Gswiki:Style guide/Town shops
Town shops, formally known as NPC shops, are permanent shops that are located within towns, and offer a variety of goods for sale to players for silvers. These shops will typically utilize the ORDER verb in order to access the inventory, and may also utilize CUSTOMIZE for certain items, though some exceptions may occur. There may be some variation to how ORDER will work in these establishments.
Form
A semantic form has been created to make it easier for contributors to create and edit town shops as they are opened or updated and can be found here: Town Shop Form. The form uses the town shops template and is limited to a single room only, either as the single room in the shop or the first room. Additional formatting may be required beyond the parameters of the form and can be handled in the free text area of the form.
Page Name
The title of the article should reflect the full name of the shop, including the articles "a," "an," and "the," as that is the proper name of the shop. Utilizing {{DEFAULTSORT:(Shop name without article, then article)}} at the end of the article will allow the shop to be properly sorted alphabetically. Ex. The Cultured Corsair would use {{DEFAULTSORT:Cultured Corsair, the}} to ensure correct alphabetization.
The name of the shop may not always match up with the name of the room. In instances such as this, the article name should reflect the name of the shop that appears when using ORDER, ex. Saphrie's Herbs and Tinctures is located in the Triage Station of Ta'Vaalor. Additionally, in some cases, the shop name may match up with the room name, including punctuation. When this occurs, only the portion of the name preceding the punctuation should be considered the proper shop name.
Town Shops Template
The town shops template is a required template for all town shops, and should be entered prior to the body of the article. Using this template will automatically assign the shop to the appropriate category and updates lists generated utilizing assigned properties on the applicable article pages. Additionally, it utilizes the room description template. As noted in the section regarding the town shop form, the template will only work for the main room in the shop. Additional formatting will be needed to include additional rooms or backroom merchandise, if offered.
Template Parameters
Types
Required. There are six main categories of town shops: carts, eateries, gemshops, inns, pawnshops, and shops.
- A cart is a cart run by an NPC that sells wares while wandering around rooms in a town or location. The NPC and cart may not always be accessible, but they are considered permanent town shops as they have a fixed timeline for appearance. These are different from traveling merchant shops, which are more infrequent, and often associated with a special event.
- An eatery is a shop that sells food and/or beverages and offers a seating area, including private tables. For the sake of categorization, this does not include inns.
- A gemshop is a shop that will purchase gems and jewelry and resell pawned jewelry. In some cases, this shop will also be a jewelry store that utilizes the ORDER system. Note: There are some gemshops that do not sell or resell jewelry; these should be handled separately and not within the town shops form or template.
- An inn is a shop that typically sells food and/or beverages, but has the additional function of allowing characters to CHECK IN to the Character Manager. They may have latchable rooms or private tables, as well.
- A pawnshop is a shop that buys and resells weapons, armor, magic items, and miscellaneous goods.
- A shop is the general term used for a shop that sell goods but does not fall under the above two categories. This additionally includes stationary stands or carts that do not wander.
Realm
Required. This is based on the realm in which a shop is located, and is a separate parameter from location, which is used in conjunction with the realm if the shop is located in a settlement or hamlet outside of the main town.
Article
Optional. This to be used with location and any entry simply adds the article "the" in front of a location that typically uses it in its name, ex. the Ravelin.
Location
Optional. This can be used with realm and is meant to note shops that are located in a specific realm and are either outside of or within a special section within the town.
Specialtyshop
Optional. This is used to denote shops that sell items that do not fall under one of the wares categories. Any entry will change the wording in the introductory sentence to "specializes in," as opposed to "sells" and will categorize the shop under specialty shops.
Wares
This is a required parameter in all but specialty shops, pawnshops, and gemshops. The following list details how a shop is categorized based on the wares it sells. Some shops may sell two types of wares, however those that sell more than two types of wares or a variety of goods would be considered a general store. The below list encompasses those categories that have a total number of five or more shops of the same type. Categories with four or fewer shops would fall under specialty shops. Additional categories may be added as new shops open, and can be updated through the shop wares property page. Doing so will automatically update the options in the town shop form.
- Apparel - shops that sell clothing of any type. Some apparel shops may have a specialty or a narrow focus, such as an apparel shop that sells shoes only.
- Armor - shops that sell armor and armor accessories.
- Beverages - beverage shops sell drinks only.
- Brewing supplies - brewing shops sell supplies to brew coffee or tea.
- Clerical supplies - shops that sell various holy symbols and armaments.
- Cobbling materials - shops that sell materials to cobble shoes.
- Dyes - shops that sell standard varieties of dyes.
- Fishing supplies - shops that sell fishing gear.
- Fletching materials - shops that sell fletching and archery necessities.
- Food - shops that sell prepared food and beverages. For the sake of categorization, it excludes shops that exclusively sell beverages as well as groceries used for cooking.
- Forging materials - Shops that sell forging materials.
- General goods - stores that sell a variety of goods.
- Groceries - stores that sell groceries and/or cooking supplies.
- Herbs - shops that sell healing herbs.
- Instruments - shops that sell musical instruments.
- Jewelry - shops sell jewelry and may or may not be located inside or adjacent to the local gemshop.
- Locksmith supplies - shops that sell tools needs for disarming traps and picking locks.
- Magic supplies - shops that sell a wide variety of items useful to all users of magic, including enchanting potions, mortars and pestles, and imbeddable items.
- Mailing supplies - shops that sell supplies for the mail system and allow characters to send mail from them.
- Ship upgrades - shops that are used to upgrade ships used in Open Sea Adventures.
- Tableware - shops that sell various types of tableware, including plates, cups, or other eating utensils.
- Tobacco - shops that sell tobacco and smoking implements.
- Weapons - shops that sell melee weapons. Look in the cleric shops for holy armaments.
Addwares
Optional. This is to be used in conjunction with wares and will populate an additional entry into the introductory sentence, as well as an additional category. This is meant to be for shops that may sell two types of wares. The above list is the same, with the following addition:
- Alchemy reagents - shops that double as alchemy reagent consignment shops. As these are standardly paired with magic shops, this is the only wares category that is in the "addwares" portion.
Specialty
Optional. This denotes specialized inventory, and is required if the shop is a specialty shop. However, it is optional for regular shops that have a more narrow scope of wares, such as a shop that sells shoes only.
Addinfo
Optional. This allows for additional information regarding the shop to be entered into the introductory paragraph.
Proprietor
Optional. This is either the merchant that displays when you ORDER or the NPC within the room. They can either be a base description (15/15/15) or named. If not named, an article would need to be set via the "Article2" parameter. The following pertain specifically to the proprietor parameter, as well:
- Article2 - Optional. This is to set an article for the proprietor if not named.
- NPC - Optional. This creates a link to the NPC's page if there is on present in the shop.
- Propdesignnpc - Optional. This is if the proprietor NPC is also a specialty design NPC. Anything entered will automatically transclude the specialty designs from the proprietor NPC's page to the shop.
Multiroom
Optional. This denotes if a shop has more than one room selling inventory. Any entry will populate a header for the first room only, as well as properly cascade any headers handled by the template. The form allows for up to two additional rooms within it. Additional rooms will need to be manually handled.
Roomname
Required. This populates the room name in the room description portion of the template. If multiroom is used, the room name will automatically populate in the room's header.
Desc
Required. This populates the description of the room in the room description portion of the template. When entering the description, please utilize the room's full day description.
Realrnum & Rnum
Optional. Realrnum is the real room number which is displayed to all players. Rnum is the lich room id, which works with Lich for directions.
Exits & Paths
Optional. These are used to indicate available ("obvious") directions. Exits are only used for rooms that are considered inside, and paths are only used for rooms that are considered outside.
Inventory
Required if the shop has inventory for sale in the main room. This displays the shop's inventory or menu when ORDERing or viewing a menu. This will not populate item information or pricing. In rare circumstances, there may be a permanent shop that does not utilize the ORDER system. In these cases, the container2 template should be used, similar to how event shops handle the container.
Backroom
Optional. This displays inventory that is only available for purchase after a character has built up a rapport with the shop owner and is granted access to it. This is only available through the standard ORDER system.
Copy/Paste Code
{{Town shops
|type =
|realm =
|article =
|location =
|specialtyshop =
|wares =
|addwares =
|specialty =
|addinfo =
|multiroom =
|roomname =
|desc =
|rnum =
|realrnum =
|exits =
|paths =
|inventory =
|backroom =
}}
Inventory
The inventory section of the template will allow for a significant amount of input to record the shop's inventory information, including space to create a table with inventory table templates, which allows for more in-depth item information and pricing, and to record inventory in multiple rooms of the shop.
Template Entry
There are two types of inventory to enter into the inventory section, main inventory and backroom inventory. Main inventory is the inventory that is available to all customers, while backroom inventory is inventory that is only made available after a character has developed a sales relationship with the shop, i.e.. purchased enough items to be granted access to special merchandise.
Main Inventory
Most shops utilize an ORDER and/or CUSTOMIZE system to view and purchase inventory. When inputting inventory from those shops into this parameter, the output from using these commands should be preceded by <pre{{log2}}> and end with </pre>. This will maintain the formatting as seen in the game window.
In rare circumstances, there may be a permanent shop that does not utilize the ORDER system. In these cases, the container2 template should be used, similar to how event shops handle the container.
Additionally, this may optionally be followed by a table that details item information, including pricing. In order for the table to work within the template and the form, it must be set up using the table templates. To view information on how to do so, see Town Shop Inventory Tables.
Backroom Inventory
Backroom inventory should be set up separately on the wiki page from the main inventory as characters do not have immediate access to it. The header will automatically populate based if anything is entered in this parameter, and the level will be set based on whether the shop is a single room or has multiple rooms. Entries should mirror that of the main inventory, otherwise.
If a shop has backroom inventory, it will automatically be added to the list on the backroom page.
Multiple Room Shops
Some shops have multiple rooms with additional wares for sale. For ease of set up, the town shops addroom template was created for quick copy and paste set up for each additional room. This template would need to be entered with applicable parameters filled in into the free text area of the form, or simply following the town shops template if not handling with the form. Parameters and instructions mirror those of the town shops template, with the exception of "Direction," which is used to indicate what direction the player must go from the indicated room to reach the next one (see Fluttering Myriad as one example).
Copy/Paste Code
{{Town shops addroom
|direction =
|roomname =
|desc =
|rnum =
|realrnum =
|exits =
|paths =
|inventory =
|backroom =
}}
Additional Guidelines
The following sections cover additional and/or optional guidelines to consider for shop page creation or updates.
Town Shop Inventory Tables
As an optional step, a table can be created to immediately follow the copy and paste output of ORDER/menu in the inventory/backroom portion of the form or the town shop or town shop addroom template(s) in order to display the inventory's details and pricing. As regular tables will not work when entered into a template parameter, templates have been created in order to ensure consistent formatting of these tables, if used.
Templates
The below templates can be used to create the inventory tables for shops.
- Townshop table start - This template is used to begin and format the table. It is set up to be collapsed with the ability to input a custom toggle for each table. If a custom toggle is designated, a "toggle all" option must be used at the top of the page to allow for all content to be uncollapsed at once. See the collapsed section help page for information on how to do so.
- Townshop item - This template is used to enter information into the table. This can be used multiple times within the table as it is limited to a single line of cells.
- Item# - Number of the item in the inventory/menu output.
- Item - This is the base description and/or long description of the item for sale.
- Type - This is the item's base type. Examples would be weapon base, armor, or if it is a magic item.
- Info - This is the item's inventory information, including weight, worn locations (if any), and if functional.
- Details - This is the item's details that do not otherwise fall under the other headers. This includes the item's analyze, if scripted, as well as other details such as customizations, if a magic item persists, etc. It is preferred, in lieu of a lengthy analyze, that an item page is created and linked in this section, with the item's individual customizations, if any, displayed here.
- Taste1/2 - If an item is a food or beverage item, the taste messaging can be input here.
- Price - This is the item's price.
- Shop table end - This template closes the table.
Copy/Paste Code
{{Townshop table start|(customtoggle)}}
{{Townshop item | item# = | item = | type = | info = | details = | taste1 = | taste2 = | price = }}
{{shop table end}}
NPCs
NPCs, or non-player characters, may be found in some shops, some as shop owners while others may be specialty design NPCs. All NPCs should be set up on their own page, and linked to from the shop. This allows the shop's focus to be on the inventory, while the NPC can have a separate focus. Specialty design NPCs are a slight exception to this; please see specialty design NPCs section below.
Specialty design NPCs
Some shops may have NPCs present that are able to customize items with a long description based on the item's material. For now, the customization offerings may be housed on these pages either following the inventory of the room the NPC is located in or after the room description if there is no inventory sold in that room (but sold in the shop). This information should begin with <pre{{log2}}> and end with </pre>. These guidelines are subject to change following review of NPCs overall.
Previous Inventory
Sometimes, a shop may be updated with a new room description and/or inventory. When this happens, only the current information should be on the main page for the shop. A subpage for the shop named "Previous inventory" should be created and the former information moved there. To ensure the previous information is accessible, a link can be created under the ==Subheader 2== of "Historic Information" using {{Special:PrefixIndex/{{FULLPAGENAME}}/|stripprefix=yes|hideredirects=yes}}.
Form & Templates
Form for town shop page creation or editing:
Primary templates used with town shops are: