Interesting how the concept of a shop has evolved and matured, and it’s probably a journey newer players still travel.
Phase 1 - you puts stands on your plot to sell your surplus/junk - not much happens
Phase 2 - you start to try to sell crafted items - not much happens
Phase 3 - you open a small portal to a portal hub - a bit happens and you get some footfall
Phase 4 - you open a bigger portal to a Shopping Hub - ah-hah!
Phase 5 - you open many portals to many sorts of hubs
Phase 6 - other players open portals to your shop/hub
Then it gets complicated as people take one or more of different routes:
You grab a plot in a Mall and let someone else worry about portals
You remove all your stands from your shop and just become a hub
You specialize in Forging/Building Materials/Food/etc
Obviously I’m generalizing, but it’s an evolving meta.
Malls have kinda split into Portal Malls and Shop Malls. Gyosha Mall is huge. I think they need one of those maps you see in real life malls, maybe even color-coding specialist shops? There could be a board up near the hubs or at the end of each street? You could get 4 or more shop names to a board and stack vertically and color code the names e.g. Food, Forge, Building Materials, General, Ingredients ( that should keep @majorvex busy for a while )
You’re right, has been very interesting seeing some shops grow, expand, fall or grow into something different.
A little intimidating for newer players but there have been some new entrants on the field recently who have been storming ahead.
Malls, when set up right with an attentive owner, are a great option for old and new alike. Big future here, I think. Still improvement can be made so will be interesting to see where these go.
I started quite relatively late into the shop game but have been quite successful in my own little way…does take a bit of figuring how to stand out, offer something different etc but anyone can do it with a bit of creativity and effort.
Don’t forget about other malls and New Leyden Market! The mega thread has a map now, became too big!
Also, I always specialised in food from my first shop on. Then added brews and now forged gear. Still want to open my gem shop that sells anything gem related but need too many gems for coils for my new workshop AND for forging…
Once I’ve moved I will start to open it, might even have cheap coils then, temporary maybe since I will have leftovers or for always, who knows!
Amazing how we can make portals and malls, but we can’t make clothes, beds and better hunting tools than a crossbow. This game’s tech is amusingly everywhere.
@AeneaGames I hadn’t forgotten New Leyden Market - it wasn’t one I’d visited. I will correct that RIGHT NOW
I wonder if someone with a better attention span than me should start a Shop Mall Reference thread. Might also be worth adding that to @Nevir’s Useful References if it’s well-maintained and fair.
I like the idea of some form of information like you see in real life malls. It wouldn’t have to have the names, labels such as food and the number of the shop, forged items and again, the number of the shop would let a player know that when all they need at the moment is the advanced coils they know which shops to go to.
They may stop to check out a shop that interest them and that shop will get footfall, but some will get frustrated at all the running around trying to find the shop that sells the one item they need.
I know I was getting frustrated at trying to find coils with the gems I need and then looking for refined gems to make my own coils.
)
I updated the mall map a few days ago, so it’s already obsolete lol
