Antique pricing

[rchandra]

Antique shops sell you IDed items for a massive surcharge, and unIDed for very cheap. I feel this should be reversed - if you don't know what's what you have no choice but to pay whatever they ask. This is better flavour, but also better gameplay: an item that you haven't seen before is more likely to be useful to you.

We could also have normal shops surcharge you for anything with the (unknown) flag.

[Siegurt]

an item that you haven't seen before is more likely to be useful to you.

I don't believe that to be true. I would say an unidentified bit of equipment is less likely to be useful, and an unidentified consumable is approximately as likely to be useful (possible more or less likely depending on what you have identified so far)

[Siegurt]

(Also I believe the 'flavor' is that the shop keeper doesn't know what it is either, and hence is just charging you an arbitrary value based on its base type)

[Lasty]

The current antique shop design prompts you to gamble your money sooner, because once you ID the item in question its cost will shoot up. Your proposal would encourage you to wait until the item is ID'd to purchase it, because the price will plummet.

It would also provoke the question, "why can't I use a scroll of ID on the item in the shop before buying?"

[rchandra]

an item that you haven't seen before is more likely to be useful to you.

I don't believe that to be true. I would say an unidentified bit of equipment is less likely to be useful, and an unidentified consumable is approximately as likely to be useful (possible more or less likely depending on what you have identified so far)

If it's a ring, like a ring of protection from fire, it's not very useful if IDed (because that means you already have one). Similarly, your first blinking scroll is way more useful than your second.

[archaeo]

Sure, but part of the reason you pay less for an unidentified item is because you have to ID it yourself, presumably. That first blinking scroll you mention is extremely useful when the shopkeeper IDs ?blinking for you, but if the shop is just selling it unidentified, you'll either have to read-ID it or spend an ID scroll on it.

[Siegurt]

Sure, but part of the reason you pay less for an unidentified item is because you have to ID it yourself, presumably. That first blinking scroll you mention is extremely useful when the shopkeeper IDs ?blinking for you, but if the shop is just selling it unidentified, you'll either have to read-ID it or spend an ID scroll on it.

Also it's equally likely it's blinking and random uselessness, so it's *average* usefulness (prior to IDing it as blinking) is worse.

[bel]

This should never change because otherwise you can't buy a scroll of acquirement for 20 gold.

More seriously, the reasoning by Lasty above is good.

[njvack]

once you ID the item in question its cost will shoot up

Huh! I'd never noticed that.

[johlstei]

What do unid boots cost these days? Those used to be a no-brainer.

[byrel]

once you ID the item in question its cost will shoot up

Huh! I'd never noticed that.

Yeah. I had no clue the prices actually CHANGED. That'll change my play a bit some games.