What about Artifacts?

[parcaleste]

Please, give us A LOT of them. I still feel in HV there was a lack of artifacts, so please, give us MORE. If you want, pick up some from H3 and copy/paste them, but give us more diversity in this one important aspects of the game.

[MattII]

H5 had 93 artefacts as compared to H3's 122, so not quite as many, but still plenty, especially as H3 had more than a few duplicates (6 attack-bonus only swords for example, and 6 defence-bonus only shields). Mind you, if they were to introduce some more effects for artefacts I'd agree to adding a few more.

[Kalah]

I think having lots of artefacts is a bit of a curse, really. If you play a campaign and they carry over from map to map, you'll literally end up with more than you can carry. I still remember having to drop stuff in H4. In games like Baldur's Gate I spent half the time thinking about who should carry what. It can get old really fast.

I think there should be an option in the map editor to eliminate certain artefacts, so that you can set up a maximum limit. I also think that certain artefacts should be mutually exclusive; not just that you can't put two necklaces on at once (why shouldn't you?), but that wearing one effectively prevents you from carrying another.

The last thing is that there should be a place to sell (and buy?) artefacts, but only low-level ones, since you can't expect local traders to afford to pay thousands for a super-sword. It should also be possible to have artefacts destroyed, perhaps in a mage guild building?

[Wurtzel]

I think having lots of artefacts is a bit of a curse, really. If you play a campaign and they carry over from map to map, you'll literally end up with more than you can carry. I still remember having to drop stuff in H4. In games like Baldur's Gate I spent half the time thinking about who should carry what. It can get old really fast.

I think there should be an option in the map editor to eliminate certain artefacts, so that you can set up a maximum limit. I also think that certain artefacts should be mutually exclusive; not just that you can't put two necklaces on at once (why shouldn't you?), but that wearing one effectively prevents you from carrying another.

The last thing is that there should be a place to sell (and buy?) artefacts, but only low-level ones, since you can't expect local traders to afford to pay thousands for a super-sword. It should also be possible to have artefacts destroyed, perhaps in a mage guild building?

It appears that you havn't played tote very much as one can sell artifacts at his town market...

[ThunderTitan]

since you can't expect local traders to afford to pay thousands for a super-sword.

What are you on about?! They would buy it for the same reason why art dealers buy paintings for hundreds of thousands... because they can sell them on for even more. Remember the auction thread?!

[parcaleste]

I was actually implying for more diversity, as while playing TotE I almost every time finish with the very same artefacts on some positions (let's say rings, cloaks, helmets). There is SOME diversity with faction bonuses, but they are so few that sometimes it's just ridiculous.

[Kalah]

since you can't expect local traders to afford to pay thousands for a super-sword.

What are you on about?! They would buy it for the same reason why art dealers buy paintings for hundreds of thousands... because they can sell them on for even more. Remember the auction thread?!

Nonsense. When you take an expensive item to the shop to sell, you expect to be paid. It's no good for you to have the buyer give you an IOU and then he'll pay you in full once he can sell the item on for a profit. The fact is that most people (let alone small traders living in their caravans) don't have 50k lying around, to be used all at once when some guy just happens to stumble in with the Gryphonheart plate mail.

[ThunderTitan]

If he's selling bread and butter out of a cart why are you even trying to sell him an artefact?!

If it's an actual trading post one would expect them to have some cash around for stuff like that... or at least they would act as a go between you and some interested buyer for a fee... but the game doesn't really need to expand on the actual specifics.

Plus, why do you assume the guy if on his first deal with you?!

And where do you think those Artifact Merchants from H3's Dungeon and Tower got their merchandise?! There's obviously a system in place...

[Kalah]

If he's selling bread and butter out of a cart why are you even trying to sell him an artefact?! If it's an actual trading post one would expect them to have some cash around for stuff like that...

Yes, there should be some traders around who have the economic muscle to buy expensive items from you, but those traders are not usually travelling around in small carts, selling and buying everything under the sun.

Baldur's Gate is the prime example; the super-items are only available from special sellers (which is how it should be) or from killing the previous owners ... but, you can then go out and sell these items to any vendor for huge sums of gold! How can the local merchant, travelling around in his little, filthy cart, afford to pay 150.000 gold pieces for my collection of items?

I propose sovling this kind of dilemma by introducing one (or several) of the following solutions:

1. High-end merchants should be located in towns only.
2. Everyone else (merchants outside towns) should have a set limit to what they can buy; a limit on the level (minor, major etc.) of artefact they can buy, for instance, or that they only have a set amount of money to spend on buying things from you (that's realistic, but silly, I know).

That way, we could have merchants selling/buying low-end artefacts, and some others selling/buying more expensive products. And the ones that can buy the best artefacts are in towns.

[ThunderTitan]

What small carts are you even talking about?!

But no one is against having artifact merchants in town... though i expect that they won't be adding any more buildings that would confuse some poor newbs or something.

[parcaleste]

Why you two should always kill every topic with talks that have nothing in common with it? It's a GAME, for God's sake, not the real life.

[ThunderTitan]

You don't think a place to buy and sell artifacts has anything to do with a discussion about artifacts?!

[parcaleste]

Not with the direction you are taking it.

The resolve of your argument, however, is simple - King's Bounty. There is a different creature that sells different types of artifacts. Marketplace is a marketplace - you can find, literally, EVERYTHING there - cheaper prise or double or whatever prize.

[ThunderTitan]

Pay attention... i already won the argument now that Kalah shifted his argument to where artifacts should be sold and bought instead of the act itself being weird.

[parcaleste]

OK, so the pumpkin medal is yours than.

[ThunderTitan]

Now i can sell it to the artifact merchant so i can get more money!!! Hurray me....

[parcaleste]