Archive for the 'tailoring in SWG' Category
My devotion to the members of the Moneta Community Network is unwavering. Like many of our members, I spend a good portion of my time and energy working toward making things better for everyone. Overall, I enjoy my role and don’t mind the work required to get the job done.
Much of what I do everyday goes unseen by most of the members. I maintain the roster, send out emails, get information to new members, work out problems behind the scenes, strategize ways to improve the way we run things, regularly check in with key members to provide support and run errands to get folks what they need, etc.
Yet there are times when it just doesn’t seem like enough. In addition to my other responsibilities, I am our guild’s only tailor. I’m also the only one who does any sort of cooking. It’s in these areas that I most often feel like I’m really rather useless.
Sure, I provide uniforms for the squad and offer free wardrobe consultations to all the guild members…. but I remain entirely useless at providing enhanced clothing with could significantly help folks out.
I make sure that everyone has access to munchies and crunchies…. but while being very tasty, I’m afraid the nutritional value of my food leaves much to be desired.
I know there must be those out there who think that I could do either or both if only I’d put the effort in. And they would be right. But the truth is that I sometimes struggle to keep on top of everything that’s already on my plate. Beyond just the time and energy it would require, I must admit that neither enhanced clothing or quality food really move me. Just the thought of having to attend culinary classes or spend countless hours fiddling with my reverse engineering tool is enough to make me want to pack my bags and disappear.
So it seems that despite my occasional bouts with guilt, I shall remain the useless tailor, providing mediocre goods to these extraordinary people. And hoping they’ll forgive my ignorance. 
Many years ago, when I was first starting |Bahama-Wear|, I dreamt of a successful tailoring business. Back then I thought if I could just sell enough clothing to support myself, I’d be successful.
Recently I’ve been thinking about what success means now. Admiral Fenris shared his thoughts on achieving the rank of Admiral and obtaining his pride and joy, the Agamemnon. I completely understand how he might be a bit sad to have reached the top.
My business now is successful beyond anything I’d imagined. Just the other day, a customer I’d never met called me a celebrity. I still find that rather funny and I know he was probably just being a little dramatic…. but it made me think.
I have achieved creating a successful tailoring business. So what’s next?
I like having goals. I like working toward something. So is there still something for me to work toward?
Though sometimes it’s like keeping up with the laundry, I try to keep my vendors well stocked. I work toward serving the customers I have and winning over new ones. I work to supply uniforms to the fleet and find ways to get all our members everything they need to succeed in their choosen professions.
But in all the work and goals and meanings of success, a key thing is lost. See, I didn’t become a tailor because I wanted a successful business. I became a tailor because I have a passion for clothes. Because I love the thrill of putting together a terrific outfit or discovering a color I’ve never tried before or making someone look really good.
Success isn’t defined by how many customers, ships or credits. It doesn’t depend on level or rank.
Success is knowing what you love to do and being able to do it.
I was working in my shop the other day when a couple came in.
The woman walked in and the gentleman ran in after her yelling, “Hey!”
I said hello and asked if there was anything I could help them with. The woman ignored me and walked over to the vendor. The gentleman looked at me and said, “I need a ring.” Before I had a chance to respond the woman said, “Come on, I got one.”
“Well I need one”, he replied. In a harsh tone she said, “You didn’t get yourself one??!!” Sheepishly he replied, “No.” She marched back over to the vendor and purchased a second ring. I smiled gently at the gentleman and said, “Looks like she’s got it for you.”
She swung around abruptly and said, “There! Now let’s go.” She was out the door in a flash. The gentleman politely thanked me and then ran after her.
I give that marriage 3 days.
I was out doing some bargain hunting the other day. I did a search for all items selling for a credit. I picked up a couple of paintings, a load of couches we used to decorate the guildhall and various little nick-nacks. Good deals, all of them.
A pack for sale caught my eye. It was named “+20 Power Bits”. I don’t do much work at all with enhanced items. The couple of time I’ve bothered to enhance a piece of clothing it’s been just to add +10 luck to a wedding gown. After all, every girl should have as much luck as possible on her big day!
To someone who doesn’t work with them much, +20 power bits are quite high. The limit is +35 and it takes someone with a lot of experience and luck to produce that. I personally can’t make a +5 bit so I quickly saved the waypoint for the +20 pack and went to check it out.
The vendor the pack appeared on had only a few items on it. Other packs were labeled ‘+30 bits’ and ‘+35 bits’. Every other pack was listed for the maximum number of credits - so not really for sale at all. Why the heck would someone be dumping a pack full of +20’s?
I purchased the pack and was immediately guilt ridden. It had to be a mistake. None of the other packs were for sale. A pack with 34 +20 bits was certainly worth more than a credit. This poor trader had made a mistake and here I was taking advantage. Shame on me!
I quickly took down the name of the woman who owned the rest of the packs on the vendor and added her to my friend list. When she showed up as available, I tentatively sent her a tell.
“I bought a pack from your vendor yesterday. I think it might have been a mistake”, I began. “The +20 power bits?”, she replied. See. I knew it. Too good to be true. It was a mistake. I started thinking about whether I’d retained the waypoint for the shop so I could return it to her…
“No, that wasn’t a mistake. I don’t use the 20’s. Only 30’s and up.”, she said. I reread that line over and over with my jaw hanging low. Whoa! She doesn’t even use the +20’s. They’re beneath her. She continued, “I was actually planning to fill that pack up with 20’s before you bought it.”
Needless to say, I’ve saved the waypoint of that vendor. One man’s trash…(No, you can’t have it. Go find your own trash! :P)
I’ve seen a lot more traders around lately. You see them surveying for materials outside Mos Eisley or at the bazaar, presumably selling their wares. Many I’ve met are concerned about one thing - becoming a master of their trade. They set their crafting tools to practice mode put it on auto and expect to come back a few hours later a master trader.
But from where I’m sitting, I think they’re missing the point. You’re not a master trader until you’ve mastered trading, or the buying and selling of commodities. Otherwise you’re just a collector of schematics.
So, what’s my advice to new traders seeking fame and fortune? For starters, take your tool off practice mode. Actually make, by hand, several units of every item you have a schematic for.
- Record what materials are needed for each. You’ll need this information later to know which materials and how much of each you’ll need to harvest or purchase.
- Take the time to figure out how much each item costs you to produce. Now’s the time to start developing your price list and step one in doing that is figuring out how much you need to pay just to make it.
- Do some market research. Head to the bazaar and see what comparable items are going for across the galaxy. How many are up for sale already? Who’s your competetion? Is there a niche that’s been overlooked that perhaps you can fill?
- Get a vendor. Place a shop, set up a vendor and begin to sell the items you can make. You’re going to have to experiment a bit to see which items will sell best and at which price. Don’t assume that because an item is lower level there isn’t a demand for it. It’s also ok to sell things for less than they cost you to make. You’re paying for your education here!
- List on the bazaar. It’s a whole different game. Items tend to sell for much more on the bazaar in Mos Eisley than on vendors. Folks will pay more for the convenience. You’ll also find that demand is different. Those who are new to the galaxy have different needs and wants than those that have been around a while. So experiment and find out what you can make that they want.
That should keep all you traders busy for a bit ;) Next up: What you need to run your business.
I’ve been asked which is the best trader profession a few times over the past week. I find it an odd question. I’m a tailor because fashion is my passion. I always assumed shipwrights enjoyed crafting spacecraft and weaponsmiths felt strongly about powerful weapons. I guess it’s not always that way.
Which profession is ‘best’?
First, I have to wonder why they think I’d remain a tailor if I didn’t personally feel it was ‘best’. Then to answer their question I have to calculate what ’best’ means to them. Turns out for some it’s how many credits they can bring in and for others it’s how easy it is to master.
I suppose I can understand considering the potential profits. We all need to make a living. But to be honest, if money were my only consideration, I wouldn’t be a tailor. I make enough to take care of myself but I’m not rich.
I’ve only ever been a tailor and I went about mastering it the long way so I’m in no position to offer advice about the easiest profession to master. In general, sewing isn’t difficult and I’m able to craft high quality goods from even the most mediocre materials so I guess in that respect, tailoring is ‘easy’. But like any trader profession, you still need time to the learn the ins and outs of your particular craft. You need to accumulate experience, factories, resources, schematics, vendors and a customer base. There’s no magic formula for any of it. There’s many paths to being happy and successful in a particular trade.
I’ve agreed to mentor and help some wannabe traders. But I think the most valuable advice I can give is to follow your heart and make your own path to success. That’s what makes a trade (and trader) the ‘best’.
I witnessed an act of exceptional generosity today.
It started when someone contacted me late last night. I was busy at the time and asked them to please send me an email with her order and I would fill it over the weekend.
This morning I opened the email. She wanted a Twi’lek noble crest. I’ve never made one before. It called for 10 units of green diamond, a very rare type of gemstone.
I searched vendors across the galaxy but the cheapest I could find was 10,000 credits for a single unit. I’ve never seen any resource cost that much. A further search for information through the crafting network revealed no other potential source. I hate letting customers down, but with little choice I sent word to her about the situation.
As I expected, she was put off by the cost. As a last resort I checked with my guildmates to see if anyone had any ideas about where to find green diamond. I was surprised when Ik’o answered back that she had a stash of it. I informed her of my market research and the potential windfall she had in her hands.
I was shocked when she agreed to simply give my customer what she needed. We needed twenty units total to make the two noble crests she had originally requested. She gave the customer a hundred. That amount of this rare, possibly extinct, resource might have fetched her a million credits had she sold it.
I know a couple of million dollars might not be a big deal to some. But had I offered as much to this customer it would have been 1/7 of all the credits I have.
To add to her act of generosity she then offered some to me! I was touched but politely declined. She gave me some anyway. :) It was an extraordinary act of generosity I won’t soon forget.
Tags: MMORPG, PC game, Star Wars, Star Wars Galaxies, SWG
When I first came back to the galaxy I found that technology had advanced while I was away. The reverse engineering tool had been invented and tailors were using them to deconstruct enhanced clothing items to make new and better clothing.
Joy. One of the main reasons I’d chosen tailoring as my career in the first place was because there was no experimentation involved. None. Experimentation involves luck and skill, neither of which I have. I was approached a few times about making enhanced items early on, prompting me to obtain a tool and make an attempt at figuring out how the whole process works. I took a few notes and played around a bit. But I soon found that although it was less profitable, there was still a market for non-enhanced items. I packed away my reverse engineering tool having only ever made one enhanced item. A shirt, for my son.
Today I was approached by a gentleman looking for an enhanced shirt. He had everything I needed, just wanted me to put it together for him. That didn’t seem too difficult so I agreed. Upon opening the pack he handed me I immediately froze. He had given me three 35 power bits. These are rare. These were nothing I could ever create in my wildest dreams. Not even surrounded by an army of buffing musicians and a yacht full of lucky trinkets.
While trying not to sound too impressed, I casually asked him how much he estimated the pack he had handed me was worth. He replied about 8 million credits.
I tried to look cool as I re-read my notes and carefully proceeded. I checked and re-checked every step. With two of the steps complete I checked the status of the attachment I’d created. It wasn’t what I’d expected.
“Uh oh. Please tell me I did NOT screw this up.”, I said to myself. What had gone wrong. I looked back over my notes. I’d followed the steps why didn’t this look right at all?!
I began calculating the cost of my mistake. I could clean out my whole bank account and still not have enough to reimburse this gentleman for my mistake. How would I even tell him?
I swallowed hard and told him, “Uh, I think there might be a problem.” At that point I’m not sure which of us was more concerned. I told him it looked as if the power had been reduced in the process. “Impossible”, he said. Yet I was staring at the numbers. Only +11 on the first modification and only +7 on the second.
I was prepared for all hell to break loose at this point, hoping only that he wouldn’t insist that I sell my house to cover what my bank account could not.
He sort of laughed at me. Then informed me that indeed, that’s what the finished product should look like. Phew. Never been so shaken, or relieved, in my whole life. I finished the process and handed him back his pack, complete with a perfectly constructed 8 million credit shirt.
I’m just hoping no one else asks me to construct enhanced items for them. It’s emotionally exhausting!
Tags: MMORPG, PC game, Star Wars, Star Wars Galaxies, SWG
From the time I began my work as a tailor, I’ve always taken a lot of pride in my work.
Even back in the days when I was just starting out. I carefully sampled for all my materials and put every item together by hand. I’ve since switched to purchasing my materials in bulk, leaving my survey tools to collect dust in the bank. But I continue to make each item of clothing by hand.
I know many who use ‘automated’ crafting tools and factories who think I’m a bit nuts or at least a little silly for not taking advantage of the technology. I just don’t find that satisfying.
I’d much rather meet my customer in person and make them a shirt to match their favorite pair of pants. Or that jacket in just the right hue to complete their look. Or let them try on several pairs of pants to see which style suits them best.
I prefer working this way so much that I offer a 25% discount off my very reasonable list prices for customers who contact me personally and special order their garments.
Sure, there’ll always be a market for the standard black clothes, but with about 6 million different color and item combinations it’s far more satisfying to craft by hand that perfect item for a specific customer.
