chat because no one uses that channel on the quieter shards. At least if there was some kind of a list, people who do visit Stratics but don't run their own shop would be able to refer to it if a newcomer asks if anyone on the shard sells specific items.
Maybe it's a dumb idea. Maybe people won't want to participate because they're afraid that if they advertise for a non-Luna shop that isn't listed by the search websites, someone else will buy up all their stock for their own shop. I don't know. What I do know though is that on many shards, the life seems to be slowly seeping away and anyone new who tries that shard surely will not stay if they can't even find basic items like full spellbooks, empty rune books, BOD books, simple suits of LRC or dexxer armor, weapons for skill training, cheap and useful artifacts, potions, etc. And not everyone who is new will necessarily notice or pick up runes on the ground or (if they have no rune book yet to put it in), even be able to figure out where the shop is to run to it if they can't get there any other way. And with being able to dye runes, I suspect that some old-timers who are just returning might see a brightly colored rune and be leery of using it because they can't easily determine where it goes.