Recently a few friends and I started up a 4 player co-op campaign. Naturally everyone picked a different role to fill. We have a thief, loremaster (me), barterer/lucky charm, and something else that eludes me. Most of these civil skills don't stop anyone from doing what they normally do in single player as an individual character. Even lucky charm is shared party wide. Bartering is not however which gives reason to have someone manage all of the loot and money of the party.
Currently the member of my party with that ability does that. Any money/junk we have he insists we give to him so he can maximize our profits at the market. Since only one person(and thief) can look at a shopkeeper's inventory at a time we have to wait for everyone to decide what they want then have our thief steal whatever he can and finally have our barterer purchase anything else we need. This leads to 20-30 minutes spent simply shopping for items. I'm last to pick what I need and after waiting so long I usually don't even bother mentioning it.
While the time spent is irritating its the inability to shop on my own or have any money to myself that crosses the line. I enjoy having the freedom to buy whatever I want when I want to, especially when it takes as long as it does. I'm already so limited in the things I can do both in combat and out that I just can't give up the ability to buy/sell my own stuff. It drains the fun and really ruins the immersion for me. Micromanaging to that extent is just to much of a hassle in a multiplayer game.
I do end up giving most of my money and junk but I like to keep a small chunk for myself just in case I get fed up with waiting or don't want to bother anyone every time I want to get something. They can see the little extra I keep for myself and the one managing it all gets very annoyed by it. He doesn't like the idea of me having any extra gold on me. Anytime he notices he and another member will call me out and keep insisting I give them everything.
If I had the ability I would've removed the barter skill altogether. It's a pain to work with in this game and feels pretty lame when you already have +100,-100 affliction function.
What do you guys think? Are you fine with someone managing all your money/junk or do you prefer to do it on your own? Do think it lessens the gameplay or do it not faze you? Do any of you who give all your money/junk to one person take as long when you're shopping? Do you like the way the barter system works or would you rather see it changed? And am I in the wrong to disagree with doing it so much even though it's more efficient?
