PA vendors, special item vendors, etc ... what do you prefer?

[Epsilon 5]

I'm wondering. People want to stop having to do the "stupid" monk PA run, or stop needing to run to foster uplink to get PE/spy pas ... and antigamma bones used to require you to get adv bones and some other stuff to create them.

What do you prefer? A simple vendor pay & get (like antigamma bones currently) or a mission/run in order to get a special item?

Personally, i prefer to do a run/mission to get the item. It creates contents, and some people pay others to do it because they are too lazy to do it themselves (ppu pa3 at 1m each :cool: )

[Mumblyfish]

I'd prefer it if, for the first time 'round, you had to do a really involved run. After that you could just buy the item back. Best of both worlds!

[G.0.D.]

The fish speaks the truth... kinda annoying to have to do the run, first off 3 times while your leveling (for each lvl of pa) THEN do it again every time it drops on your belt.

[Scikar]

A dynamic run. Like so:

We already got a bunch of NPCs scattered around, some of which just have little random stories for no reason. Take that a step further, and add more. Some in wastelands, some in faction HQs, everywhere except OPs. Some of these are only for during the run, and others are for starting them.

Now, when you go to do the run, first you find one of the starter NPCs. These would carry a selection of runs, which would change from time to time. Some would only usually have a small selection of runs, others would have more. The number and choice would ideally vary depending on how many runners used that NPC, so an NPC which gets a lot of people doing a certain run would run out of contacts who could lead to that item, and people would have to find someone else. So, you find a starter NPC, who can start you on a run for the item you want.

Now there are a few factors taken into account. Such as, what faction are you? It's not really fair to send a Tangent runner to TG and then to TH. Then, have you done the run before? What item is it you're getting (i.e. PA3 harder to get than PA2)?

Now, based on these factors, a basic pattern of NPCs is chosen. So let's make an example. Let's say you want to get Spy Pistol PA2. You speak to an NPC in Plaza 1, but he informs you he doesn't have much because as soon as he finds someone who can lead to a PA someone asks him about it. You go to the Pussy Club and find an NPC there who tells you he has a contact who knows about a PA2 manufacturer. At this point, the pattern of NPCs is calculated. Let's say you have to speak to NPCs A, B, and then C gives you the PA.

So you head off to meet NPC A, who the starter tells you is in OZ 2. A says he knows about a PA2 builder, but he's not going to give the info for free. He tells you to come back with 12 Milky Rens. So you go find some Milky Rens and take them back to him. The Rens are chosen from a category depending on the NPC. A is a homeless guy, so he would have two scripts, one for a random alcoholic drink ("Hey I'm really thirsty. Get me some Preacher's Choice and I'll tell you") or a random food item. Satisfied with 12 MRs, A tells you he doesn't actually know where C is, because he forgot, but B should remember. B usually hangs out in the houses south of El Farid Village, but he's only there at night.

So at nightfall, you head off to El Farid and go to the houses. You meet B. B asks for something similar to A, but while A is a homeless guy who wants food or alcohol, B makes custom hack tools. He therefore needs tech items. He asks in this case for a Defunct CopBot Ethic Chip. So off you head to Gaya mines, collect a chip, come back, and give it to him. As a bonus, he might tell you that if you bring him another chip, or another specified random tech item, he can make another custom hack tool that you can buy. You tell him OK, go fetch the item, bring it back, and buy a custom hack tool which has a +5 hack bonus when equipped. Alternatively, if you don't want one, you can say no thanks, I need to get to C quickly. He then tells you where you can find C.

C might do a similar thing, like fetch some metal plate. But the NPCs wouldn't have just fetch and carry missions, they would also have special missions. C in this case is having his radio equipment jammed. He tells you the signal is coming from somewhere to the north. If you stop the jamming, you get the PA for a reduced price. If you find out where it's coming from but can't stop it, you pay full price. If you can't find where it's coming from, then you pay full price and the PA isn't as good quality as normal, with lower bonuses. It wouldn't be possible to get a better PA than now (balance issues) but you could get it cheaper, and you could get it worse, depending on how well/bad you did for the NPC.

EDIT: If you've already done the run before though, then it would be shorter than usual. So in this case, you speak to A again, and he thanks you again for the Milky Rens. He gives you a letter to another guy he knows who gives you a PA2 cheap for it. So you would only have to speak to a couple of NPCs to replace a lost PA.


So yeah, long post, but that's what the runs should be IMO. :D

[SorkZmok]

Both. Simple as that. Cheap or even free if you do the run and pretty expensive if you just buy it from the vendor.

[Epsilon 5]

Both. Simple as that. Cheap or even free if you do the run and pretty expensive if you just buy it from the vendor.

i like that too

[darknessfairy]

i think both too...

[Heretic Shadow]

i like the idea of doing the run to access the vendor idea.

[zii]

leave it up to KK. they're the boss.

[tomparadox]

howbout both? like the spy/PE pa was

This way people who like to do runs can do it, and get it cheeper, people that dont whant to do the run, can jest pay more to get it without haveing to do the run.