Money and character points beyond your wildest dreams!

First of all, this is not a question.
Secondly, it works (probably) only with Arcanum Beta.
Thirdly, use CAUTION, as this step may strip the game experience of some very nice thrills.

Do you want 34000+ gold? Then just kil.. umm... dispose of the shopkeeper near the bridge in Tarant.

Want 1342589 (or smt like this) gold? Then go to the warehouse on Mulligan Bone Alley (no 34, I think), dispose of some mechanical arachnids and take the money from one of the shipping crate.

Want so much money so that the game will have trouble displaying the amount? Then dispose of the large armour shopkeeper near the tarant university steam rail.

You will probably stop avoiding encounters with the beggars, stop scavenging through the rubbish bins and stop picking up items from your travels to later sell them.

Want hundreds of character points? Then with all that money go talk and do business with the tempter of fate, conveniently placed near Tarant.

After getting all the money you ever needed, after becoming the best, most powerful scientist, or mage, or both, you will undoubtedly discover that the game has no taste anymore. You will be missing out a whole array of extraordinary things that you can do in this world.

And if you think about it, isn't life (i mean REAL life) the same.

So go out there, dream big, live life to its fullest and be happy, because in the end it's the journey that matters.

You already have everything you need, my friends... in Arcanum and not only.

 

It's something about the A:WIP, you say?

 

Shopkeepers don't have insane amounts of money just like that. They simply accumulate money over time with every restock, so the value depends on how often did you visit the shop and how little thing did you sell to it. That's how it worked in vanilla, so I'm pretty sure it works the same way in the A:WIP.

I totally agree on the "infinite money/character points = no fun" thing, though. Being a god has this minus, that one feels so very bored and lonely having absolutely no challenges, be it Arcanum or real life.

 

Thanks for pointing out some overlooked short-comings, Alessandro.
As soon as I get going again, I can get 'em fixed.

 

Hehe,

I was hoping to get your attention rroyo. I chose another way of saying: "Thar seems to be bugs 'round 'ere" because I thought of a little side quest that you could add, if it turns out you like it of course.

So here it is:
I think that I speak for everyone when I say that there must have been at least one moment when each of us wanted to experiment with something (a magick skill, a new weapon etc). There were times when the desire was so great that one almost got mesmerized by the idea of character editing. So why not leave one or two bugs intentionally, leave a clue (e.g. note on a corpse) somewhere, optionally add a link to the tempter of fate, the character would go there, I'm assuming he maxes out his character and then starts wandering around the world. After some time (a week perhaps, or a few days, assuming (again) that the player knows about teleport) the player encounters an enigmatic, magick character, a bit like his consciousness incarnated, that scolds him (sorry, English rule - assume male when gender unknown) for being on the wrong path, having reached an unnatural level of knowledge and wealth that can ruin his life forever (examples of movie and music stars pop in my mind right now), and basically frakking up his future. The player sees the error of his decisions and actions and asks what can be done (or we could perhaps make this a choice, as well, with 'door number two' being to remain as a god).
The Enigmatic Character (we could name him this) would have the solution already prepared: prepare a magick trick that converts the character stats back to what they were before finding the money (or killing for them) or, even more interesting, some of the stats and skills are indeed permanently affected based on the PC repenting and good intention formulating whilst sobbing ("I never meant for any of this to happen. I only wanted an easier path to becoming a mage/technologist/ mind reader/ diplomat/" etc.). And, as a symbol of good faith, the Enigmatic Character asks the PC to give up his fortune, assuring you it will be put to good use. The PC gives it up, and then receives a reputation ("Benefactor for the orphans, the old, the sick and the helpless") materialized in the inhabitants' of the major cities initial reaction to improve.

I do not know how difficult such a task is in terms of feasibility, but I find it is a rather good way to show people that being filthy rich does not make you happier.

Actually, these two I'm talking about really do. The one near the Tarant bridge has only about 34000 coins. I'm pretty sure I have not traded to much with him (maybe once or twice) because his offers are not good, even if I am a master haggler.
The one near the Tarant University, however, has so much money that I stopped counting the numbers at some point. And it is true, I have done business with him, because (not surprisingly) he never runs out of coins.

Yes, in my opinion, a player who wants to be like that is most likely to choose the evil ending of the game: destroy life, await your own death. Yuppy!!

Thanks for the comments, guys.

 

The Tempter: I'm looking at a simple approach to this problem. Check out this thread -
http://www.terra-arcanum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=16050&highlight=

I'm not sure what's going on with the Large Armor merchant, but I'll check it out before the next release.

Harry Baules has always had too much money, but he's going to be put onto a static inventory and given only 5,000 or so gold. There won't be any renewal for him so his usefullness as a bank is about to end.

 

I totally agree with everything you are going to improve, save one thing. I don't fully understand why merchants such as Harry Baules do not have the items you first see advertised. I'm guessing it's only because they have some kick-ass stuff that should not be stacked up by the player to make a god-like character from the very beginning. And that's fine, but could you add some sort of note in the black chest at the crash site, with a riddle if you like, saying that one should come prepared when trading with the all-new merchants.
I admit I haven't read all the improvements that you made in all the versions of the Arcanum WIP - and by the way, that is a compliment - but I think this information should somewhat stand out.

Just a thought for the others... I myself know that upon playing the game again I will quicksave before seeing what a merchant has on display and then quickload if I don't have the proper money.

 

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. Is parts of his inventory vanishing between one visit and the next, like the antigravity gems?

Harry's inventory is set up with a 20% chance of an item appearing upon renewal. Now, the exception to this is the antigravity gems. They are a non-renewing item which means they have a bad habit of disappearing upon renewal.
That's why Harry and all the other pawnshops will be placed on a static inventory. This way they can carry the custom items without them being destroyed.

 

You're wrong.

And there's nothing wrong with the Tempter of Fate. You don't have to abuse his power just because it is abuseable. If you feel like powergaming, he's your man. If you don't feel like powergaming, then leave him be or use him only for roleplaying purposes.

 

There's a shopkeep named Harry Baules?

 

Uh-huh.

 

I assume that by "part of his inventory" you mean everything. Yes, Harry Baules' whole inventory and the large armor merchant's one disappear between the first and the second visit, if they are a day apart from each other. And similar is happening with the gypsy lady at the merchants fair, too. She has all these cool arcane things that you can buy at first, but the next day she has only standard things, like any other gypsy.

Does this mean that upon next visits they will have some or all of the items initially advertised?

 

Do you really think that people will have the will to not abuse this power? Where there is a shortcut, people take it. "Humans rarely live long enough to see the consequences of their own actions" and are driven by fear, fear of death, and thus act before thinking too much.

Answer sincerely: "Would you resist buying a couple of points, when you know that you have a long way to go before mastering haggle or throwing or picklocks?" If YES then, my friend, you are one of a kind and I congratulate you for your discipline...

No, I strongly believe that he should appear before entering the Void, because it makes a lot more sense.

Read this thread to comment on this subject further:
http://www.terra-arcanum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=

 

What beta? Are you on drugs?

 

I apologize for not having called it Arcanum WIP. Surprisingly, others understood what I meant. Must be all those points you've wasted on ST instead of IN...

Cheers

 

Did that just happen?

 

Maybe you should look up the definition of the word 'beta'. I'm not sure you understand what it entails.

There are no Arcanum betas (or other pre-release versions) available on the internet, as far as I'm aware. Such a thing would be an extremely valuable collectible/research object, so please, don't use the term casually.

Also, STFU NOOB.

 

Face it, honey, you just got kicked to the curb and drenched in the storm gutters.

Alessandro - welcome aboard!

 

Actually, the first Arcanum copies to be pirated were the Beta-leaked versions. I had in my possession one copy, but I destroyed the CD. Don't blame me though, blame distributors who won't damned bring it to Turkey.

It's impossible for him to mention about the real beta version though, hence I asked him if it was something about the A:WIP at the first place. Still, a beta leak should be available through some research.

 

Exactly. All the inventory items will have to be manually added and there's no renewal, so everything you see on the first visit will still be there on the the tenth or twentieth - except what you buy of course.

Harry's and The Armor merchant's inventory disappearing like you described is a glitch in your install. Sorry.

I'll double-check the Faire Gypsy. Although I seem to remember the other Gypsies doing this, it's equally possible I messed up on her inventory.