Practical Game Design

Vendor

Games that offer the chance to buy or sell goods...usually need some sort of vendor (unless selling and buying goods happens only using an interface). Vendor characters are very popular in RPGs and action games but they are used across all the genres. The concept of the vendor has evolved further in MMOs, where the player can 'hire' a vendor that enable her to sell her stuff to other players even when the player is not online. Some other games, such as Dead Space, have used the vendor character in the form of a robot, justifying the presence of vendor characters in scenarios where the presence of a human seller is not reasonable or realistic. Usually, vendors are also used to create a feeling of home or a safe place where the player ...