Bringing Vendor Shopping Back

While replying to a topic on U Hall Stratics, I had a sudden solution how to fix the current issues with vendor shopping.

I think a very "UO" solution would not be to create a global search system as many are asking for. Even the developers said in the recent Town Hall that they did not want to create a World of Warcraft style auction house Instead you could ask (by which I mean setup search options) the vendor if they had the item or better. If the vendor does, a bag would be displayed with all the items that fit your criteria.

For example if you are searching for a Swordmanship item which has at least 40% damage increase and 40% hit lower defense, the vendor will display every sword that fits this criteria. Now you will only be browsing those exact items. If the vendor does not have anything, he will say so saving you dozens of clicks.

A system like this would maintain the uniqueness of UO's system but also make shopping a lot more convenient and much faster. The system could even be expanded so you can specify many different items you are looking for, which would be better than current search sites where you go one by one.

My next few blog posts will be a series on how I would handle revitalizing UO as a whole. It is something I have been thinking about for a while and would like to write out some articles on it.