Feature - Rejected improved mall searching (search for mall items by groupings)

[maximillian the red]

just an idea i had today, which I think would be beneficial, though may or may not be feasible. i find that i frequently (or at least semi-frequently) want to purchase whatever-the-cheapest-supercocktail-drink-currently is, but short of writing a ash script or something i'm not keen on a way to do this easily. rather than searching for them all one at a time and remembering which is the cheapest, what if there was an option on the Purchases tab to be able to search for "common" groupings of items instead of searching by text string pattern matches?

I recognize that there may be no limit to what people consider appropriate or viable groupings which is sort of what the "is this really feasible" comes into play, but I figure the valid groupings could be determined by using the groupings that food/booze discoveries use. i'll grant you i'd prefer "advanced cocktails" over "fruity-girl drinks" so maybe that part is a bad idea. i'm open for better ones, i just wish there was a way to search for comparable items without relying on them starting with the same letters or containing the same words for a pattern match.

maybe even boolean searching like "mae OR mon OR stratocaster" etc... thought that seems harder for some reason. perhaps mafia is limited by native KOL in this regard in which case I suppose there isn't much we could do.

anyway just a thought as I've found myself wishing for something like this in the past.

 

[Theraze]

Well, using the current system, if you wanted to, could search through items[] for .inebriety and if so, check get_ingredients for one of the 3 advanced bits. Alternatively, look for inebriety and fancy both, take the cheapest that qualifies...

Just seems like this is something where scripts function easier than new coding, and can easily meet this need.

 

[maximillian the red]

I'll chalk it up to lack of scripting skill then that it seems harder to do it that way

Plus it's not that I always just want to buy 4 of them to drink right away, sometimes i just want to search "all super cocktails" or "all transcendental noodle dishes" looking for values or min priced items or whatever. i don't want to run a mall bot that scoops up stuff automatically, but i wouldn't mind having a better way to process something similar manually.

maybe a script is the right way to go about it and i just need to figure it out; i just kind of think there are more broad implications that building it into the application may be useful for reasons i can't even articulate.

 

[Theraze]

As you said though, the problem is that people will inevitably ask for more and more groupings, and then people will start to complain that the interface is too cluttered, and then...

With scripts, you can do whatever you want with any items you want already, and the only limit currently is your ability to ask or do.

 

[Rinn]

You can search everything in a zap group like so: cheapest +mon tiki

Then if you want to buy and drink it you can do something like: cheapest +mon tiki; buy 3 it; eat 3 it

 

[maximillian the red]

oh wow - another mafia capability i had no idea existed. thanks!

edit: interestingly, right now someone has slip n slides for 231 meat, but when i do
"cheapest +slip n slide" it returns the list of the zap group and prices, but shows slip n slide at 985 (which is the 2nd best price)

> cheapest +slip n slide

a little sump'm sump'm @ 985
fuzzbump @ 985
horizontal tango @ 985
slip 'n' slide @ 985
pink pony @ 990
ocean motion @ 1,000
roll in the hay @ 1,000
ducha de oro @ 1,074
calle de miel @ 1,420
rockin' wagon @ 1,480
slap and tickle @ 1,484
perpendicular hula @ 1,490

i wonder what exclusion rules are being applied. it isn't simply a matter of "if limits are set" because the 985 store also has limits.

 

[Theraze]

Though, y'know... drinking alcohol works better than eating it. But otherwise, yeah, the +item will get you the whole zapgroup, which in your request involves all the FG drinks.

 

[slyz]

i wonder what exclusion rules are being applied. it isn't simply a matter of "if limits are set" because the 985 store also has limits.

As usual, CLI commands/ASH functions only give the price of the 5th cheapest item, to avoid using Mafia as a buffbot and also to give more precise prices that don't take into account limited sells.

I would like to be able to use "+mon tiki" in the Purchase tab, too.

EDIT: It would require a lot of work though. You are right that Mafia is limited by native KoL, so we would need to generate as many mall searches as there are items in the zap group.

 

[maximillian the red]

As usual, CLI commands/ASH functions only give the price of the 5th cheapest item, to avoid using Mafia as a buffbot and also to give more precise prices that don't take into account limited sells.

that's what i was originally thinking also, but i discounted it when i saw that the price shown (985) was the 2nd price and only 1 store had it priced as such.

 

[slyz]

Not "the price of the 5th cheapest store", the price of the 5th cheapest item.

Right now, a mall search for "slip 'n' slide" shows:

2 @ 975
14,532 limit 100 @ 985

If you bought 5 items, the price of the 5th would be 985.

 

[maximillian the red]

ahh, thanks for clarifying. as always, i'm an idiot.

 

[roippi]

It seems to me like this is something that really needs to be scripted. There's a couple of off-the-shelf options a few forums down.

If someone comes up with a design doc for whatever feature is being requested here, we can reconsider; marking rejected for now.