Stronghold Upgrade Suggestion: Brokers

[FacesOfMu]

One of the sad things about huge playable worlds such as in PoE is coming across a new store and seeing all the neat unique gear and thinking "well, when I get more pands, I'll come back and upgrade my gear". The problem isn't not having enough money, but not remembering all the stores and what gear they had that you want to go back for. Most stores I'll have this wistful thought for (after I've spent thousands already), but then never remember which store to visit or why I wanted to go back.

 

Introducing the idea of the Broker.

 

The Broker is an upgrade on each store at the stronghold. They are an NPC that waits for you in the shop for you to tell them what you want to buy.

Whenever you come across a new store in the PoE world, your Brokers reecord all of the items available for you. For weapons, armour, and accessories, it's only the items above a certain grade (let's say Fine and above).

 

When you visit each Broker in your Stronghold, they look like a shop and list all the items they've remembered in a list. However, when you purchase the item, you can select the timeframe in which the item will be delivered to your Stronghold treasury. The further the store from the stronghold, the higher the cost over the in-store purchase value. The faster the delivery, the higher the extra pands you must pay for the Broker to order it and have it delivered for you.

 

As some stores may sell the same item but at a different price based on your reputation, you may be able to select which store to order from. In some cases, it may be cheaper or quicker depending on how far the stores are that you have the best reputation with.

 

Upgrading each store with a Broker means you won't have to keep a hand written list of where all the valuable items can be bought or keep minimising the game to refer to the wiki for locations. The Broker would mean that finding a new store will still cause you to lay out cash to upgrade your gear when you find it, but after you leave that store you can trust you won't leave behind great gear that you'll soon forget at the next intriguing plot point or moment of tension in the gameplay.

Edited August 8, 2015 by FacesOfMu