In-Game Economy for PVE-PVC Request

Conan Exiles General Discussion Feedback
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I would like to suggest a possible update for Conan Exiles, that being a proper economy system. A server-wide trading system that allows players to trade with each other from an in-game menu would be a nice feature. Some players have excess holdings and like to trade or sell items to other players.

If the above suggestion would be too difficult to implement, then perhaps merchant thralls could be added as part of a DLC. These merchants thralls would fall into the category of crafters; like cooks, carpenters, etc. With the merchant DLC, players could craft a new market stall station. This station would be able to have an inventory to hold all items the owner of the stall wants to sell to other players. The other players would interact with the market stall to show a window of all available items for sale.

With this, a true economy could be implemented where items are bought for gold coins, silver coins or even a new currency - copper/bronze coins. Perhaps adding copper coins to the game would take away from players being able to craft copious amounts of wealth at the casting table. Copper coins can be looted from NPCs or even chests, the only way they can be obtained, giving them value for trade. Also, since silver and gold is used to craft Alchemical base, players probably would not want to use them for trade. However, I personally would like to see more uses for Gold and Silver coins other than to be tossed into the grinder for sparkly dust. Pearls would offer an extra form of currency, as pearls do not really have much use in Siptah so using them as a currency would give them purpose as well. I could see a pearl being worth several copper coins, making them high value.

As a PVE-er, I would love to have a stall set up by my base for players to visit and trade while I am offline and unable to trade with them. This would make me want to go out into the map and procure special goods for my stall that players need or want in order to fill the need of the server (players need anything from tiger cubs to Eldarium, depending on the day or player). Additionally, if I visit someone else’s market stall, I could purchase items that I am short on or in need of.

The merchant concept could be thrown in with the musician/entertainer request other players in the forums have requested as part of one big DLC. I understand that both Exiled Lands and Siptah maps do have NPC merchants, however, they offer the same goods time after time. Player-run merchants offer uniqueness and a more custom option for acquiring goods, or even that pesky T4 armorer that you can’t find even after hours of hunting. Just stop by a player’s shop and pick one up! If a player has not purchased the DLC, they can still buy from other shops, just not craft their own and sell items.

Let me know your thoughts, Forum!

Edit: So far we have discussed a couple of options.

  1. A player-to-player trading window for in-person trading to be used online. Players can offer an item for an item, much like how they do naturally but the trading window removes the risk of losing items when dropped on the ground for trade as players on officials currently do in order to trade with one another.

  2. The peaceable merchant stand/counter can be used offline by players who interact with the station. We have discussed the idea of currency as payment for items as well as trading items for items. We have yet to agree on a form of currency and discussed how complicated drop-down menus would be when selecting items to trade for items since there are so many in the game.

Edit: Players would not be required to use coins as currency (still discussing), nor would they be forced to use the NPC merchants. This would be entirely optional.

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I want this and I’ve wanted this for a long time now. Every time this pops up, I hope that Funcom might finally decide to add it to the game. I know that there’s a mod that allows this, but I want this in the base game (along with several other features from that same mod, but that’s off-topic).

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I would love it for the base game, I play on officials and this topic comes up in our global chat at least once a week while we are running across the map to meet each other to trade. In addition, I think a market stall should show an icon on the map the way an upgraded altar does, so players can see where there are merchants to visit. Just thought of that one now.

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I must admit - I’m not so in favour of this idea - from a singleplayer perspective (and presumably PVP) it adds nothing. In itself, that doesn’t have to be a problem - there’s nothing wrong with ideas being added to the base game to suit a particular sector of the playerbase. The bit I really want to argue against is @Tystin’s secondary solution of possibly folding in a market trader dlc with a musicians dlc - that I really wouldn’t like to see as it would mean that, in order to get something that I (and others) would really want, I (and others) would have to buy a dlc half of which is useless to us. I’d much prefer to see these two ideas kept separate, because while there may be an intersection of players that would want both, I think there will also be plenty that would want one but not the other.

Other than that - I’m cool with the idea :slight_smile:

(Oh - and the now obligatory - there’s a mod for that :stuck_out_tongue:)

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I did not suggest this for PvP.

I can understand that point of view.

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Hmm. Another thought. Taking the dlc approach for a moment (and focusing on the market trader) - what if the trader thrall and some relatively small ‘workstation’ (maybe a simple counter, or a table with abacus and some papers, something along those lines) formed the actual functioning part of the ‘trading update’ - but then the rest of the dlc could be focused on decoratives and building pieces on the market trader theme. This potentially expands the appeal of the idea to a wider base - I might not care if the trader itself is ‘useless’ to me, if there’s enough interest in the potential of the surrounding pieces.

I dunno - just spitballing really, but might have some potential?

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Thank you Dan, this was my initial thought process when making the post. A new craftable station (market stall, counter, kiosk or whatever) to place the Merchant thrall into in order to begin selling.

Now, you’ve come in with a more interesting idea - adding placeables/decorations/ building pieces themed around the trader update. This is a great idea, and one I didn’t think of. If this appeals more to players like you, as it does for me, then hopefully we got something cooking here!

Edit: I’d like to add that the counter would be more appealing, it’s small and won’t take up too much space. Also, the merchant would stand behind it much like the cook stands by the stove. Then players can place the counter in whatever creative manner they want to create a “shop” look.

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I have always wanted a true economy. But honestly, outside of RNG recipes, nothing is scarce enough to warrant a trading system. Scarcity is what drives value. So until they figure how to make mass storing of easiky farmable/craftable mats more expensive than a trading someone else, it would RP only.

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I mean, that right there is why it would eventually work out just fine on PVE(-C) servers. Sure, I could keep grinding for the Final Breath of the Red Mother until I get one. Or I could buy it from the dude who was blessed by RNGeezus and got two in a row. :man_shrugging:

Similarly, maybe I could cash in several of the legendaries that I don’t like and use that currency to buy myself some of the steel reinforcements that I lack for my new build and I don’t want to wait for them to be crafted.

Another way would be to implement an upkeep system where anything in the game could be converted into (different amounts of) “upkeep fuel”. That would establish an inherent value for each item in the game, which would work nicely with a trading system like this one.

In that scenario, the “upkeep fuel” and the “trading currency” (e.g. copper coins) could be the same thing.

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I hear you, but I’d like to suggest that value is determined by the players. In my case (official PVE), sometimes it comes down to time and convenience. For example, let’s say Robert needs Hardened Brick, lots of it. Sure he could farm all the rock and craft it, but maybe he can’t play too long after work. Now, if I had 5k hard brick in my merchant stall, all he needs to do is pop over and purchase what he needs. I have the time, he doesn’t. I have the brick, he can buy it. Of course, one could argue “why not just trade in person?”. Sure, I could, but what if I’m offline when Robert plays? The merchant would take care of that offline issue.

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This literally happened to me last week. Went and farmed Red, got the torch 1st kill.

Exactly!

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I understand. But that would encourage fast building. Then we start getting into the realm of overbuilding based on ToS. 
whatever that is tbh. In reality, once you play about 30 hours, you realize farming and building are the main aspects of the game.

Again not saying it is not a good idea, but implementung it for the one off of players wanting to insta build (your example of supplying hardened brick leans that way) doesn’t seem worth the dev time, when a majority of players who last 40 hours can farm and build realitively quickly. And as much as I hate how rng is handled, it is one of the only non guaranteed game loops left.

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I very much doubt this. Unless there’s something I missed in @Tystin’s proposal, the idea here is that the merchants are placed by players, their prices are set by players, and their inventory is stocked by players.

So this would only lead to “insta-building” if both of the following conditions hold:

  • There’s at least one player on the server who dedicates their gameplay to farming materials and selling the refined building products (bricks, reinforcements, etc.)

and

  • There are people who find it more productive to earn currency and buy those products, rather than farming them and producing them themselves.

Given how easy it is to farm up the stuff yourself, it’s highly unlikely that the above conditions will end up being stable on any server.

Like I said, I would buy building products in a pinch, when I miscalculated the amount I needed and I don’t want to wait, but that wouldn’t be my normal MO at all.

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It comes down to player choice. A player can choose to farm to fill their game time, or not. The brick example was just an example, and I don’t think it would lead to overbuilding anymore than is already occurring.
Players on officials already give each other building mats as it is, but the trading is all over the place due to not having a set economy. Player A might ask for a stack of alchemical base in trade of 1 stack of elephant hides, but Player B might not think 500 Alc base is of equal value to 500 elephant hides. The set economy makes all items the same cost at all times.

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I like the idea of players setting the prices, actually. This would make player shops competitive for pricing if they sold the same items.

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Actually they’ve used an example of 9ne llayer not wanting to farm hardened brick. Another player could trade itvto them. So I stand by that is insta building, unless hardened brick can now be thrown.

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And again, who sets the price. Players. So a clan of 10 can mark up the value to price out noobs? I think a trading economy would make sense, if mats were scarce. But any economy implemented removes game loops, as well as encourages building over plaything. Because the only grind is really for building mats. Weapons/Armor are super cheap to make. Thralls could be scarce, but reality is they don’t really add much in dmg and armor rating variance ( comparotively speaking for highest gear). Fighter thralls are more of luxury past T2. Rebranding all that would make economy a game loop. Otherwise an RP mechanic at most.

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Yes, they did. And I used a similar example of steel reinforcements.

Calling that “insta-building” ignores whatever else the player had to do in order to be able to purchase those materials, but okay, maybe we can agree to call it “insta-building”.

The rest of your claims – that it would allow people to build faster than normal, and that it would lead to overbuilding based on ToS – doesn’t hold up, as long as it’s the players themselves who have to stock up the merchants’ inventory.

I mean, you yourself are arguing the same point: if it’s the scarcity that determines the value (even if players set the prices) and farming up the building materials is easy, then how will selling building materials encourage faster building?

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On an official PVE/PVC server, how would it make sense for a 10 member clan to set prices so high that new players can’t buy anything? They’d never sell anything in your example. Additionally, other players could undercut this fictional clan’s high prices making them the better merchants.

Again, it comes down to player’s opinion. Let’s take mats out of our minds for a minute. I brought up earlier the concept of time and more importantly, player time. Some people would rather purchase a T4 Alchemist than hunt for hours to catch one. Everyone has different play styles.

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I’d be using this for T4 thralls for sure. I have so many extra alchemists, but what I need are blacksmiths.

What do you think about having trade options other than just coins or pearls? I’d like to put my extra alchemists on the market, but i’d like to set their price as either coins or a blacksmith. If you’ve ever used the website traderie then you’ll understand what I mean. It’s a really intuitive bartering system.

Also, what if there were a designated area in Sepemaru that was set up for this player market. Perhaps there could be a “Market Proprietor” NPC that you could purchase a kiosk from. You find your kiosk then place your merchant thrall inside and you’re ready to start trading. Everyone could browse through all of the different players’ stands in one location instead of running all over the map if one stand didn’t have what you were looking for. It would also lead to more face-to-face player interaction if everyone were spending more time in one area.

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