3 Traders together in one spot

[Mortality]

Just started a new game and the nearest Trader turned out to be 3 together, is this rare?

All different types and they have different timers on their goods refresh.

[Zane Mordien]

Yes It's rare. I think this is how traders should be. The lone trader is just weird.

[Vexxvididu]

2 hours ago, Zane Mordien said:

Yes It's rare. I think this is how traders should be. The lone trader is just weird.

You mean setting up shop in the middle of nowhere might not be good for business?  Of course that's not just a VS thing, that's a common trope in games.

[Bumber]

Do any of them buy a thing the other is selling at a profit?

[Krago]

I have a group of three traders like that in one of my worlds, a stone's throw from where I spawned in.  So far I've never bothered with a trader in any world as all they sell is absolute crap.

[Vexxvididu]

15 minutes ago, Krago said:

I have a group of three traders like that in one of my worlds, a stone's throw from where I spawned in.  So far I've never bothered with a trader in any world as all they sell is absolute crap.

Some sell useful or at least cosmetic improvements!  It's worth it to sell a few items to get some rusty gears I think.  The best thing I got from a trader so far was honeycomb since I have yet to find bees so far in my game.

[Zane Mordien]

1 hour ago, Krago said:

I have a group of three traders like that in one of my worlds, a stone's throw from where I spawned in.  So far I've never bothered with a trader in any world as all they sell is absolute crap.

The blackguard armor, cassiterite and sylvite are what I primarily buy in a standard world.  If you do a snowball earth play through traders become much more helpful since they sell things you cant get otherwise. 

[Zane Mordien]

12 hours ago, Vexxvididu said:

You mean setting up shop in the middle of nowhere might not be good for business?  Of course that's not just a VS thing, that's a common trope in games.

More so in VS I feel. Now that they put in a treasure hunter that is a story location I bet they will do something similar with the rest of the traders in the future.  

[Broccoli Clock]

Not sure if it's as rare as people are saying but I regularly find multiples of traders together. As for it being rare near your spawn, I've noticed that in my recent playthroughs there is always a trader near by. I know that trader locations were tweaked for 1.21.x in order for treasure hunters to be found easier (either via natural spawn or asking another trader for directions - the treasure hunter traders are the only ones that can kick off the Resonance Archives quest - although the Survival Goods trader also has a similar quest).

I've a feeling this will all change soon as we are now seeing the start of trader compounds (the new Treasure Hunter base is the only one implemented just now). Will we lose the caravan traders? Who knows. What would be lovely is that those traders in a base don't move, yet the ones in caravans do alter their location. After all, why have a base that has wheels and not move it from time to time?

[Vexxvididu]

1 hour ago, Zane Mordien said:

More so in VS I feel

I mean... I can think of many games that have merchants in amusingly terrible locations.  From Software games are often terrible at this.  Merchants in the ruins of dead cities...  merchants in uninhabited swamps, etc.  Many video game merchants are terrified a customer might actually find them 

[Maelstrom]

I once had a trader spawn over a gaping murder hole.  The left wheels on the outermost blocks of said gaping maw o' death and the rest of the wagon hanging over an abyss of suicidal descent.  Visiting said trader was...  adventurous.   Especially when drifters started spawning while I was buying and selling wares with said trader.

Come to think of it, might have to make an addition to the humorous stories thread now.

[Broccoli Clock]

3 minutes ago, Maelstrom said:

I once had a trader spawn over a gaping murder hole. 

What is interesting is that the ruins don't fall to the same coding logic that makes the other block game villages so unrealistic. Albeit the ruins are just that, ruins, whereas villages in the other game are intended to be more functional, so if you found a ruined building offset by a huge cave it would sort of make sense as it's been abandoned.

Still it's interesting the difference between how to the two spawn in the different games.

[LadyWYT]

14 hours ago, Vexxvididu said:

You mean setting up shop in the middle of nowhere might not be good for business?

It can be great for business...provided the merchant in question has the patience for it. The key is to set up shop in the middle of the nowhere that some wanderer will eventually find, and then sell stuff they'll absolutely need(healing items, food, etc) at exorbitant prices. After all, if it's stuff they have to have and you're the only option, they can't really afford to say no, now can they? 

 

2 hours ago, Broccoli Clock said:

I've a feeling this will all change soon as we are now seeing the start of trader compounds (the new Treasure Hunter base is the only one implemented just now). Will we lose the caravan traders? Who knows. What would be lovely is that those traders in a base don't move, yet the ones in caravans do alter their location. After all, why have a base that has wheels and not move it from time to time?

Based on what I've heard, traders are supposed to receive a rework in 1.22, and while the caravan wagons maybe won't disappear entirely, I think they're supposed to be potentially rarer and located in proper homes like what the new treasure hunter has now.

In any case though, wagon or not, I'd rather see traders be much more rare than they are now, but in actual groups when you do find them(save for those crazy treasure hunters). Safety in numbers and all that, plus the wild will also feel more...wild.

[Zane Mordien]

2 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

I think they're supposed to be potentially rarer and located in proper homes like what the new treasure hunter has now.

Rare is okay, but they should be easy to find.  They are supposed to be selling stuff so they shouldn't be camouflaged. I would like to see short packed dirt roads leading to a cluster of traders. Maybe even a pointless village with a few NPCs that do nothing but add environment.

[Maelstrom]

2 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Come to think of it, might have to make an addition to the humorous stories thread now.

Order up!

[hstone32]

4 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Based on what I've heard, traders are supposed to receive a rework in 1.22, and while the caravan wagons maybe won't disappear entirely, I think they're supposed to be potentially rarer and located in proper homes like what the new treasure hunter has now.

I'm thinking caravans spawn randomly, and then leave after a few days. If the player asks them, they'll tell the location of a permanent base camp in interesting locations where traders of 3 or 4 types live, like this abandoned market from the better ruins mod

[Mortality]

18 hours ago, Bumber said:

Do any of them buy a thing the other is selling at a profit?

Good idea, not yet, will keep an eye out for that.

[Mortality]

Finally got around to editing the video showing them. 

 

Edited December 17, 2025 by Mortality

[Broccoli Clock]

On 12/9/2025 at 8:12 PM, hstone32 said:

.. like this abandoned market from the better ruins mod

Seems massive overkill, imo. For me the whole point of VS is that it's small scale, sure you can build large scale but all that comes before you is not. With that in mind, it's structures like you've shown that stops me using better ruins, less "better" ruins and more "massively op with tons of loot" ruins. 

Not that I'm gatekeeping if that's the sort of experience players want, and there is no doubting the 'better ruins' themselves are expertly put together, but it's a huge no from me and that goes for positioning multiple traders in a building like you've shown. It just smacks of the lazy way the other block game allows "trading halls" with trapped villagers. To me that's utter cringe, and I'd hate for that idea to make it's way to VS. All opinions, of course, yours (and others) may vary.

Edited December 17, 2025 by Broccoli Clock

[Mortality]

1 hour ago, Broccoli Clock said:

Seems massive overkill, imo. For me the whole point of VS is that it's small scale, sure you can build large scale but all that comes before you is not. With that in mind, it's structures like you've shown that stops me using better ruins, less "better" ruins and more "massively op with tons of loot" ruins. 

Not that I'm gatekeeping if that's the sort of experience players want, and there is no doubting the 'better ruins' themselves are expertly put together, but it's a huge no from me and that goes for positioning multiple traders in a building like you've shown. It just smacks of the lazy way the other block game allows "trading halls" with trapped villagers. To me that's utter cringe, and I'd hate for that idea to make it's way to VS. All opinions, of course, yours (and others) may vary.

It should be noted here that I'm playing totally vanilla and those 3 traders together in my opening post are a natural vanilla spawn...yeah I know,, should've said that earlier.

Edited December 17, 2025 by Mortality

[Broccoli Clock]

1 hour ago, Mortality said:

It should be noted here that I'm playing totally vanilla and those 3 traders together in my opening post are a natural vanilla spawn...yeah I know,, should've said that earlier.

If it's any comfort, I assumed your comment was about vanilla. 

While I'd find the idea of a "trader hall" considerably off-putting, I really don't mind the combination of 1, 2 or even 3 traders in an organic fashion. With the traders moving from caravans to more sedentary small outposts, I'm not sure if that sort of grouping will happen in the future.

[HalfAxd]

Being mostly an explorer in VS, I like finding the scattered trader here and there.  It's part of the fun (goal?) of exploring.  If there is a group of them, then even more cool.

While I wish they were a little more useful, I have traded a little with them here and there...  perhaps we'll see some updates to them in the future.

Enjoy

[Tabbot95]

On 12/9/2025 at 3:12 PM, hstone32 said:

I'm thinking caravans spawn randomly, and then leave after a few days. If the player asks them, they'll tell the location of a permanent base camp in interesting locations where traders of 3 or 4 types live, like this abandoned market from the better ruins mod

too big; and I'm not necessarily a fan of "keeping it 14th century" (I'd go to early 17th imo)

A market, even a ruined market is going to be defined by having a major paved road network (in various states of repair) with it's biggest feature being a massive stockyard and a bunch of slaughterhouses, auction houses, banking establishments, inns, all crowded together and smelling like the worst thing ever when it's active.

Think the Forum Romanum or a County/State Fair but like sort of year round and without amusement rides.

Edited December 17, 2025 by Tabbot95

[dakko]

8 hours ago, Broccoli Clock said:

With that in mind, it's structures like you've shown that stops me using better ruins, less "better" ruins and more "massively op with tons of loot" ruins. 

The Better Ruins mod is configurable, at least to the extent of defining when/if certain structures spawn. Not sure on the loot though. Probably still won't be your cup of tea, but thought I'd at least let you know.

[Broccoli Clock]

11 hours ago, dakko said:

The Better Ruins mod is configurable, at least to the extent of defining when/if certain structures spawn. Not sure on the loot though. Probably still won't be your cup of tea, but thought I'd at least let you know.

I sort of was aware that it could be configed, but even then the comparison between its ruins and vanilla ruins is just too large. I understand why it includes such grand structures, and some of them are lovely, but massively out of place in the game (imo).

That said, I am talking from a SP point of view. I imagine in MP, especially with a mature world where others have built large structure over time, they fit in much better.