Turbine Games Q&A/Balance/Q-12

Original Link (now dead) - http://www.turbinegames.com/qa/view_questions.html?id=2081

Why don't mage vendors resell scrolls and wands?

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Asked:	2000.11.11
Name:	Redheart
Question Title:	Why don't mage vendors resell scrolls and wands?
Category:	Balance
Question:	I'm pretty sure that during the beta, when a scroll or wand was sold to a mage vendor (Archmage, whatever), it showed up in the inventory. However, I've noticed lately that when I sell these items to a mage shop, they don't show up in the vendor's inventory. Why is this? It's not like scrolls are particularly hard to find, and in any case, if there's some concern about scrolls finding their way to people too easily, wouldn't those same concerns apply to high-end weapons and armor that ARE commonly found at the Blacksmith/Weaponsmith/Armorer? My main characters are not even mages, and I find this a little unsettling. I can just imagine what someone who plays a mage feels. I was even tempted to put this question under "Balance", since it seems almost as appropriate there as under "Economy".

Answered:	2000.11.13
Name:	Stormwaltz
Answer:	Because in beta, everyone learned their spells through scrolls bought at shops rather than through research. For that reason, I've refiled your question under Balance. ^_^ This phenomenon is rather different from that of selling high grade weapons and armor, which can be lost on death and don't effect every other melee through some form of "attack economy." In point of fact, though, dang near every quest item in the game is flagged to be destroyed on sale, just like scrolls.