My sincerest apologies to all the readers for the
delay in getting this interview posted. I have moved 2300 miles to a new
province and im just now set up! But enough about that, on with the show!
For this weeks interview I got to pick the brain of one of the most well
known shop owners on Europa, Lady Alcestis of Blue Wolf Traders!
Q: Tell us more about Blue Wolf Traders. We all know
it�s a shop, but � Why Blue Wolf Traders ?
A: My favourite colour is blue, my favourite animals are tigers &
bears.
Oh wait that doesn�t quite explain it, does it ;)
Considering tigers don�t even exist in UO, and the plain bears haven�t been
honoured with a statue yet, what options did I have left ? Back then I
certainly did not have a lot of money, but already I was hoping that one day
I would have the funds to buy myself two statuettes, dyed blue, to guard my
shop :) The other monster statues all look rather crappy, so that�s why I
settled with wolves. The traders part speaks for itself I may hope.
Q: How long has blue wolf traders been in existence?
A: Good question. I don�t know for sure. To answer this question I
went to check the properties of some very old screenshots I made. The first
image I have of Blue Wolf Traders dates back from the 13th of July 2003. But
I think the shop had been running for a few weeks already at that point � So
let�s say 3 years and a half more or less.
Q: Always at this location?A: No. In
the beginning Blue Wolf Traders was located at the backside of the Destard
mountain in trammel ( if you check the vendor shops-directory over at
UO-Auction2.com,
you can actually still find a picture of it and directions to our old
location !) When a friend of mine (maybe some of you remember Isaac Applebee
?) quit, I bought his Umbra road plot for a friendly price and opened a
second shop there, Pink Puma Traders. The vibrant pink uniforms were � hot
:D
After a while I got kinda sick of gating to two shops
though, so I decided to close down the Pink Puma store. A few weeks after
that, I saw the plot next to old Pink Puma up for sale, and bought it. The
idea of opening up a shop spread over several plots now came to mind � I
didn�t have to wait much longer till a 3rd plot was up for sale right next
to my other two. The owner sadly enough figured out what I was planning, so
he made me pay quite a high price :( But all said and done, I�m still very
happy that I bought it, even if the price at that time was outrageous.
So � Once I owned the three plots, I started bugging
elite plot-placer Trevelyan, who helped me to place the three houses more or
less on the same level, and a bit closer to each other. And voila, Blue Wolf
Traders as we currently know it, was born.
Q: How big are the shops, how many vendors would
you estimate?A: Every month a few decay, a few get kicked and
a few new ones get added but I think I could say on average, we have
somewhere in between 80 and 90 vendors spread over the three plots.
Q: What type things do you sell?A: A
bit of everything really.
In the left wing of the shop, we focus on
resources and craftables. Wood, ingots, arrows & bolts, potion kegs, recall
scrolls, PoT and bags of sending, Plants, � or basically: cheapish everyday
needs. Most vendors in this part of the shop are taken care of by the people
I�d like to think of as my friends, so, from that perspective, it�s
my favourite of the three plots.
The other two plots basically both provide the
same: Weapons and Armor �looted as well as crafted, Powerscrolls, Artifacts,
ML Ingredients and Craftables, Jewelry, Marties, BoD-rewards, Tokuno
Treasures, Museum & Library Rewards, Veteran Rewards, Tokens, Decorative
Rares and much much more.
Q: Are there any items that you have forbidden
people from selling to maintain the integrity of the game?A:
The moment the changeling dupe came into the game, was actually the first
time I had to think of taking such measures.
We obviously had the period during which w@r was selling
off his neon blue shroud at my shop, but at that point, that robe was, like
many items we all consider as rares, and old exploit which however had a
certain rarity and value attached to it.
Though as soon as I myself heard about the ongoing
dupe method with the imprisoned dog and realised how serious it was (yes
indeed, I have to find out this kind of stuff too, I don�t have mystical
connections to a higher world that gives me all info on exploits), I did
send out a message to all my vendorkeepers, warning them that selling either
changeling dupes or imprisoned dogs was strictly forbidden and that anyone
caught selling them, would get his contract terminated.
I�ve also been trying to keep away from those people who
asked me for vendors to sell their �leet event items�, �mass amounts of
artifacts 11� and such. But what you all should keep in mind is that:
a)not everybody is as honest as you�d hope when they
ask you for a vendorspot and
b)not everybody obeys to my rules.
All you can do as a shopowner in such a situation, is end
the contract and wait for a week, till the vendor disappears. And hope
people understand your situation, rather than call you a lover of dupers ;)
Q: So what�s the deal with all the trivia you�ve
been hosting?A: Well, Blue Wolf Traders has been active on
Umbra Road for just over a year now. Before, Umbra Road wasn�t anything
special really, while now it has developed into some kind of �vendor hot
spot� for Europa. My shop is something I�m proud of, so I guess I just
wanted to share my joy with the other players of Europa and thank all my
customers by organising something fun for them.
Q: Tell us how a typical Alcestis day works? for
those people who think that being an established shop owner is simple
A: I usually get up at about 8-9 am in the morning. First thing I do
is log onto UO to see what my vendors sold and I restock them for a first
time. After that I go brush my teeth and get dressed *grins* Throughout the
day I check my vendors about � 1 time an hour more or less and restock them
right away every time I see something sells. When I feel like spending money
I will update my �Alcestis is buying book� and drop a couple at Brit bank.
Most of the time I will also be gating from Brit bank, usually with a dvd
running on the background (preferably some easy going series such as Sex &
the city, Ally Mc Beal or at the moment Will & Grace and Angel hihi).
Besides my UO life, I have a so called real life that basically evolves
around FOOD, buying dvd�s, attending lectures and even more so whining about
not wanting to go cause � its raining and I don�t wanna get wet ? or � I
feel a bit sick and I wouldn�t be able to concentrate? Or maybe because the
professor just says the same as the book we have to read for his class says
so � why would I have to go listen to him?
Q: Are most of your vendors friends, enemies, just
random people?A: As I said before,
most of the people from the left wing and a few more, are indeed friends.
Besides that hmm � I don�t know most of the people that run vendors at my
place that well. If they aren�t doing anything wrong and they don�t show an
interest in speaking with me, I tend to just leave them alone. As for
enemies: it happens. If one of my enemies so happens to be able to run a
good and honest vendor, I won�t refuse him a contract. Then again most of my
enemies are idiots who scam or deal in dirty goods and we don�t need those
at BWT anyway :/
Q: Do you enjoy running such a well known vendor
shop?A: I wouldn�t know what else to spend my time on in UO if
I had no shop, to be honest. So yes, I do would have to be my final
answer :) . I enjoy re-arranging the stock on the vendors or in my
stockboxes, I enjoy counting my gold, I enjoy making good deals �
Q: What�s the best thing about it?A:
It keeps me busy. Without the shop I would get so bored :( Besides that, it
also forces me to somehow socialise. Most of my current friends I got to
know through the shop. Some I came to know when they asked for a vendor,
others when we were making a sale, etc etc �
Q: And the worst of course?A: The
worst would be that, being a well known figure, logically, everybody will
form an opinion on you. Both negative and positive opinions can be scary
though� I�m not a dumb b!tch, nor an elite deity.
Another thing that annoys me to death is when people
think my shop�s staircase is an advertisement paper and clutter it with
runes. If you want your shop to be successful it is my opinion that you have
to be dedicated and willing to make a certain effort to advertise it
properly. Dropping off your runes in front of a fairly often visited shop
that does indeed make the effort to gate several hours a day is
something I perceive of as being very lame.
Q: What�s the craziest thing a customer has ever asked for?A:
One question I get quite often is the one for proof of the fact I�m indeed
female, usually in the form of nude pictures.
Q: Do you enjoy chatting with your customer base
and helping them find what they need, or offering to supply it in the
future?A: This may sound rude, but no I don�t. When I am
running around in UO, it usually means I�m busy. You�ll have a much better
chance to get a response to your questions if you simply ICQ me, so I can
answer you when I got time for it. Which doesn�t mean I simply won�t bother
to answer people in game when I see them asking me a question, it only means
the answers I give in game will most likely be short ;) I tend to be just a
tiny bit friendlier on ICQ �
As for helping people to find what they need: when I know
where to find the item you ask me for, I will gladly show you the vendor or
even gate you to another vendorhouse. On the other hand, if you ask me if I
know where to find some specific piece of armor or weapon� Don�t expect me
to know the entire shop�s vendor inventory by heart. I don�t take the
slightest interest in this kind of stuff and I�m certainly not planning to
look through the vendor inventories for you. (Last time
I tried to solve this problem with a searchable database for Blue Wolf, I
got banned remember har har )And an
answer to your last question: No. I do not take orders. I am not the kind of
trader that has �dealers� for everything and nothing. All the stuff I have
in stock is what I get offered at Brit bank and ICQ or can find on cheapish
in-game vendors. In short: I don�t really have a better chance of finding an
item than you do. However, if I know someone is looking for an item, and I
happen to stumble upon it, I will ICQ you if I can remember your
name.
Ok, now after reading this you may think I absolutely
hate communicating with people :) That�s not it though. The point is, I
already put a lot of time in running this shop, and for some things, I
really just don�t have the time.
Q: What is
your take on the current state of the economy in game?A: A lot
of people claim that the economy and trading scene are dead atm, with a lot
of the big spenders gone. I do not agree with this vision. Most of the
people who have gone missing lately were those for who a million was a
dollar, and nothing but a dollar. The only people who could possibly suffer
from this �loss� are the ones buying GP for $. I don�t think we need either
of these types of people, so in my personal opinion the removal of a whole
lot of gold and players in the recent uo history can only be seen as
something to make our economy more vibrant again.
The first few weeks after the recent bans, people were
hesitant to buy I noticed. My sales dropped by at least 50%. But the people
from Europa have surely recovered from the shock :) When I look around at
Brit bank, I see more new shops and more people looking to buy and sell than
I have in a long long time. It�s certainly moving in the right direction.
Large scale multi-shard economic theories on the overflow
of gold and desperate needs for goldsinks aren�t exactly my piece of cake. I
try to keep things simple, so I won�t go on to give my opinion on such
things� The only thing I know is that I want a banker deed for Blue Wolf
Traders and am willing to pay a billion for it ;) Now that�s what I call a
gold sink.
Q: Anything else you�d like to add that hasn�t
been asked, please feel freeA: I think i babbled long enough,
but as you ask ;)
I would like to add that if you�re interested in running
a vendor at Blue Wolf Traders, don�t hesitate to contact me on ICQ. My
number is 38970131. Do however mention �UO� somewhere in your authorisation
request or I may mistake you for an Eastern European bride or a cyberking
and you�ll end up on my ignore :/ oops.And of
course, if you ever wanna sell something, you can find my pricelist
here .
Special thanks to Alcestis for her ever enduring
patience and perserverence in order to get this spotlight completed as well
as the custom graphics |