Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Bribing Traders for Attitude Boost

I dislike the ability to give gold to traders to improve their Attitude to toward you.

It makes no sense. Meet trader, gift him 100 gold, and bingo, he sells you that magic sword for 300 less than before. I felt this mechanic was terrible in Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2 also! At least in DOS it was sometimes so expensive that it wasn't worth it if you weren't going to trade with them much. But in BG3 its automatically the optimal thing to just hand over 100 gold to each trader you meet.

If you want to influence traders you should have to do things for them (progressing the story in a way they like) or give them specific things they are looking for.

For example Dammon in the Grove says he wishes he had better tools . . . and you can find hammers, pliers, and other tools in the game . . . giving him some of these should improve his Attitude, not just a lump of gold.

PREACH!!!

Exactly. Also, you have a book with a magic fórmula. You should be able to have him the book (after creating the weapon). By the way, why can't you create several of them? In this situations, zentarim work better. You do a quest for them, and you get better things.

OP I couldn't agree with you more. After all, just handing over gold for no real reason is crazy especially when things cost so much in-game and you find very little of it. Heck, a lousy +1 bow is around 900 gold Just for 1 pt of extra damage for which you might get.

Personaly i like this mechanique ...
If you are selling all your loot to vendor, its nice to have a little extra something to get from him, when he cant afford give you any more money.

Also i think gold is quite fine ...
If you can make anyone like you by giving him a hammer ... it makes completely sence that you can get the same result by giving him money for that hammer.

It maybe should be just adjusted so it would not be so easily exploitable ...
Or implement there some maximal discount from attitude ...

Yes and no, from rp perspective this has no sense. You would never give willingly money to the stranger. Everyone rather try to lower cost of the items than pay extra. Doing some favor is more acceptable for altruistic characters.

The point is . . . he needs a hammer. He's out in the wilderness and can't work without one. All the gold in the world isn't going to make a hammer magically appear so he can start crafting/repairing weapons for the Tieflings to defend themselves with.

I just generally dislike the idea that vendors charge you more or less based on how pretty your smile is or how much you bribed them. It's an annoying concept, and I know that as both a seller and a buyer, I simply would not want to do business with someone as shady as that... only apparently every merchant in the game is that damn shady.

And it is shady. It's dishonest and reprehensible business practice.

Now, haggling I can understand, but the two concepts are completely abstracted from one another. I genuinely like the idea of doing small favours for merchants or otherwise gaining their gratitude in a meaningful way, resulting in a small but appreciable discount... But the listed prices once you hit the window should be exactly what is charged, and it shouldn't magically change between the shelf and the counter.

I believe that whole concept of being beggar could a little bit disagree with you.
Also, it depends on how do you see it ... it could be seen as investment ...

Doing some favour would be better, i agree ... but it should be working by quest, or previous mentioning like: "Oh please i desperatly need a hammer wanderer, if you find some, bring it to me please and i will offer you a discount as reward."
Right now its more like "Hey here is some junk i found, i presume that some of it could be valuable for you, so give me a discount." or "Hey, here is some junk i found. > But this is not a junk wanderer, this hammer is priceless for me! > Oh yeah? How priceless? > Incredibly priceless, i need it desperatly. > Fine, keep it, for free. > May i offer you a discount that will cut all mine profits in half? > Ok, sure. *feeling so altruistic, while i just exploited needs of others for my own profit*"

If you have no reason to give someone 100g, how could you have reason to give him for free some hammer that is worth 100g for him?
I just dont see any difference.

Yes, i know that hammer would have zero value for hammersmith with kazilion hammers on his shop ... that is why you didnt bringed it to him, but to this other person, who desperatly need a hammer. :-/ Yet, that otherwise worthless hammer is valuable right now, right here ... that is why water costs so much in middle of desert, and so little next to huge lake ... so, where is difference?


Except if he have enough gold, he can make hammer out of it.
Just kidding ...


I believe haggling is exactly what is happening here ... we just dont see it here, since this is not middleagefantasyvendorsimulator, so Larian probably simply thinked that it would be more anoying than anything else.

Also, same answer ... where is difference from doing favour in giving 100g and giving hammer that right here and right now is worth 100g?

And i dont see anything shady about it, every seller in the world and whole history was and is more willing to give discound to some nice looking, nice acting customer ... than ugly brute that ofends them just by standing in their shop. And if you expect different, you are naive.
Ofc that should change when one, or another come in with whole group, that much i agree ... since i dont like 3/4 from people who just entered my shop ... i would certainly not give discount to that last of them, just bcs s/he is nice ... unless i want to piss other 3 off.

I have never gave the money to the beggar, propose food yes but won't help developing pathology. Beside that, merchants aren't poor and they always go to tempt people to get them buying stuff - not inversely. They can cheat with prices but never saw one who would give me a discount if I gave them more money. It is simply not working like that. We pay for something not for the air.

Not every quest should be obvious like that, we are not witchers lol. Also BG3 lacks of gwent.

Some items are special to some people. If this hammer has this value to the smith then no problem, i would find his hammer and even wrap it with a bow to get more disapproval from jealous Laezel.

I agree with the OP.
It makes no sense to give merchants money just like this.

reality check:
Imagine you make a deal with a merchant next door.
You give him 1000 Euro now and for that you can buy everything for half the money and sell everything for double the money from now until forever, including buying a huge car from him or selling every random junk you find to him. Once you got everything you need and you sold him all the junk in the world ( the streets are so clean now ;-) you kill him, you take everything you have ever sold him from his corpse and then you repeat this with the next merchant.

I never saw a whale ... that dont mean they dont exist.

As i said, its called investment ... and yes, it is acutaly working like this.
You give to vendor some money, that he can use however he want ... and he gives you some discount.
In world where you are the only one who actualy work with this vendor, in the end its more profitable for you than the vendor, but that is the point ... you need to be tempted to invest ... in the actual world, where vendor is working with countless other people who is trading stuff with him, its huge profit fot him, since he is able to expand his offerings, and sell them without a discount ... so both are profiting here.

Also i see that no one answered me where is difference between gold and stuff of the same amount of gold.

I'm sorry, I must have missed this - how do you go about bribing the traders??

Has anyone actually gotten the Zhent to show you the "good stuff?" Every time I try, even after the leader calls me a Friend of the Zhent, I still can't see it.

You simply give gold (or anything else) to his trade vindow, dont take anything for it, and confrim.
For any value you dont get anything in return, your reputation with that vendor is incerasing ... wich alter prices.

Thanks!