formalize a merc system

i've noticed that a lot of people are interested in merc services from other players, yet will not take them because they are afraid of being scammed. hence, they usually will not pay for a merc service before the service is done.

mercs on the other hand, also do not like being scammed. hence accepting to be paid only after the service is done is not a good option for mercs either

so i say: formalize it! make it so neither player can be scammed.

make a new "merc interface" window. that way the merc can set his price. note: this is essential. this system would be ruined with arbitrary price-fixing set by the game itself.

anyone joining the merc's party will have the agreed-upon fee paid to the merc automatically. or the merc can vary his price for each player. or waive the fee for players who he does not want to charge.

have the amount of money that is charged to each player be logged, and have that money tied to the variable condition that all the players in that party win the mission that the merc has charged them for

if the merc leaves the party for any reason, then all money is refunded automatically to the people who paid him, in the exact same amount that they paid

if the merc and his party loses the mission, then anyone who leaves the party after that gets his money back automatically. or if everyone stays in the party, the merc can try again by restarting the mission

if the merc and his party wins the mission, then the merc keeps all the money he has been paid and the deal is over

Good proposal. I'm trying to look at it objectively without the bias I have against people who do that kind of thing. The missions are meant to be completed by people of that stage in the game (unless we're talking about Thunderhead Keep (in which case one person could not do it alone anyways)).
I wouldn't want to promote people taking the easy way out, but the idea is sound and worth considering.

i wouldn't say it's "taking the easy way out" so much as it is "playing the game the way it's meant to be played"

oftentimes with random PUG's, players are not playing the game the way it's meant to be played due to poorly-built parties and very bad players that drag everyone else down to their level

a merc can come along and fill a party with good players that use team work and also make sure it is built properly. for many people, this service is worth paying for since it reduces wasted time and frustration with having to repeat a mission billions of times

Join a guild and get guildees in your party? Most people who would help you are competent.

of course, having a Guild that can get you thru any mission is an ideal solution. but not everyone has that luxury.

this merc system would be for those who are not in a Guild that good

i run into players like that all the time. players stuck on the same exact mission for 2 or 3 weeks!

I've been stuck on Thunderhead Keep for the past month. I've even had members of my guild in my parties.
Has it helped? Obviously not.
Am I about to hire a merc? Definately not.
I know how to do the mission, therefore I am as valuable as a merc. And I don't ask the constituents of my party to pay me to get them through.

well not to rain on your parade or anything, but i merc'ed myself out 3 times yesterday on Thunderhead keep and beat the mission all those times with 3 different parties that i made which all had totally different members in them except for me

hence your "I am as valuable as a merc" statement is not really true.

i for one, guarantee success on those missions if i'm being paid to do it

sometimes professional mercs can get the job done where other players simply cannot

One person does not a successful mission make.

Why do people find Thunderhead Keep so hard? Is it just me that thinks it's not that difficult. I finished it on my first try with 6 others and a healer hench. Have you infused? Do you use the minimap features at all?

In any case, formalizing something like this will lead to players abusing it constantly (forge running for 1.5k armor) and would completley ruin gameplay for PvE. It might be your second character and you may have already finished the game, but the people at ANet don't want the game to wane out that quickly. They expect people to make more than 1 PvE character so that they can unlock all of the skills.

However, you can simply place a restriction on the merc system. If you have been to droknars or if you have ascended, you can't merc. At first there would still be some straggelers who have 1.5k or 15k armor and have not been to droknars or ascended but they would eventually get phased out. You'll still get a few high levels helping lower levels out with Nolani or Surmia but the abuse would be hugely toned down.

PS: Most of the earlier missions aren't that hard anyway, you shouldn't need to get a merc. So what if you die on your first try, it's not like your computer is going to crash if you fail.

true. but one merc person who knows how to attract great players into his party and build a party properly, does a successful mission make.

the point is that the job gets done, and some players for whatever reason are unable to get the job done with PUG's. of course mercs aren't for everyone, only people who wanna use them.

I think you're self aggrandizing a bit. Separating the wheat and the chaff isn't a hard task. Anyone can pay attention to people's behavioral and recruit a competent party as a result. I'd rather see more people learning to pick good teammates and for more people to become good players than for people to turn merc and let their greed and ego run the show.

But anyway, from a purely technical standpoint and disregarding my own opinion, this would work if they upgraded the party forming interface and then slotted it in according. There was an excellent idea based off the Lineage II party window system that someone pitched awhile back, but I've totally forgotten their name so I apologize if I'm stealing their thunder. Essentially, it involves a sort of LFG window which could be called up and used by players to review available players in their district, assess compatibility, and form parties. Something that displayed Char Name, Profession, A brief blurb about their particular build written by the player, a goal/destination (Mission, Skill Cap, travel to next Outpost, etc. al) and one or two other pieces of relevant information. Any sort of payment option could be slotted in accordingly as another category.

I still oppose the arrogance of the merc system, though.