Winter Wolf Pelts: 2nd journal entry says merchant eager to buy "pelts" (plural), but he buys only one

[Thacobell]

My only issue with it is the inconsistency with the journal. I'd be fine with either altering the journal line or changing the number of pelts they'll take.

[DavidW]

Yes, I agree: the SCS component should obviously tweak that. Either I missed it back in 2013 , or the line got altered in one of Beamdog's later dialog file edits.

[Salk]

I can report that in the original BG1 game the dialogue implies that the white wolf should be a very rare sight because the shopkeeper says:

I've a man who swears by his grandmother he glimpsed a white wolf up in the Cloud Peaks ice fields.

This means that ideally this should be a unique animal whose pelt becomes available to the player only once in the game, but since that is not the case I think some editing of the shopkeeper's dialogue is needed in order to make it consistent.

[jastey]

I'd have no problem with the Shop Keeper telling about one Winter Wolf that was spotted, but then actually buying more pelts. I don't see his initial comment as a "bring me this specific wolf's pelt" than rather a "there was a sighting of the very rare Winter Wolf, I'd be interested in the pelt" - which would open the possibility to bring more. - That the shop keeper would repeat the initial dialogue line doesn't make sense of course (but accepting more than one would, imho).

Just my 2 c and a general remark, not expecting SCS to reflect this.

[Morgoth]

35 minutes ago, jastey said:

I'd have no problem with the Shop Keeper telling about one Winter Wolf that was spotted, but then actually buying more pelts. I don't see his initial comment as a "bring me this specific wolf's pelt" than rather a "there was a sighting of the very rare Winter Wolf, I'd be interested in the pelt" - which would open the possibility to bring more. - That the shop keeper would repeat the initial dialogue line doesn't make sense of course (but accepting more than one would, imho).

*

[Opipo]

Wyvern Heads, Anheg Shells, Bandit Scalps quests strongly make an impression to be limited or one time events. Merchant depreciation rate also suggests Bioware did not want the player to grind respawnable loot. 

 

-Wyvern Head: "They will each buy the first lot[2] of heads for 500 gp each and further heads for 200"
-Ankheg shell: "Taerom will no longer buy shells once the plate is ready. Fenten is also willing to buy shells.. but for only 250 "
-Bandit Scalp: "Officer Vai .. will purchase them at 50 gp each, but only between Chapter Three and Chapter Five."
-Wolf pelt: "In the original Baldur's Gate, every Winter Wolf pelt the storekeeper buys is placed in his inventory. After buying 20 pelts, his inventory will be full. ... Other merchants are only willing to give 250 gp for each pelt"

 

These all seem rather consistent, one time large sum and then the player is on his own.

https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Bandit_Scalp
https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Ankheg_Shell
https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Wyvern_Head
https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Winter_Wolf_Pelt

 

The trouble seems to be the wolf pelt had a limit of 20, but was bugged, and the Beamdog fix actually made it worse. But because Beamdog is still kinda semi-official this is quite confusing.

 

 

Edited February 27 by Opipo

[jmerry]

Depreciation varies from merchant to merchant, and it just happens that the most accessible shop for "miscellaneous" items has unusually fast depreciation. If you're selling at Feldepost's Inn (buy markup 50, depreciation 20), he'll give you 50% of the list price if he doesn't have any of that item in stock, 30% if he has one, and the floor 20% if he has two or more. Go to High Hedge instead (buy markup 50, depreciation 5), and the prices are 50%, 45%, 40%, 35%, 30%, 25%, and it only hits the floor of 20% when Thalantyr has six or more of the item in stock. But of course, batch selling gives you the whole batch at the price of the first, so you can get some nice hauls if you save a large batch. (Side note: gems and jewelry are exempt from depreciation. No worries about shopping those around.)

As for the bandit scalp bounty, Officer Vai's shop has buy markup 100 and no depreciation. She's paying the full list price for those scalps, for as long as she sticks around. And once the way back to the big city is clear (or maybe even earlier in chapter 4), she leaves for Baldur's Gate and you never see her again. Unless you exploit the loophole and never talk to her without scalps in your inventory, bypassing that bit of dialogue.

I think some versions of the game have had other stores that bought scalps. In the current EE, no other store in the game buys "tattoos" (the item type the scalps use) so the scalps are worthless once she leaves..

The original "limit" on the wolf pelts at Nashkel wasn't any intended feature; it was just a consequence of inventory mechanics that the developers probably didn't even think about. Give an item to a character, and it goes into the three quick slots, the sixteen inventory slots, and finally the magic weapon slot before running out of space so any further items added drop something on the ground. Letting things get to the point that the magic item slot fills up without an opcode 111 effect is just asking for bugs, so this was something that needed a fix. We just don't necessarily agree on what the right fix is. (Ever see a ferret with a quarterstaff icon for their attack instead of the paws? Yeah, that can happen if you let them pickpocket twenty things and then save and load. It doesn't change their actual attack, though - just the graphics.)

[CamDawg]

There was no limit in the original. After his inventory was full, he'd still buy them and then drop them at his feet, meaning you could exploit him for infinite money starting with pelt #21.