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[clampet]

I'm a bit newbish yet with DF, only playing for a month, so idk if this is a bug or what.  I didn't have this problem with 34.07, but since 34.11 and starting this new fort I can't seem to get my broker up to trade before the caravan departs.  And sorry for the wall o' text, I'm just detailing it so you can help me out.


I'm in the 3rd summer/fall since embark... first 2 years passed with no problems, but the Elven caravan in the spring gave me problems... I didn't slow down and watch what happened exactly, but I checked the depot a couple times and my broker was always off doing jobs ( novice gem cutter/ adequate farmer), eating, sleeping, ect.... before I knew it the Elves were departing and I never got a trade.

So its human caravan time and I"m stuck again. I slowed it down this time and tried to direct him up there, but no luck, he's preoccupied with anything but trading.

Facts and settings:
The caravan has been here a while (maybe a month), my haulers are still bringing up some stuff, but I (r)equest the broker, "broker can access depot", and "only broker can trade".  The Broker is currently cutting gems, so I give it a few minutes....

He now heads for the farms... UGH!...  I can fix that, I turn off all skills (via dwarf therapist), turn skills off, but then he headed to clean, lol.. actually never seen a dwarf doing the cleaning job before now.  I turn "clean" and "patients/prisoners/wounded" too. Once he cleans some blood for a minute, he heads for the farms again, huh???  I've turned off those skills by now, and cleaning, all hauling, everything is OFF.

I let him go to the farms, I don't know how to stop him, but time to hit the forums.  I found several suggestions like make sure the depot isn't forbidden, make sure the caravan isn't still unloading (never was a problem in .07, but nevertheless they've been here a month +), and try "burrow" the broker to the depot tiles to make him stay put. 

ok, check and check...So I make the burrow and assign him, but he is stuck out at the farm and I start getting spammed "broker cancels store item in barrel".  after several minutes and 10+ spam msgs I delete the burrow and let him finish the task.

Next he heads for drink, then has "no job", he doddles around a minute and heads for the bed o_o , I'm getting anxious, but I let him sleep it off.

I keep watch as the days slip by, until he rises.  Lets go Trade!!!  Nope.  he heads back to gem cutting, now Im perplexed, I check dwarf therapist again, and yup all skills are OFF, so I cancel all gem cutting tasks at the workshop.

This forces him up towards the depot, good... but he passes the depot and goes to "bringing item to depot".  how can he haul anything???
Well at least he's closer now, but each time he gets to the depot, he heads off again, several trips later I stop this.  I go to the depot, hit "g" and see there is only a few items left "pending", so I cancel them all...

With absolutely nothing else to do, Finally he reports up to "trade at depot" and stays put.  I check off some trades, and get some business done... great!

I get the message "will be departing soon" and I see a few items I still want and remember those few items I had canceled before. I hit "g" again, set a couple more items to be brought up, including a Gem Bin, and a few items that have been crafted since this all started.  As soon as I exit the "g" menu, the broker takes off to go eat :/   The dwarf haulers get the items there (most were only 10-15 tiles away) and the broker is half the fort away flossing his teeth.  Caravan departs and haulers begin bringing stuff back down, I missed the trade.

So it seems apparent that the broker won't report to trade at the depot until all of your items are delivered, and if-at-any-time more items go "pending" he is likely to split again... First off I don't get is how he can go haul items to depot when all hauling while I've turned the skill off.  It doesn't seem to be a problem with other dwarfs and other skills, but "bring to depot" seems to override the settings.

PLUS this didn't happen to me with my other forts and in 34.07 the last few weeks... I had found that when the caravan arrived, I could start "pending" items, and request my broker.  He would come up pretty quick, like very quick (never had one go eat, drink, sleep, ect while "request" was on) and as soon as I had a few items at the depot I could start trading.  I like to make several (maybe 10) smaller trades as items arrive up from "pending" to "trading", rather than have to wait (a month +) for ALL my stuff to be delivered... THEN my broker report.  is this different with the newest version, or experienced by anyone else?  it there a way around it?  was my experience with 34.07 a fluke or incorrect?  or this a bug with 34.11?  again I'm just a little newbish and don't have enough experience with DF to diagnose it as a bug, or something I'm doing wrong.

 

[GreatWyrmGold]

This is a common problem. In THE thread for people to rant about idiot dwarves, the broker issues are almost a running gag.

[Berlioz]

There are tasks dwarves can do without them being enabled separately, like harvesting. You can set those globally in the orders menu.
Broker not trading is common, but usually turning off all tasks before the caravan arrives works. Additionally you can set a burrow over the trade depot and assign the broker. Note that he can still fetch food outside the burrow.

[crazysheep]

Or you can use b to toggle from "Only broker may trade" to "Anyone may trade" at the Trade Depot. I find that to be more useful than trying to make a single dwarf do exactly what you want it to do.

[Garath]

Or you can use b to toggle from "Only broker may trade" to "Anyone may trade" at the Trade Depot. I find that to be more useful than trying to make a single dwarf do exactly what you want it to do.

this.
As long as the broker has appraisal skill, you'll see values. It's in fact a way to 'train' social skills without letting them idle for months.

[dexxy]

You can make a burrow of where the depot is, and assign the broker to that burrow. Remember to take him out of the burrow when he is finished trading.