Play Diary

Play Diary: Selin the Merchant and a 5,000 Gold Lesson

Studio play diary: Selin is a fictional character, not a real player. The game was played by our studio autoplayer; the events, figures and screens come from that run, and the telling is ours.

I took over my father’s business with about 4,400 gold. On day 7 I rented a 100 unit shop in Montclair: seven days free, then 8 gold a day. The next day Nevan became my marketing aide.

Tip: Rent a shop early and hire an aide at once. Your trading house keeps working while you are on the road.

A fast start

On day 18 I met the House of Sarrafzade at the Lysandre counting house. On day 21 my Trade skill hit 50. By day 28 my net worth had passed 10,000, more than double where I began. Four cuts of meat rotted on day 20, a small bill next to that profit.

The great war and a bad day

On day 145 Valoren and Sylvar went to war, and it lasted until day 205. On day 172 bandits caught me: 5,103 gold gone, and I fell back to Glenhaven. I lost more in one day than I had started with.

Tip: Do not carry everything you own, and do not travel unguarded. Selin still had no troops at day 252 and paid for it.

The quiet loss

One line kept repeating in my chronicle: promised goods never came, relations suffered. Every order I missed cooled someone toward me. The gold rose while the goodwill drained away.

Tip: Do not take orders you cannot fill. Read the small relationship lines in your chronicle; they come back at the bargaining table.

I ended day 252 with 39,937 gold and a net worth of 41,526, nine times my start. Next time I am hiring a few guards.