Change 1 - Distance and Danger Effect Payout
Pretty simple. You would have people time runs between different cities using different routes and submit the results to SV. I'd personally volunteer some of my time to do this if SV expressed serious interest in having it done.
Then payment just adjusted based on 3 factors:
1. Distance/Runtime (Longer distance, higher payout)
2. Run Challenge (A run that can follow a road and get a decent runtime pays less than a run that uses smuggler routes that have you scaling cliffs)
3. PvP Danger
A run from Meduli to Vadda is going to pay a lot less than a run from Jungle Camp to Gaul Kor (even after distance is accounted for) given the first is between two guarded cities with no chokepoints along the run while the second is between two red cities and pass through some chokepoints on the most efficient run.
Change 2 - No Set Turn in Points
As you may have noticed when I said "Jungle Camp to Gaul Kor" that isn't currently a valid run. It should be. You should be able to run between any two cities in the game. The only city that shouldn't accept a parcel is the city it originated from.
Change 3 - Parcels Shouldn't Be Free
If free parcels even exist they should give low payouts. But in general parcels should take materials found around the city they are in and a small sum of gold. This:
A. Creates actual risk in running parcels.
B. Fuels the economy of towns people trade from, creating constant demand for local resources.
If these parcels are stolen you should be able to break them open to get the resources used in their construction OR turn them in for gold/clade XP. Stolen parcels should not be eligible for rep rewards though.
Change 4 - Parcel Rates Adjust Based on Trade Volume
Parcel payouts should be adjusted between 50% and 150% of their base value. These rates should be based on what % of the recently run parcels are parcels run from the particular city of origin to the city they're being turned in at. This nerfs highly popular runs and buffs less popular runs to help discourage parcel runners only using a couple "most efficient" routes.
Rates should be viewable on a board next to the parcel vendor.
Change 5 - Pets Can Carry Parcels
A character should have a limit of one parcel in inventory at a time. A large pet bag (horse, bear, etc.) should have a limit of one parcel per 100 durability of the bag. This buffs large bags and particularly ones made from sturdier materials. Both of which are pretty underpowered in the current meta and are mainly being run by newbs who don't know better.
Conclusion
The sum total of these changes is a massive buff to traders as a role. Even when the market is a bit slow there is always money to be made moving parcels between towns. And regular goods can be moved along with parcels encouraging the flow of goods around the map. With a buff in traders moving valuable goods banditry is also buffed as a role and escorts/caravans similarly rise in importance to counter this.
All of these changes are good if you want to reward people moving around the world far from guards and safezones.
The huge thing is none of these changes are TOO hard to implement but would add a lot more toys to the sandbox people can have fun. Parcels are currently a half baked system people don't find all that fun. Lets fix that.
Pretty simple. You would have people time runs between different cities using different routes and submit the results to SV. I'd personally volunteer some of my time to do this if SV expressed serious interest in having it done.
Then payment just adjusted based on 3 factors:
1. Distance/Runtime (Longer distance, higher payout)
2. Run Challenge (A run that can follow a road and get a decent runtime pays less than a run that uses smuggler routes that have you scaling cliffs)
3. PvP Danger
A run from Meduli to Vadda is going to pay a lot less than a run from Jungle Camp to Gaul Kor (even after distance is accounted for) given the first is between two guarded cities with no chokepoints along the run while the second is between two red cities and pass through some chokepoints on the most efficient run.
Change 2 - No Set Turn in Points
As you may have noticed when I said "Jungle Camp to Gaul Kor" that isn't currently a valid run. It should be. You should be able to run between any two cities in the game. The only city that shouldn't accept a parcel is the city it originated from.
Change 3 - Parcels Shouldn't Be Free
If free parcels even exist they should give low payouts. But in general parcels should take materials found around the city they are in and a small sum of gold. This:
A. Creates actual risk in running parcels.
B. Fuels the economy of towns people trade from, creating constant demand for local resources.
If these parcels are stolen you should be able to break them open to get the resources used in their construction OR turn them in for gold/clade XP. Stolen parcels should not be eligible for rep rewards though.
Change 4 - Parcel Rates Adjust Based on Trade Volume
Parcel payouts should be adjusted between 50% and 150% of their base value. These rates should be based on what % of the recently run parcels are parcels run from the particular city of origin to the city they're being turned in at. This nerfs highly popular runs and buffs less popular runs to help discourage parcel runners only using a couple "most efficient" routes.
Rates should be viewable on a board next to the parcel vendor.
Change 5 - Pets Can Carry Parcels
A character should have a limit of one parcel in inventory at a time. A large pet bag (horse, bear, etc.) should have a limit of one parcel per 100 durability of the bag. This buffs large bags and particularly ones made from sturdier materials. Both of which are pretty underpowered in the current meta and are mainly being run by newbs who don't know better.
Conclusion
The sum total of these changes is a massive buff to traders as a role. Even when the market is a bit slow there is always money to be made moving parcels between towns. And regular goods can be moved along with parcels encouraging the flow of goods around the map. With a buff in traders moving valuable goods banditry is also buffed as a role and escorts/caravans similarly rise in importance to counter this.
All of these changes are good if you want to reward people moving around the world far from guards and safezones.
The huge thing is none of these changes are TOO hard to implement but would add a lot more toys to the sandbox people can have fun. Parcels are currently a half baked system people don't find all that fun. Lets fix that.
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