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[TheFoss]

So I've assigned a broker, and he has just traded a bunch of basalt mugs and instruments at the depot.  Yet he isn't gaining appraiser skill, or at least according to Dwarf Therapist.  How many trades do you have to do before a dwarf will gain novice appraiser?

[fractalman]

As I recall, Appraiser exp is granted to whoever first shows up at the depot with the job trade at depot. (not bring item to depot.)
There's a reason one usually makes sure to add at least one appraiser point to the starting seven.
That makes one bit of exp per caravan.  not exactly an easy thing to bring up.

[TheFoss]

Well crap.  And, of course, out of 48 dwarves, not a single trader.

I guess I'll just hope for a wave of migrants to bring one.

[VerdantSF]

Unless this was changed, you get appraiser xp for each trade (not each item, but each full transaction).  Trade a few items, hit "T."  Rinse, repeat.

[TheFoss]

Yeah, I made a bunch of trades.  No gain in exp.

[TheFoss]

HUZZAH FOR AN UPDATE!  A trader showed up with Great Appraiser.

YES!

[Garath]

As I recall, Appraiser exp is granted to whoever first shows up at the depot with the job trade at depot. (not bring item to depot.)
There's a reason one usually makes sure to add at least one appraiser point to the starting seven.
That makes one bit of exp per caravan.  not exactly an easy thing to bring up.

Unless this was changed, you get appraiser xp for each trade (not each item, but each full transaction).  Trade a few items, hit "T."  Rinse, repeat.

The first is (mostly) right. The first dwarf that trades anything gets some appraisal xp, usually enough to bump him/her up to 1

For the first and every next trade, you also get some xp in a variety of social skills, which is probably what VerdantSF is refering to.

If you did that first trade and it was enough to push the broker to 1 in appraisal, all your items suddenly get a value. If it doesn't a few things may be the case. Two that I can think of right now:

You (o)ffered the goods, which is a gift, not a trade
The trader has a harder time than average learning stuff and may not have gained enough xp

[VerdantSF]

Ah!  Thanks for the clarification. Learn something new every day .

[Larix]

As I recall, Appraiser exp is granted to whoever first shows up at the depot with the job trade at depot. (not bring item to depot.)
There's a reason one usually makes sure to add at least one appraiser point to the starting seven.
That makes one bit of exp per caravan.  not exactly an easy thing to bring up.

The first is (mostly) right. The first dwarf that trades anything gets some appraisal xp, usually enough to bump him/her up to 1

According to my experience (which consists of _never ever_ assigning appraisal skill at embark), appraiser experience is gained by the act of opening the trade window for the first time. If the caravan in question is the dwarven autumn caravan and it has brought wagons, this is generally enough to give the dwarf in question adequate or better appraisal skill.

The simple trick is to either pick a dwarf whom you consider fitting for broker or call a trader with the "anybody may trade" setting at the depot and make the dwarf who shows up the broker. The experience gained by opening the trade window will give enough experience to have all values displayed - if the dwarf gaining that experience is the broker.

You (o)ffered the goods, which is a gift, not a trade

Since i always get values displayed the moment i open the trade window (with a dwarf without prior appraiser skill), offering vs. trading shouldn't be relevant.

Traders may get more experience and/or experience in other skills per successful trade, i don't know about that. But the big decisive source of trading experience is just the act of getting trading goods displayed, and that only seems to work once per caravan (or per item shown in the trade window).

[greycat]

I always set my depot to "Anyone may trade".  If I lack a dwarf with Appraiser, someone will gain a bunch of Appraiser experience during their first trade, and then that one becomes the Broker.

[Garath]

correction to myself, somewhat. Seeing the value of items in the trade screen just needs a broker with appraisal, it doesn't matter who does the actual trading

[ShadowHammer]

Yeah, I never give broker skill on embark, because as long as they're novice, any more skill gain in that skill becomes irrelevant, and the broker will become a novice immediately upon opening the trade screen (as long as the broker is the one doing the trading).

[Sutremaine]

because as long as they're novice, any more skill gain in that skill becomes irrelevant

Random observation: The only dwarf in my fortress with maxed out Memory is my broker, who is also the only dwarf with any Appraiser XP. Everyone else is within a couple of hundred points of their starting value.

[Garath]

Would that work in adventure mode too? I'd really like to improve memory there so I don't have to explore every city dungeon every time I leave for a few days. Or worse, 'forget' where the moron was a few hours earlier.

[Sutremaine]

I wouldn't have a clue. Given that Appraiser XP is gained all at once, I'm surprised that the stat's been boosted that far. My broker is also my Bookkeeper and Manager, but is only Competent in both of those things. His only other skills of note are Presser (level 7, migrated), and Leatherworker (level 27). The other two L+5 Leatherworkers have a slightly decayed Memory stat.