Upmarket item selling NPCs

One of the most boring issues in this game is what the NPC vendors you find in the world sell, notably that its always the same stuff, and its always the same price regardless of who sells it.One of the good things that WOW had was NPC sellers who sold rare upmarket items on a random basis and on a limited supply basis, and the NPCs were never in a fixed location.So how about a similar idea in Gw2.Occasionally you may see a message in your chat line that NPC bloggs has been observed in zone xyz selling upmarket items , and has only 6 left, only 1 per customer until all gone .NPC bloggs could be anywhere in zone xyz for the next abc minutes, or until all goods sold.

That sounds more realistic, but not necessarily more fun. It creates unnecessary competition and favors those who happen to be online more often or are willing to hang out in various zones. While it's bland to have every vendor sell the same thing, it's more fair.

Plus, unlike other games, this one has a trading post that encompasses every player in the game (not counting China, which is really a different game anyhow). One can find bargains there already.

I like some RNG in the game, but not from vendors.

There are a few Vendors that have random (or cycling) wares. And that are found in random (or cycling) locations.

As other people have said there are a few NPCs like that. The Pact Supply Network Agents and Priory Historian Elisa for example.

There's also vendors who stay in the same location but offer items which can't be found anywhere else, like the karma merchants at temples in Orr selling exotic equipment, the dungeon vendor in LA and the various faction merchants in HoT maps.

All the above is true, but all the existing vendors sell items which never run out , and the items are all the same all the time .My idea was vendors who sell differant stuff and it changes and isnt in infinite supply, and you woudnt know what they were selling unless you actually showed up.eg vendor xxx has some black lion chest keys for sale , hurry and get some .

This goes against one of the core pillars of the game which is that you should never hate to see your fellow player in the open world. This is why resource nodes are available to all in the world and why quest items drop for each player instead of having it be something players have to fight over. Your idea would simply create competition in open world which would not be received well.

I just wish they'd do away with the white armor and weapon merchants or give them something worth while.

@mauried.5608 said:

My idea was vendors who sell differant stuff and it changes and isnt in infinite supply, and you woudnt know what they were selling unless you actually showed up.eg vendor xxx has some black lion chest keys for sale , hurry and get some .

Yes, I think most of us got that. It seems inherently unfair: people who don't do anything except stand around have a better chance of a reward than people who are running instanced content, WvW, open world bosses, or just killing stuff to level up.

Identical vendors might be boring, but it's also a lot easier to figure out where to go when you need something. Compare that to heart vendors, each of whom has a different selection. So the only way to restock apples is to remember which ones offer apples. That would be even more annoying if I wasn't sure whether the vendor would even have an apple available.

@Arsenic Touch.7960 said:I just wish they'd do away with the white armor and weapon merchants or give them something worth while.

I feel bad for those guys, I doubt anyone ever buys from them. Even if you're a brand new player with limited coin, no experience using the TP, no crafts levelled etc. the chances are you're getting better items from drops than you can buy from those vendors.

Maybe they could sell blue and green gear too? That would maintain their existing function of being a quick, easy way to get level appropriate equipment, but more in-line with the realities of the game. I suspect before launch Anet somehow didn't notice how easy it was to get higher quality equipment - the way they talked about it I think they expected getting a full set of exotics would be a long-term goal so rares and even greens and blues would be more useful and white gear would be the baseline instead of not worth thinking about.

Maybe, long ago, players purchased white weapons back when you unlocked skills by using said weapons.No ideas about white armor, though.

Standing around wont get you anywhere as the NPCs that sell the upmarket stuff could be anywhere in the game at any time , and their locations simply wont be predictable.Nor will they stay at any location for very long, so even if you find one and are lucky enuf to be able to buy some good stuff, there wont be much point telling everyone else, because by the time they get there the NPC will be gone, and these NPCs WILL be able to use WPs.