Guild Wars 2

So lets face it, junk loot is a filler that we get just so we know that we might have received something versus a player ending up with nothing during an encounter. Yes we have the option to sell it off to any vendor and the sell junk button is awesome but I don’t think anyone is excited about junk loot.

So how about putting a spin on it and take a page from the Skritt’s handbook that shinny is good. So image that the various junk loot items have more value to some NPCs over another. Someone’s trash is another’s treasure per say.

Either take existing NPCs that are roamers in the world (or new ones) and turn them into travelling vendors for differing pieces of junk. The junk loot’s description could give the clue of which zone the NPC roams in that the player might sell the item to for increased value. Different items different world zones. You could add additional RNG spin and allow the NPC to offer differing amount for the item based on an RNG roll with mins and maxes.

What this does is still allow people to just sell junk loot at its current value. Or spend some time and do a mini bounty style hunt to find NPCs that might give them more back for that stack of junk. Its also encourages people to visit various places around the world if they so choose.

Now if junk was also added to the materials tab this would be even better so that players could amass the items and then choose a time to seek out the NPCs at their own pace without compromising to much bag space. But even if this extra bit wasn’t viable I still could see some fun in the before mentioned bit.

Just a thought while getting junk loot last night. Thoughts? Good hunting!

Sounds fun! But will the bounty npc pay enough more for his/her fave junk to offset the wp fees in getting to the vendor?

With a fixed extra value for 1-2 pieces maybe not, the third piece and up yes. If the RNG price factor is coded in as well then the first piece might also pay for the WP cost. That’s one of the reasons for the additional storage options if possible. Another thought I forgot to add in was that this would also play well with the trash collector achievement.

blinkblink Huh, I’d actually love to have a skritt Junk Vendor. Someone who can trade junk items for (yet another :P) special currency that could lead to more desirable loot.

Junk loot? You mean all the loot I ever get?

Pockets.3201:

Junk loot? You mean all the loot I ever get?

I suppose that does include all the blues and greens we get for salvage.
Maybe it’d just be easier to auto-salvage everything we get that’s not ‘rare’ and above. >_>

Rauderi.8706:

Pockets.3201:

Junk loot? You mean all the loot I ever get?

I suppose that does include all the blues and greens we get for salvage.
Maybe it’d just be easier to auto-salvage everything we get that’s not ‘rare’ and above. >_>

Auto salvage, storage, and use the luck I get. If that were an option I’d be very happy.

Nope this one isn’t about auto-salvaging blue and greens, this is about gold huffs, gear sprockets and all the items that are labeled in game as junk.

Back to Rauderi’s point about being able to exchange them to another type of currency. If you are thinking something like the Silverwaste concepts that could work in this concept as well. That also adds in another RNG which has its own pros and cons but could work.

Heh, sorry if I got a little tangential. Happens. :P

On the junk-to-currency angle, I feel it could work out reasonably well. The unique currency would be exchanged away from normal vendors, meaning waypoint costs to cash them in. And since junk items are soulbound, there’s no way for a huge stockpile to grow out of control (in quantity or price) on the trading post.

Hm, looking back at the original proposal, I wonder if there could be event chains to lead up to the junk trader. Or maybe that’s too convenient. Hrm. I like the idea in general, I’m not sure about the details.

I’ve always hoped to see the junk items turned in to something useful. Such as taking a stack of broken lockpicks, some ectos, a mystic binding agent(crystals, stones, wine, or thermolytic) and maybe mithrillium ingot into the forge for a black lion lockpick. Probably won’t happen for keys, but would be great for turning junk into creating materials.

Just as a point of reference, GW1 had Collectors that would exchange trash loot for (in the game’s frame work) very usable gear; including some unique properties. But this kind of lead to a hoarding problem when you got to a new area, because you weren’t sure which which NPCs offered what for which trash. And getting around in GW1 was a lot harder, with 2 or 3 zones between towns or outposts that you could fast travel to. There were even stub zones that had no outposts, or were on the far side of another difficult to traverse zone.

Karma merchants replaced the function of GW1 collectors (and I’m pretty sure early versions of karma vendors were trash collectors pre-beta). From on perspective, I don’t think reintroducing them with the original method is worthwhile….. its too specific, and leads to weird hoarding.

HOWEVER!! With some slightly different rules, this idea could work. The old Yakkingtion traveling merchant is kind of a pain considering how loot drops work in this game….. so we need something more ubiquitous in placement, and a bit broader in desired loot- but not all inclusive. Static merchants for each trash type are also kind of over the top.

I guess our first question would if Shinys merchants should be zone synced, or globally synced? Zone synced would be easier, but global would make more sense. Now to avoid crazy farming, it should rotate what their looking for on a daily basis. They should also be easy to find….. stationing one at each major outpost would be enough.

Second, how should the rewards and conversions work? Just to make the global idea easier, we’ll have them ask for a whole category of trash… lockpicks, furs, claws, fangs, etc. The category as a whole should have the same value (so there no push for only farming high level areas for more rewards). In exchange, they’ll give you skritt versions of IOUs, and store them in the wallet. This also would be nice alternative use for some of the holiday mats, converting them to IOUs for later use.

The reward side I think are pretty easy to put together, also on a daily shuffle. They’ll range from random consumables, ingredients, and a chance for some of the untiered mats in the rotation. On the more expensive side include an option for a once per day box of Dungeon goods (listing 2 dungeons for the day), which includes tokens plus a random dungeon related item, and relatively rare chance for a PvP dungeon track weapon or armor reward chest (to put toward the collection achievement). Also in the list is a “Property of Fractals Project” crate. This contains fractal relics, random mist essence OR pristine fractal relic, and a Fractal daily reward chest (random tier). (Obviously not cost efficient, it does add a much desired supplement to fractal supplies)

maybe a bit too ambitious…. but skritt are resourceful; So I wouldn’t question them actually having things like this on hand.