SHOULD GIANT SHOPS BE BROKEN UP?

author=ShortStar
Or should we simply lump everything into one shop and possibly overwhelm the player?

It sounds like you already answered your own question

Perhaps you could break shops up. I could see having maybe a bazaar or market district with lots of vendors outside. For weapons, you can have one shop that sells swords, one that sells bows, one that sells hammers etc. For items you can split shops up too based on potions, alchemy ingredients, scrolls etc. This could make it easier for players to find what they want without having to scroll through lots of junk.

author=LockeZ
Every game I've ever played in my life has decided it's better to split shops up after they pass a certain size, and I can't think of any downside to doing so.

I agree and feel like this thread was specifically posted to feel like it was generating meaningful discussion

Although I can say that his game DOES have a ton of different weapons that you MIGHT consider useful at the same time...

I recognize it's already been said by pretty much everyone else, but...

If you actually do have that many options, and they are actually all useful at the same time, then yes, breaking them apart would be the appropriate thing to do.

As for manners of breaking it, consider the following: Master/Journeyman/Apprentice relations.

An Apprentice, whether in herbary, alchemy, smithing, or any other field of endeavor, is a rank beginner. They're allowed, as part of their training, to do the most basic of tasks, or more advanced tasks while under the watch of a more trained individual. (This could, in some cases, be a senior apprentice watching over a junior - more often, it's a journeyman or master.) Their work isn't top-line, necessarily, but it's adequate, at least. (It'd better be; the Master's reputation depends partially on the quality of goods he's willing to let loose under his own banner!) It's also fairly cheap, considering.

A Journeyman is an individual skilled enough that he is permitted to work under his own banner. In general, the work of a journeyman is better than that of an apprentice, but not so much so that of the master. A journeyman could be attached to a specific master, taking a hit in personal fees in exchange for what amounts to brand recognition. However, as the name implies, the journeyman could also be a traveling whatever - these would be the kind of individual you'd probably find in the Bazaars and outside stalls that Alex898 mentioned, trying to catch the interest of passing potential customers.

A Master is an individual marked as being at the top of his craft. He produces the best of the best, and charges accordingly. As a result, a master is more likely to have a true 'place of business' than a journeyman would; he can afford to let the people who need his work come to him instead of attempting to drum up custom on his own.


Using this kind of setup, you can provide a few bits of logical back-end detail to the story world as well as breaking the 'aagh! TOO MANY PURCHASES!' problem. Perhaps, for example, the Mastersmith in your town, and therefore his apprentices, only work on swords, spears, and axes? You've cut down on the number of items being displayed in one spot (Low-level set from an apprentice, High-level set for the master, only those few weapons), you've provided a bit of characterization to the world, and you've set room for another shop or stall - Someone wanting a different weapon would have to find a bowyer/fletcher, or an expert in staff-carving, in order to get what they wanted.


I hope this helps somewhat, and I hope I haven't scared you away with the large blocks of text. If so, I apologize.

I generally don't like games with hundreds of weapons or items... Too confusing.

Splitting a shop means added game-play time (since a lot of play time in RPG's is spent sifting through menus).

I'd have one/few shop(s), and limit the amount of items you can buy. Or have the shop restock items based appropriately on what level your characters are at, what characters you have, and at what time during the plot in which they become essential, so you're not so overwhelmed from the get-go.

But a good large town should have several shops. So like make a general store sell slightly different items than a pure armor store, it makes it feel like there's some in-game consumerism.

I would like to point out that some games do lump all the weapons in one shop. They organize it depending on quality or type. I was planning to have just one shop my previous game idea. I only see one disadvantage to the player for seperate shops.