Three Rocks's page

@Krinn: I may be missing something. Your equation seem skewed to consider only those involved in the crafting. Do you need adjustments to the WBL of uninvolved party members to account for / offset their relative lack of gain? (say 4 member party where the crafter works only for himself and 1-2 others)

One character-centric and pivotal difference (not the only one, just the first and perhaps only one I aim to tackle) in the positions I've read seems to hinge on whether the character shopping for an item believes a quoted price from a crafter in their party that is greater then .5 * price but less then full price is a discount or an overcharge.

1) If the character thinks the quote they receive is a discount, an outside observer might be confused by a character who did not hold some gratitude for a quote of less then full price if their personal motivation is based on a desire to get that discount. Ranging from complete gratitude (or suspicion) if given for free, to dismissive neutrality over a meager 10% discount below market price.

2) If the character thinks the quoted price is overcharging, I have followup questions. Is that position derived from a belief that a) they are owed the lower price / discount by their fellow adventurer or b) the item's "worth" and rightful cost is .5 times price.

Questions for those arguing from position 2a:
1) What prior experience in receiving discounts from fellow adventurer's informs the character's expectations as to the set point of the discount? Have they ever received such discounts in their past? In other words, why 50% off and not a 30% or 70% discount? Why not free? Example: Would they expect to be asked to pay the cost of consumable spell components or other consumables used on their specific behalf while adventuring?
2) Does context matter? Example: free help while adventuring, "at cost" help while out of danger but mutually working towards party goals, and "at discount" the rest of the time because we are friends.
3) Do they feel it appropriate to ask if there is anything they could do for the creator in return if offered at a cost equal or below their expectations for a personal item?

Questions for those arguing from position 2b:
1) What prior experience informs the character's belief that the appropriate cost to them for the item is .5 * price? (..perhaps based on their experience of selling items at .5 * price).
2) How does their belief regarding the items worth to a buyer like themself stand up under a context in which it is only available locally (or distantly) at full price (providing a price comparison) and no one else (besides the crafter) in their lives is willing to sell it to them for less then full price?
3) Is their relationship with the full price vendors one of antagonism ("price gouging so and sos"), neutral, or gratitude (thanks for making this available to me)?
4) For those character's whose position is based on their character adopting the "I'm not looking for a discount" worldview; why else are they approaching the crafter to do the work in the first place? Would getting it elsewhere would require travel and use up their time instead of the crafter's? If so, how to weigh which character spends the time.
Note: I believe that this position (2b) doesn't apply if the item is unique or completely unavailable as there would be no comparative basis for evaluating worth in the communal context.

My point with separating out this argument is to disentangle the rhetoric associated with the arguments I have read (into their basis on character feelings vs game balance issues vs social contracts between players) ..and this set of positions seemed an easy first target.

This is my first post on a Paizo forum.

Something about this thread and its predecessor caught my attention. Perhaps it is seeing so many people passionately striving to frame truths that are intuitively clear to them in irrefutable logic and language. On the off chance that this thread is still active, I will toss my hat in the ring. I wonder how I will fare...