66 réponses à ce sujet

[CptPatch]

You have Bodahn as your in-Camp merchant.  Very convenient.  Whenever you ask to see his wares, he carries on how pleased you will be with the "low, low discount" and he carries on like Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler in Disc World.  That is, you are given the impression that _here_ (in Camp) you'll be getting at the minimum, a reasonable deal on your transactions.

Then you start to find out in the wiki and here on the forums, that in reality, Bodahn charges you the HIGHEST prices for purchases that you will encounter _anywhere_ in the game.

Now, given that it was BioWare that placed Bodahn in your base of operations, and it was the BioWare scriptwriters that created the dialog that "sells" the player on the idea that buying and selling with Bodahn is simply the smart thing to do, does anyone else beside me feel like BioWare should be enclosing a tube of K-Y for those intimate mercantile moments?

[CptPatch]

Wow. I'm the ONLY person to have been irritated by this? Wow.

[YunDog]

like the real world



you pay for covenience

[AntiChri5]

Hey! At tose prices hes cutting his own throat! Sausage? Inna bun?

[keesio74]

location! location! location! (Bodahn has it)

[jmp0505]

Yeah, I get irritated by it, but I still have to use him often enough for potion and poison stuff at least. I have tried not taking money from him in the beginning when you meet him - no dice, he still charges more. I've tried being agreeable when he tells you his story, nope, no difference.

I wish things like the trade manifests or other merchant documents would be useful in reducing a merchants prices by a little bit for each one you sell them. But noooo. So yeah, I guess you pay for convenience.

[Sylvius the Mad]

YunDog wrote...

you pay for covenience

THIS.

If you want lower prices, travel further afield.  Bodahn brings the goods to you.  That's service.  You pay for that service.

[CptPatch]

I recognize that a person should expect to pay for convenience. When you go into a convenience store, you already know that the prices will be inflated because of that convenience. That isn't what irks me.



What irks me is Bodahn's sales pitch (heard EVERY time you ask to see his wares) where he carries on like he's Ferelden's version of Walmart with prices that put all other stores to shame. In fact, however, buying from him, you need to be expecting to pay Tiffany prices. (That is, the highest prices anywhere.) That it is to say, the sleazy bastard is lying -- even though he acknowledges that HE is getting free Security by hanging with the Warden's party.



Now, the thing is, in the way this whole relationship is presented, it is _BioWare_ that is setting us up. Having a merchant in Camp -- in a game that does NOT allow you to store gear anywhere (other than in a DLC locations that you pay actual real additional money to get) -- it would seem that the in-Camp merchant would be a reasonable compensation for them not having designed in storage for surplus items and a significantly limited upper carry capacity.



But is there _anyone_ in-game to give you the VERY useful advice of, "You DO know, don't you, that Bodahn is seriously gouging you on the prices he charges?"



Just one little mention to let us KNOW that Bodahn's prices are high and that we're paying a hefty price for the convenience he offers and my complaint would be foundless. But as is, Bodahn is the sleaziest of merchants, and BioWare is the party that sicced him on us. Deliberately, and with forethought.

[TUHD]

*shrugs*



Your choice to deal with him... your risk. Either you care or not, but dont yell 'foul play!' when you could have known it and acted upon the information

[JosieJ]

You do notice it's only dwarves who go on about how low their prices are--and that they actually charge higher prices than human or elven merchants?

The only dwarven merchant who'll truly cut you a break is Gorim--and he only does that if you're a Dwarf Noble.  Then, he'll buy stuff from you for higher prices than any other merchant in the game.

[Stengahpolis]

But is there _anyone_ in-game to give you the VERY useful advice of, "You DO know, don't you, that Bodahn is seriously gouging you on the prices he charges?"

Yes, it's called looking at what the other merchants charge for the same stuff.


And he is giving you a discount. You get lower prices than he would give someone else, not lower prices than you would find elsewhere.

I suppose you'll complain about Zevran misrepresenting his lock-picking ability too.

Modifié par Stengahpolis, 11 janvier 2010 - 04:45 .

[beancounter501]

Yikes! I did not know that he charged the highest. I wonder how much money I have wasted selling and buying from him?

[CptPatch]

TUHD wrote...

*shrugs*

Your choice to deal with him... your risk. Either you care or not, but dont yell 'foul play!' when you could have known it and acted upon the information.

When do you _know_ this?  It can only be definitive info AFTER you finished the game, having visited _every_ merchant, recorded _all_ of their prices.  Even the "official" Game Guide doesn't mention this tidbit.  The wiki doesn't mention it.

In point of fact, other than this forum, that fact doesn't seem to be available anywhere.

So, in essence, you're saying that it is the player's responsibility to research merchants, in every game.  To either do that, or smile as the shaft is slid into place.  

[Hmm.  "It was his own damn fault he got mugged.  It was his choice to be where he got mugged.  If he didn't want to get mugged, he should have stayed home."  Yeah, that sort of sounds like the attitude behind the suggestion.]

[CptPatch]

beancounter501 wrote...

Yikes! I did not know that he charged the highest. I wonder how much money I have wasted selling and buying from him?

If I understand correctly, ALL merchants pay you the same prices for the items they buy from you.  What they charge for items that they sell to you varies widely.

[beancounter501]

Not sure about that. Gorim defintely pays more for a fellow dwarf noble.

[CptPatch]

beancounter501 wrote...

Not sure about that. Gorim defintely pays more for a fellow dwarf noble.

Ah, yes.  The one and ONLY exception to the rule:
"...buying at 50% of the listed price of items instead of 25%."

[Arkwright99]

You could use the DA Toolset to hack one of your saved games to set your own prices for Bodahn (or any other merchant you've met), you know? There's also a mod (http://social.bioware.com/project/605/) which adusts the percentile merchants buy from you (though only for merchants you haven't met in the game prior to installing the mod). Whether you should take advantage of either of these exploits is, of course, up to you.



As well as the Trade Manifests and Private Documents, it's also been mentioned that your Coercion skill could (should?) be utilised to modify Merchants' prices for your Warden. I like that suggestion because it would be similar to the 'Merchant's response is Favorable/Neutral/Unfavorable' feature in NWN.

[soteria]

Except, you don't have to do an exhaustive search of every merchant. You only have to compare him to one other merchant to find out he doesn't have the lowest prices. Your fault for believing a merchant when he said you were getting a good deal. Ever buy a car? I'm sure the salesman said you were getting the car for a steal, too.

[mousestalker]

Figor, in Orzimmar has the lowest flask prices, and he sells in bulk. But if you listen to the thug dialog outside his shop, he's also about to go out of business.

He's the only dwarf I know who actually has low prices.

The funniest one is Ruck. He talks about how he's giving the stuff away in a fairly demented manner. His price is much higher than Bodahn's. And that's saying something.

Bodahn also sells the Dwarven Merchant Belt, which has a markedly limited effect on your cash.

Modifié par mousestalker, 11 janvier 2010 - 12:36 .

[Nuclear_Pony]

Yeah I also made the mistake on my first run with buying herbal components from Bodahn. I lost tons of gold making poultices and potions that way, at least I know now. He has a few items I simply must get so there is no other way then to just buy it already (runes, books).

Modifié par Nuclear_Pony, 11 janvier 2010 - 05:40 .

[Sylvius the Mad]

CptPatch wrote...

So, in essence, you're saying that it is the player's responsibility to research merchants, in every game.  To either do that, or smile as the shaft is slid into place. 

Yes.

Welcome to the free market.  You're a big boy; make your own choices.

[T1l]

CptPatch wrote...

Wow. I'm the ONLY person to have been irritated by this? Wow.

The bastard was kicked out of Orzammar for stealing from Thaigs and dead people; his wares are ill-gotten. Despite him being nice and fathering Sandal, much to his wife’s lament, he's a shady character. To be honest, I'm not bothered by him charging exorbitant prices at all, nor do I find it out of character.

[KariTR]

T1l wrote...

CptPatch wrote...

Wow. I'm the ONLY person to have been irritated by this? Wow.

The bastard was kicked out of Orzammar for stealing from Thaigs and dead people; his wares are ill-gotten. Despite him being nice and fathering Sandal, much to his wife’s lament, he's a shady character. To be honest, I'm not bothered by him charging exorbitant prices at all, nor do I find it out of character.

I agree, rather than be annoyed I found it humourous and delightful to discover the guy riding on my party's coat-tails for safety was scamming my PC. It's little things like this that gives the game world personality and makes it "real."

EDIT: In his defence, he does give information for free

Modifié par KariTR, 11 janvier 2010 - 06:10 .

[CptPatch]

soteria wrote...

Except, you don't have to do an exhaustive search of every merchant. You only have to compare him to one other merchant to find out he doesn't have the lowest prices. Your fault for believing a merchant when he said you were getting a good deal. Ever buy a car? I'm sure the salesman said you were getting the car for a steal, too.

This is a bogus argument because it is assumed that there WILL be a variation with merchants.  Bodahn doesn't say that his prices are the _lowest_, just that they are "low, low".  But the truth of the matter is that there is absolutely NOTHING "low" about his prices.  He is, in fact, the highest-priced merchant in the game.

Bodahn speaks with BioWare's voice.  _They_ are the ones that do the hard sell on the player, through Bodahn.  If your arguments is, "Your fault for having believed him" then what you ultimately are suggesting is, "Don't believe _anything_ that ANYONE has to say."

What a game that would be.  Adventure in the Land of Pathological Liars.  Even more bizarre than "Alice in Wonderland.

[CptPatch]

demos99 wrote...
As well as the Trade Manifests and Private Documents,

These, in fact, have NO EFFECT.  (per wiki)