I'm interested in learning more about VR's intentions with the mail system. There isn't really anything specified in the FAQ and I don't recall hearing or seeing anything on this topic in any of the streams. I saw this quote from Dorotea above but haven't seen it referenced anywhere outside of this post:
"Pantheon offers a huge and immersive world with rich graphics and the most sophisticated support in the industry for grouping and for guilds. One of the highlights is the first truly realistic mail system where things you send to other players or your other characters take hours, perhaps days or weeks to arrive and with a very real chance that they will be intercepted and never arrive."
Is this "first truly realistic mail system" still planned for Pantheon?
Honestly that sounds awful and I hope they scrapped that idea, if it was ever an idea in the first place. xD Mail is fine as it functions in other MMOs. Pay a bit more for faster delivery or less for longer delivery. Send coin and/or items to other players or your own alts. No need to make it overly complicated.
When it comes to currency I certainly hope they use the same philosophy they do with stats (less is more). The idea that sending anything in the mail for a "platinum fee" seems crazy to me. The lower denominations of currency seem worthless if platinum is already being factored in as the default coin for standard fees. If platinum is the most valued coin type then getting that first one should feel meaningful. You should feel pretty well off if you have 100 platinum and semi-rich if you have 1,000 or more.
Mail systems are quite interesting. I think the instant ones are kind of boring, but I also don't mind if they do that. If they have a more realistic mailing system then that would also be interesting. Like if your banks are separated based on area and you want something from one of your banks sent to you, then you can use the mail system and maybe type a specific name and place that is a tag and can have an npc go and deliver the item you want from your bank to you while you are out doing something within a few hours. I think that would be cool also. Just another thing to pre plan for which I am fine with.
No mail system can have an indicative cost of "what is sent" and "how much should I charge", because that will only be determined by players, also it shouldn't try to tax players sending free stuff to each others.
I really don't see much value in "weight dramatic cost" or such, well, send a mail it's a few pieces, send an item it cost a bit much. Maybe size and weight can be factors but not to the point it makes mail buying a new kidney in term of cost.
Convenience fees and means to slow inflation, the same reason auction houses typically take a percentage of all sales. If you can't be bothered to take the time directly trading with someone then pay a fee to expedite the process, the same as the AH taking a cut when someone can't be bothered to sell their items in person.
Iksar said:Convenience fees and means to slow inflation, the same reason auction houses typically take a percentage of all sales. If you can't be bothered to take the time directly trading with someone then pay a fee to expedite the process, the same as the AH taking a cut when someone can't be bothered to sell their items in person.
Convenience fees are typical, but a whole plat is ridiculous. Start out with copper or silver, increase based on the number of items sent (and maybe the quality of the item). Granted we don't know how easy coin will be, but I imagine it's going to be very difficult to accrue even just one platinum.
If its just a message i dont see why we cant just have a sort of message board or email system. Usually these types of messages are needed to contact people offline or send to a mass of people. If we are talking parcels then a system like Kilsin's idea would be great. Either it takes a day or goes out on the next caravan or a player can run the quest and get a reward. Although i like to steer away from exp from quests i understand that its kindof a built-in for RPG's.
If i had to put some form of structure to it i would say use the banks or use caravan locations as parcel locations. That way if someone wants to accept the parcel task and get it there quicker they have until the caravan arrives at the destination to deliver the ticket and get the exp. Caravans should run at a slower pace than running would take anyway, so that should be a good time indicator. And caravans would be able to bypass any form of blockade that might cause a player issue so that item would always get delivered.
This would also be incentive to offer someone extra money to accept the next parcel task. And players have until the caravan departs or a player accepts the task to add items to the parcel task. Like using a Wells Fargo caravan vs. Pony Express.
Also, i agree that if there is a parcel system lets get rid of shared banks. You can just parcel it to the same bank and have the player pick it up. Lets mimic real life here. Armored trucks are used daily to parcel sensitive items. The caravan can just swing by the bank and pickup/drop off items and go on its merry way.
BamBam said: I would prefere a standard mail system, max wait time 1 hour. Imagine a wizard uses he's portal spell and woop it did he's there. :)
I beg your pardon, any self respecting Wizard will NOT stoop so low as to be muleing mail arround!
That's what we have druids for.
Mithanelan said:Beefcake said:Hopefully, it will not get as lost as the real mail and contain less junk.
junk mail would prove to be quite interesting however
Hnmm Junk mail...
Are you an ogre who is tired of being tired? Can't shake those extra pounds? Now you can try... "Ethereal Gnomes"! With all the goodness of original gnomes, Pantheons Ethereal Gnomes have 99% less fat, so you will have your swamp body back in no time!
Call now! Our wizards are standing by ready to port your pre prepares gnome meal plans to your front door!
On a more serious note, port classes could play an interesting role in mail delivery, I played with a wiz in eq who did bank runs for players in the zones he was in and pocketed a % as a fee, was a nice little business on the side between ports
Kilsin said:As one of my mitigating factors to stop abuse, the item would be either auto returned or auto sent to the intended player if someone:
A) Failed to deliver it within a set time
B) Failed to accept the job at all
This way it would prevent item griefing and not hold the player up if the mail wasn't delivered. I even had mentioned an automated NPC system to take over if a PC failed to grab the mail after a certain time had passed. Either way, the mail would get delivered within a certain time (not instantly to break immersion or too long to annoy the recipient) by either a player or an NPC courier.
You could barter the price of delivery within a small margin and once agreed upon the player would take the job and set off on the journey to deliver the contents to the required destination but no matter how expensive or what the item was (even plat or gold currency) the Courier could not physically touch it, use it, equip it or keep it, it would just be a parcel or ticket to be carried in the Couriers inventory.
It is refreshing my memory just talking about it, the post was a monster lol :D
If Pantheon decides to go with localized banks, then the mail system has to reflect that. If you forgot an item in your bank in city A, you just cannot pick it up instantly at bank B. The same should apply for mail, if you mail an item from city A to city B, it should take a comparable amount of time to get there as if you would travel. Maybe a bit faster (because the magic mail pigeon can fly in a straight line ;) This should still leave room for players who can travel faster (wizard, druid) to offer "quick delivery" services.
Mithanelan said: junk mail would prove to be quite interesting however
Did you get that one about the Dark Myr prince who just needs some help transfering his fortune into Human funds, but needs you to help him pay a small fee in order to unlock his fortune from it's current vault?
GoofyWarriorGuy said:Mithanelan said: junk mail would prove to be quite interesting however
Did you get that one about the Dark Myr prince who just needs some help transfering his fortune into Human funds, but needs you to help him pay a small fee in order to unlock his fortune from it's current vault?
But that would be great! teach a morality lesson/asesops fable kind of thing but flesh it out in game and with a lesson that can carry-over in RL. The Dark myr "prince" can bait the "rube" with bounty prizes in mail by asking the rube to meet the prince in a PvP area so by satisfying the rubes greed, the rube by accepting the gifts has agreed to satisfy the Dark myrs need... for a soul, YOUR SOUL! *fight music starts*
oneADseven I think you misread what I was saying. Or perhaps I said it very badly.
I was speculating on how VR could use a slower and more "realistic" mail system (as distinct from the ubiquitous instant mail anywhere that we are used to today) as a plus.
I wasn't saying that anyone at VR supported such a system. I wasn't even saying that *I* supported such a system.
I was just trying to make the point that having a more ....complex ....mail system could tie in with the theme of the game and offer advantages as well as disadvantages. Just as the lack of a Terminus-wide auction house or broker could. Just as the lack of a Terminus-wide bank where anything in one branch would be available at any other branch would.
As you know these three topics were getting quite a bit of discussion at the time and they all tie in together.
If VR goes for regional markets and local banks - big "if" there but they very well may - it seems quite likely that they will go for regional and perhaps not instant mail systems. Since instant mail would totally undercut the logic behind regional markets and regional banks. Anyone could just keep a character in each major region and mail back and forth at will.
Mail is fine, instant is fine, just don't allow items or currency or attachments of any kind, and have a punitive cost to send, to prevent gold-seller spam.
If you need to transfer items between characters, use a shared bank. If you need to transfer items between accounts, use a person you trust, or have a punitively expensive escrow NPC mechanic.
One of my few standout memories from early EQ1 was the fact that there was not a shared account bank slot. I still remember finding an out of the way location high up on a wall in N.Ro to do the "drop bag of items-camp to alt-and hope the bag was still there" transaction. That was until i joined a guild and obtained friends i could trust. I was actually ok with not having shared bank slots. If they had just implemented the parcel system first before shared bank slots i feel that we wouldnt have needed shared bank slots in EQ1. Applying nominal fee's for these services also helps to remove money from the economy. If it makes sense in the real world then it will make sense in a fantasy world. Imitating RL is not always a bad thing in Fantasy. A realistic banking/parcel system can actually help to immerse us into the world.
vjek said:Mail is fine, instant is fine, just don't allow items or currency or attachments of any kind, and have a punitive cost to send, to prevent gold-seller spam.If you need to transfer items between characters, use a shared bank. If you need to transfer items between accounts, use a person you trust, or have a punitively expensive escrow NPC mechanic.
Why do you hate the idea of people being able to send other people free stuff? This is not something that needs punishment.
Naunet said:vjek said:Mail is fine, instant is fine, just don't allow items or currency or attachments of any kind, and have a punitive cost to send, to prevent gold-seller spam.If you need to transfer items between characters, use a shared bank. If you need to transfer items between accounts, use a person you trust, or have a punitively expensive escrow NPC mechanic.
Why do you hate the idea of people being able to send other people free stuff? This is not something that needs punishment.
I can't help you're often against most moneysink and consider them punishments of some sort, is there a reason to that ?