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[Noir]

Ok, I made a mistake while trading - I assumed that as long as the profit was positive, the merchant would always yield. After several tries, he packed his caravan and went back home, something I didn't expect.

I am really, really, really too much pissed to reload my last save - is there a way to cheat change his mood by modifying the save files? I absolutely do not want through another hour of redoing the same boring things, and I need some of the stuff he is giving. Geez, had I knew before I would have accepted the trade and given him that stupid scepter - it's not like I can do much with it...

EDIT: fuck it, I'm going to reload. Stupid fucking merchants and their idiocy...

[wuphonsreach]

The profit margin has to be positive *and* the percentage has to be big enough to be worth the merchant's time.

This can be as little as 10% profit with high broker skills (offering 11k for 10k worth of goods).  Or just offer 50-100% profit to be safe (15k to 20k in exchange for 10k worth of goods).

[Noir]

I learned this to the expense of my time... especially as before the arrival of the caravan I have been lucky in regard to something else. I had to redo the previous part until it came out at least well enough as the original time! Grrrrrrrrrrrr

[Trickysticks]

The merchants need moneyz anyway. Those pack animals need to eat too .

[blue emu]

I always give the Caravan from Mountainhomes a profit margin approaching +100%... they're fellow Dwarves, after all, and it's not as if I have an urgent need of my own for those Stonecrafts or Kitten-Eyeball Soufles.

[Noir]

WHAT?!?! The caravan goods are random every time?! Fuck fuck fuck, now I have to reload until I get what I needed before?!

Screw this, I'm gonna seize their fucking goods and kick their ass if they object. I've had it with those stupid human merchants.

[blue emu]

I hate to point this out... but if your Fortress actually NEEDS anything that the caravan offers, then you're doing something wrong.

There are exceptions to this, of course. Few Forts produce EVERYTHING that you might need for Moods or Mandates (some have no Sand for Glass; some have no Rock Crystal or no Platinum, etc; some have very few Trees). But in general, your Fort should be basically self-sufficient by year 2.

[Noir]

Oh, I am self-sufficient - but things would be easier with something. And there's the pride and anger for having made an irreversible decision simply because of a wrong assumption. I'm going to stay all night if necessary, I'm getting those fucking bag of seeds!!!!

[Lord_Phoenix]

WHAT?!?! The caravan goods are random every time?! Fuck fuck fuck, now I have to reload until I get what I needed before?!

Screw this, I'm gonna seize their fucking goods and kick their ass if they object. I've had it with those stupid human merchants.

By the way, don't try to sell wooden items to elves, they will get offended and pack up and leave if you do (despite the fact that 95% of the goods they bring are wooden).  You can move wooden objects like bins to the trade depot, and sell everything in the bin, but you can't trade the bin itself.

[Starver]

Ok, I made a mistake while trading - I assumed that as long as the profit was positive, the merchant would always yield. After several tries, he packed his caravan and went back home, something I didn't expect.

When you have a better trained broker, you get hints such as "...is rapidly losing patience" when you're failing a trade because of bad haggling tecnique.  (But then, the better trader will also be able to make better deals).

But mashing the 'trade' button is never going to work.  If you've not yet hit a stalemate, you're only going to annoy the visiting merchant more (and eventually hit the point where he wants to just go home).  If you reach the point of completely annoying them (or try to give wood to the elves), then they'll want to leave.

I know you know this now, but it bears saying.

If they just plain cannot comprehend how you could possibly barter for all you ask "with the goods you have" (i.e. all your available goods, even if things are not selected) then I don't think this changes their mood, so you get the opportunity to reduce your requested goods, or get even more goods on your side of the trade equation, but ICBW about the mood.

[Noir]

Thanks for your explanation and sorry for the outburst, yesterday it was late, I was tired, and the caravan arrived -just in the middle- of a complex and risky operation of channeling the magma in my magma forge which required breaching, channeling and re-sealing the cave before monsters come to eat my masons) - which led my to me nerd-raging

Everything went fine, and now I finally have my awesome magma-powered forge! Now, if I could just get my hands on iron ores...

[Noir]

All right! It's drawbridge time already.
Only problem is, I have to channel a wide surface below the place where the bridge is going to be built over for it to make sense. I knew my dorfs would have made a mess, and for this I pre-emptively save-scummed before issuing the order. The results speak for themselves: two dead miners due to cave-ins.

Of course I will reload, I'm not going to take this. How can I channel safely? Should I take my miners by hand, channeling a stripe of the surface at each end every time?

[Ledi]

Of course I will reload, I'm not going to take this. How can I channel safely? Should I take my miners by hand, channeling a stripe of the surface at each end every time?

That's... pretty much the safest way.

Or channel one square down, then from the lower level designate everything as upward ramps, then tell them to remove the ramps - no cave-in is possible that way, but it'll take about twice as long.

Or you can try to carefully engineer a specific cave-in (so just the edges) and ensure that no one's in danger range... but that's risky given the sheer idiocy of Urist McMiner.

[Psieye]

When you get more experienced you'll get used to making profitable trade goods out of what the merchants bring you - namely roasts, clothes and (assuming you have magma workshops up in advance) green glass discs.

[Noir]

One more thing - after successfully trading, I dismantled the Trade Depot while the merchants were leaving, to hurry up building my bridges. They look like they managed gather their things in time, but then a single tile of the terrain collapsed, and a merchant remained injured (both legs).

They did not leave yet, I suppose because the injured merchant cannot walk. Can I heal him, even if he's not one of us? Is this going to worsen the relationship between me and the merchants?