Vendor stock, bug, coding issue or easy mode?

[darkred]

I went afk while buying from a vendor in RaginCajuns shop. I came back and forgot if I had bought, clicked on vendor and there were double arrows. I bought them, waited on inventory respawn, double again. 20,40,80,160 and I stopped here. Since he has 9 vendors that sell arrows and arrows are CLEARLY the kind since most have bows. it means there is no need to buy arrows from the exex or even chop for them. Thats 2700 arrows, 2700 bolts and 2700 shafts, in 24 minutes. If it increases more, 320,640 and so forth, then the markets that sell those are either inundated with people who discovered this and said nothing OR it is "As intended" and is simply easy mode, with only new players, such as myself, being on the outs and buying those from the EXEX

I did the same for blank scrolls. Makes GM in a few hours simple as well.

As the title queries, I am unsure if this is an oversight, a bug, or a simple "easy mode" set up. I do not think a player should have vendors myself, but it's a server thing, so go with it, but having so many of 1 type, arrows and reagents for magery/scrolls/inscription, make the skill acquisition flaccid and, to me at least, hardly on the fun side

[Animol]

Buying 60k arrows on exex takes a few seconds. Buying 60k arrows from NPCs (even if they are in one place, which really doesn't change much because you can simply mark runes next to NPCs all over Britannia) takes a few hours because of restock times. Oh, and you have to hope noone snatches the next batch before you do.

People have been vendor-surfing and reselling regs in bulk since day 1 on every shard. Nothing's broken here. Prices on exex are higher because people are willing to pay premium for convenience and to save time. If for some reason you think they are too high then go ahead, spend a week on buying arrows from NPCs and dump them on exex for 3gp. Nothing's stopping you.

[darkred]

You're applying your level, cash, and exposure (abilities( to a generalized quesion.

Me, having 130k, after a weeks play, and scoffing at the exex prices, see it more along the lines of a new player taking 100k, waiting the WHOLE FIVE to seven minutes restock time, tto obtain 15k arrows in a n hour...vs, unloading 1 million OR chopping for DAYS

My point is it is a bit too ":easy" per easy mode

But, if it is as intended /shrug

[Wil]

The restock time is something like 50 minutes IIRC. And those vendors cost 100ED (around 5,000,000 gold) each.

[Animol]

You're applying your level, cash, and exposure (abilities( to a generalized quesion.

I'm applying my experience from playing on various shards for many years and starting from scratch with no help on each and every one of them.

Me, having 130k, after a weeks play, and scoffing at the exex prices, see it more along the lines of a new player taking 100k, waiting the WHOLE FIVE to seven minutes restock time, tto obtain 15k arrows in a n hour...

Noone forces you to use exex, just like noone forces you to buy anything from anyone, especially if it's overpriced. By the way, tell me which vendors restock every 5-7 minutes please.

vs, unloading 1 million

1 million would get you a bit more than 15k arrows even on exex.

OR chopping for DAYS

Noone sane makes arrows because 1 board alone is worth way more than 1 arrow on probably every shard. I can sell 20k boards and buy 60k arrows for the money.

My point is it is a bit too ":easy" per easy mode

I don't know how long you have been playing UO but it's been like that since forever. That's how NPCs works, it's not something that's exclusive to this shard. Like I said before, the ability to place your own NPCs (which is not cheap because each costs 100 ED = 5+ mil GP) changes nothing because there are dozens of NPCs in all cities anyway. You haven't discovered any secret strategy here, this is common knowledge.

[darkred]

@wil No, the restock was not 50 minutes, it was 5-6



@ Animol , do you go out of your way to be an ass?

I also made it pretty clear which vendors I was speaking about...you were too much in a rush to be an ass rather than taking the time to read and then reflect. Are you the servers caustic kid?

I get it, new people suck, vets rule...Questions and concerns are for the noob.

[Animol]

No, the restock was not 50 minutes, it was 5-6

50 minutes is of course wrong because it takes 30 minutes max. I've bought hundreds of thousands of regs/bottles/arrows/whatever from NPCs on this shard and it never took longer to restock. I remember reading somewhere the restock time is random (20-30 minutes or so) but I thought maybe there are some differences between various RunUO versions (UOEx uses an old one). So I tested it on 6 bowyers at DRC's (since we're talking about arrows and these particular NPCs) and they all restocked after 30 minutes flat - no more, no less. Next try it also took 30 minutes. Third time too. Each time all 6 NPCs restocked simultaneously and not a minute earlier.

So... yeah. I don't know where those 5-6 min come from. How many of these short restock times in a row did you see? Because what probably happened was:
1. Someone buys out something (let's say bolts). 30 min restock counter starts.
2. You show up after 25 min and buy arrows. The original 30 min timer is still on (now at 5 min).
3. 5 min later the whole vendor restocks (bolts and arrows, because that's how it works).
4. You buy arrows again.
And then what? Did vendors restock again after 5-6 min, and again, and again?

Out of curiosity I tested it too and that's what happened:
1. I buy arrows. Timer starts, 30 min.
2. 15 min later I buy bolts. Timer at 15 min.
3. 15 min later timer gets to 0, everything restocks (bolts and arrows). I buy arrows again. New 30 min timer starts.
4. 15 min later (30 minutes after buying bolts) nothing happens. There's no additional restock.
5. 15 min later timer gets to 0 again, everything restocks (bolt supply goes down from 40 to 20 as it should because I didn't buy them 30 minutes earlier).
That's how it works here (at least for me) and that's how it works on a few other RunUO servers I know. Go ahead and test it yourself, but this time keep an eye on a clock and don't "go afk" or "forget" anything. If NPCs still restock every 5-6 minutes for you then I don't know what's going on.

@ Animol , do you go out of your way to be an ass?

Do you? Because I gave you a straight answer in my first reply yet you're still pushing. This is not a bug. This is not an omission. There's nothing wrong with buying regs etc. from NPCs (that's why they exist for God's sake). This is how UO works. Just roll with it and don't throw names at people answering your questions simply because you don't like something about the game's mechanic.

[Charon]

@wil No, the restock was not 50 minutes, it was 5-6



@ Animol , do you go out of your way to be an ass?

I also made it pretty clear which vendors I was speaking about...you were too much in a rush to be an ass rather than taking the time to read and then reflect. Are you the servers caustic kid?

I get it, new people suck, vets rule...Questions and concerns are for the noob.

Pay no attention to Animol.
He is the resident UO expert on all matters as he has been there and done that,
surprisingly, or not so much, all on his own.

"I'm applying my experience from playing on various shards for many years and starting from scratch with no help on each and every one of them."

Ask any questions you can't find answers to on the Wiki page.
Someone with more tact will answer you.
Seriously, don't let anyone rattle you and keep asking questions.

Cheers,

[darkred]

So... yeah. I don't know where those 5-6 min come from. How many of these short restock times in a row did you see? Because what probably happened was:
1. Someone buys out something (let's say bolts). 30 min restock counter starts.
2. You show up after 25 min and buy arrows. The original 30 min timer is still on (now at 5 min).
3. 5 min later the whole vendor restocks (bolts and arrows, because that's how it works).
4. You buy arrows again.
And then what? Did vendors restock again after 5-6 min, and again, and again?


Yes...Why not go check for yourself. It was RaginCajun's vendor area. I went back and did this till the vendors were giving 640 of each

Look, I am not sure how old you are or how intelligent you are, but I am old and talking down to someone, without asking ACTUAL questions, is stupidity.

Get off your ass, head down there and try it.

No, it is not 25 +5 minutes...it is what I said it was, period. I sat there for 40 minutes. I have 14,000 arrows now from doing this. That's 40.80.160,320,640 and aside from going AFK to smoke, it appears to be around 6 minutes. Granted 320-640 seemed closer to 8, still, a FAR CRY from 30 and,

[brhanson2]

The restock time is something like 50 minutes IIRC. And those vendors cost 100ED (around 5,000,000 gold) each.

Never more than 30 minutes, and as low as about 20 minutes. Ive never seen a restock in 5 minutes

[Animol]

Pay no attention to Animol.

Animol gave him an answer backed up by experience and actual testing (on the same NPCs, not that it makes a difference). You gotta let go man, your feelings will heal sooner or later, just give it some time.

Yes...Why not go check for yourself. It was RaginCajun's vendor area.

I did check this. Did you read my whole post? I wrote exactly what happened. Each of 6 vendors I tested took 30 minutes to restock several times in a row. Not a minute more, not a minute less.

Get off your ass, head down there and try it.

No, it is not 25 +5 minutes...it is what I said it was, period. I sat there for 40 minutes. I have 14,000 arrows now from doing this. That's 40.80.160,320,640 and aside from going AFK to smoke, it appears to be around 6 minutes. Granted 320-640 seemed closer to 8, still, a FAR CRY from 30 and,

OK, I went there (again). I bought arrows from 4 vendors this time (starting numbers were 20, 20, 40, 40). I'm currently (14.08.2018 8:30 server time) sitting next to them, waiting, and writing down what's happening:
1. After 8 minutes there's still no restock.
2. 11 minutes. Still nope.
3. 15 minutes. Nothing.
4. 18 minutes. No arrows in sight.
5. 22 minutes. Same thing.
6. 24 minutes. Zzzz...
7. 27 minutes. Nada.
8. 29 minutes. The horrors of emptiness are still roaming the land.
9. 30 minutes. Boom, restock on all 4 vendors. Numbers are 40, 40, 80, 80 now. In the meantime arrow supply on other vendors went down one level (80->40) because noone bought them. Everything working as intended.

I really, REALLY wanna see those 5-6 minute restocks. No sarcasm. Drop me a PM in game (same name as here) when you're available and let's go there together. You'll do the buying, I'll watch, because if what you claim is true then you won a golden ticket or something.

[Wil]

The restock time is something like 50 minutes IIRC. And those vendors cost 100ED (around 5,000,000 gold) each.

Never more than 30 minutes, and as low as about 20 minutes. Ive never seen a restock in 5 minutes

It's 30 minutes. I misremembered.

The first restock can vary unexpectedly. Subsequent ones won't.

Not just because someone else recently bought something. I'm about 80% sure that the shard suspends timer actions for mobiles that no player has been near in a while. The suspended timers fulfill in unexpected ways when a player next drops by. Some evidence for this includes:

1. If your recall is blocked by a mob, it will tend to remain blocked even though the mob should in theory be moving around.

2. With a personal spawner in a quiet location, tame or kill everything, then leave. Recall back in 20 minutes. The full complement of animals springs from the spawner -- they aren't already spread out.

3. I recall having bought out a vendor item only to have it respawn a couple minutes later with half the item instead of double. Only ever on the first visit and not consistently.

Regards,
Wil

[Charon]

Now that Animol and I are done exchanging pleasantries
No hard feelings by the way.

I do need to weigh in on the actual matter at hand.
Back on OSI servers I would routinely buy hordes of regs from Faction NPC vendors and never have I seen
the respawn be anything other than 30 mins.

It will refresh every 30 mins no matter if anything was purchased or not.
If you bought something and came back 25 mins later and bought something else the refresh will be in 5 mins,
then refresh again exactly 30 mins later.

It works the same here. Excelsior is 95.485% the same as osi server using the same client.
It's basically improssbile for one vendor to work abnormally while all others funstion as designed.

Animol is correct, either you found a golden egg or are somehow mistaken.

[Animol]

Now that Animol and I are done exchanging pleasantries
No hard feelings by the way.

Same here ;]

[Danmage]

Having purchased around 750k ginseng from these exact vendors. I have never seen less than a 20 min respawn.