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[John Hancock]

Hello! I just started playing FOnline: 2238 yesterday. I've been playing the original Fallout games regularly since 1997-1998.

After reading the manual, the wiki and some of the guides and threads here on the forum, I accomplished more than I thought I would — got my first tent set up; learned to mine and craft; stockpiled some armor, guns, ammunition and other items; learned Gunsmith (Small Guns) 1; did a few quests; have 1,000 caps left in the bank; reached character level 6; and a few other things besides. The game seems pretty hardcore, but it's not too difficult to start scratching out a living.

I got PKed once early on, and was robbed pretty badly not too long ago, but hey, other people got to make a living too. Anyway, the name of the game here is clearly getting caps, since guns and ammo are fairly easy to make on your own. Looks to me like the merchants fill up on caps every now and then, and are promptly cleaned out by anyone and everyone.

Question #1: How can I maximize my chances of finding merchants with caps? Do I just need to get lucky? Or is there a schedule/strategy I can use?
Question #2: If I want to sell things to other players (cheap ammunition for example), what's the safest way to go about doing that? I'm leery of getting robbed or killed while sealing the deal.
Question #3: Are there public radio channels people tend to use a lot? Or does all-public chat pretty much go into IRC?

Could always shovel brahmin crap for cash, to get Gunsmith 2 if nothing else, but any other tips and/or hints (pertaining to caps or anything else) are welcome. I have IRC open too, but I try not to pester the people in there too much with fuckin' new guy questions.

Thanks for reading. Tonight I plan to cook up some character builds and stat progressions since, as you'd expect, my current one isn't great (it's not bad, but not great, either).

[Quentin Lang]

It warms my hearth that there are actually people who manage to more or less successfully start the game all by themselves and not whine on forums ''this shit sucks''. I guess my first impression about you is ''a bright fella!'' so im happy to help, or atleast try.

Answer #1: They turn stuff into caps every once and awhile, but i gotta say, caps aint actually that valuable in player-to-player trade (atleast from my experience). Like 80% deals i've used caps in were with NPCs, i.e. base buying, merc buying, caravan buying and so on.

Answer #2: In world map. He tags you, you go out and both safely trade. Thats just one of possible ways, use imagination.

Answer #3: No, AFAIK there are no 'public' radio channels. And use IRC, its worth it. Once (if) you get in a faction (choose carefully, tho), IRC becomes useful.

[John Hancock]

Yeah, I was determined to make my own way starting out with a minimum of whining, and I guess I succeeded. Good thing I read about tent-followers, scams and such like first, though. I've gotten in the habit of staring at my follower bar for three or four seconds every time I hit the world map. (No one's tried to follow me yet, though).

I think I'm already addicted... there's a bunch of stuff to do in this game, and you have to watch your ass all the time, which makes it exciting.

I agree, there's limited use for caps outside of NPC trades... professions, cars, the stuff you mentioned. I've gotten caps of course, it's just totally random. Might get 1,000 caps one hour from a merchant, then go three or four hours without finding anything, and checking merchants is a risk when you need to carry valuables to trade with you.

Thanks for the trading tip! That helps. I'm going to try selling some ammo for caps next, using the IRC trade channel/shout/forums/whatever. Pretty sure that between that and luck, I can get Gunsmith 2 before too long.

[Ned Logan]

Answer #2: In world map. He tags you, you go out and both safely trade. Thats just one of possible ways, use imagination.

Actually I don't recommend this, the leader of the group then can get to a empty tile and kill you.
I prefer finding a quiet spot near guards, and use normal trade interface (hidden mode). You need to stand right next to each other so make sure you see at your avatar when the window is on, so you see you are not being stolen from - if you are, fast close the window with ESC and run away a few hexes...

[Quentin Lang]

Actually I don't recommend this, the leader of the group then can get to a empty tile and kill you.
I prefer finding a quiet spot near guards, and use normal trade interface (hidden mode). You need to stand right next to each other so make sure you see at your avatar when the window is on, so you see you are not being stolen from - if you are, fast close the window with ESC and run away a few hexes...

1. Not if he's the leader.
2. And if he's not the leader, right after following the trade partner (lets say, exiting NCR) he can click on his name in follower bar, slide on the abandon party icon to be ready to leave. If the 'trade partner-leader' starts moving somewhere, he can simply leave the party, if not, cancel action and accept trade. And as i said, its just one of many ways. Just use your imagination.

[John Hancock]

1. Not if he's the leader.
2. And if he's not the leader, right after following the trade partner (lets say, exiting NCR) he can click on his name in follower bar, slide on the abandon party icon to be ready to leave. If the 'trade partner-leader' starts moving somewhere, he can simply leave the party, if not, cancel action and accept trade. And as i said, its just one of many ways. Just use your imagination.

Ah, I see how it's supposed to work now.

I haven't actually used the party features at all yet, so this is good to know.

[xPoncex]

I've seen you once mining near Junktown or in Junktown itself, i remember cuz your ingame name was John Hancock. If you ever need help with these things i frequent the hub/jtwon mining/jtown. I would gladly help you out. I only started like a week ago but even in my nooby state i went off and built 10mm pistols, flamer fuels, gave away 10mm ammo, ect to people who needed it.

And the caps thing, you just have to look far and wide and try not to hit the main stream merchants that are easily accessible to most players.

[Michaelh139]

Question #1: How can I maximize my chances of finding merchants with caps? Do I just need to get lucky? Or is there a schedule/strategy I can use?

Luck is part of it but a good strategy is to go to towns such as New Reno and check the stores there. (I personally always find max caps which is wierd, in Renesco) but be sure to town preview for campers.  If you want to see how its done we could meet up in NCR, I can teach you everything. [Why am I so confident?  Because since I've learned these stregies I've never been pk'd.... at least not when im just trying to sell shit.]

Question #2: If I want to sell things to other players (cheap ammunition for example), what's the safest way to go about doing that? I'm leery of getting robbed or killed while sealing the deal.

Post in trade section on forum or advertise naked in NCR, be sure to make  the deal where only gaurds are and very few players, and avoid alleys.... (Bad experience selling 2 P90s)

Question #3: Are there public radio channels people tend to use a lot? Or does all-public chat pretty much go into IRC?

Nope, IRC is the way to go, although I never use it or have used it .


Random tips: 
Pass through alleys whenever you can if your trying to get away from pker.
Caps are only good for BIG Deals or buying things like Bases, Mercenaries, Slaves, etc...
Its good idea to bring slave when your going to some ungaurded town to sell shit, he can be valuable distraction.

[John Hancock]

I've seen you once mining near Junktown or in Junktown itself, i remember cuz your ingame name was John Hancock. If you ever need help with these things i frequent the hub/jtwon mining/jtown. I would gladly help you out. I only started like a week ago but even in my nooby state i went off and built 10mm pistols, flamer fuels, gave away 10mm ammo, ect to people who needed it.

And the caps thing, you just have to look far and wide and try not to hit the main stream merchants that are easily accessible to most players.

Hah, actually that's a coincidence — this is just my forum name (I've had it at No Mutants Allowed since 2005). My character at the moment is named Blaine.

I'd enjoy meeting up though, it's always good to meet new friends and influence people, etc.

Luck is part of it but a good strategy is to go to towns such as New Reno and check the stores there. (I personally always find max caps which is wierd, in Renesco) but be sure to town preview for campers.  *snipped for length*

Great advice, thank you. Of course, being new, I only hit the mainstream parts. I've been hesitant to visit unguarded areas, naturally. What do you mean "town preview"? It's mentioned in the wiki, but not explained, and I must have missed it in the manual.... EDIT: Figured it out, Town/World button.

And sure, I wouldn't mind meeting up somewhere in-game. I'm bit burnt out on the game for now, but as stated earlier, meet new friends, influence people, etc.

[Michaelh139]

On worldmap you see that little button at the bottom right of screen?  Press it next time your over a gaurded town.  btw try pressing the triangle with an eye first.

[Baptiste]

San Fran has been the best place for me to swap encounter crap for caps. It is out the way enough that few people are there to check the traders, and it is a guarded town.
I have been to New Reno three times and been killed three times within about two minutes. Thankfully the last two times I went there after having died already, so I had nothing to lose.

I too started just 2/3 days ago. I've spent most of my time around NCR, mining, sellling stuff (I've been lucky with NCR trader cap spawns) and farming Mantis/Scorpions for XP. Level 13 and 25k caps now, so not a bad start I don't think... but yes, this game is harsh, and you need to read a lot before you can even think about playing.  Choosing One-Hander and Finesse seems to have made it a particularly though start for me, but I hope the .223 pistol is worth it... The Q&A thread seems to belong to me right now

I've been 'tagged' two or three times already so it is worth looking out for.

I guess just a bit more levelling and then I need to find/choose a faction...

[xPoncex]

If you would like, i can help you find the Train Stations. Those are a real big help in getting across the map. I usually make runs to san fransico to sell for caps and believe me at my lvl (9) it would've been impossible or take a long time.

One word of advise if you want to avoid pk'ers i've learned not to travel b/w squares of cities. As in the shortest route is the route most people will take.

For example the hub and junktown are seperated by 4 squares. Because many people cross b/w those two cities you tend to find alot of encounter with people in it or people showing up in your encounters. What im saying is that you should make your own paths and try to stray away from paths most people would take. Unless you dont care.

[John Hancock]

San Fran has been the best place for me to swap encounter crap for caps. It is out the way enough that few people are there to check the traders, and it is a guarded town.
I have been to New Reno three times and been killed three times within about two minutes. Thankfully the last two times I went there after having died already, so I had nothing to lose.

...The Q&A thread seems to belong to me right now

I'll see if I can't get the train stations so I can get caps in San Fran. Walking there on foot is out of the question for now, I think. I might still try New Reno, just to see how it is up there if nothing else.

And yes, that Q&A thread is excellent. It's the Bible of this game. Thanks to it, I've got a gigantic pile of brahmin hides (even after making a new tent) and will probably try selling some.

If you would like, i can help you find the Train Stations. Those are a real big help in getting across the map. I usually make runs to san fransico to sell for caps and believe me at my lvl (9) it would've been impossible or take a long time.

One word of advise if you want to avoid pk'ers i've learned not to travel b/w squares of cities. As in the shortest route is the route most people will take.

I'm pretty sure I can get the Train Stations myself, since there's a map on the Wiki and I know how the quest works. I definitely appreciate your offer of help, but may not need it (unless you're high Outdoorsman or something and can lead my slower character).

Yeah, I didn't understand how player-player encounters worked before, but I do now. Very important advice. When I'm carrying a load of precious cargo, I try to avoid direct routes if possible.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Thanks to everyone for the advice and offers to show me the ropes in-game. I'll probably take you up on it, but for now I'm "tinkering" with the game, so it may be a few days before I proactively seek you out in-game to say hello. (I might show up where you hang out, send you a PM on the forum, look you up on IRC, etc.).

Oh, one more question (from here on out, I'll keep individual questions in the Q&A thread): With that "go to world map to trade" thing, how should I meet the buyer? Stand on the very edge of town naked, with the stuff I'm selling held in my hands, have the buyer follow me, then just leave town, stand still, and trade?

I'm not asking because I'm scared to try it, I'm asking because I don't want to piss buyers off by doing it wrong.