Reputation System

Reputation is your shop's track record of reliable sales. It is a hidden multiplier that quietly boosts your NPC appeal over time, giving established traders an edge over newcomers. Understanding how reputation works — and how to build it efficiently — is key to long-term success.

How You Earn Reputation

Reputation is earned per sale. Every time an NPC buys a product from your shop, you gain a small amount of reputation. The rate varies by product category:

Category	Reputation per Sale	Speed
Food	Low per sale	Fast accumulation (high volume)
Clothing	Moderate per sale	Moderate accumulation
Technology	High per sale	Slow accumulation (low volume)
Luxury	Highest per sale	Slowest accumulation

Food gives the least reputation per individual sale, but because food sells so frequently, Grocery shops actually build reputation the fastest in total. Jewelry gives the most per sale, but sales are so infrequent that total reputation growth is slow.

Diminishing Returns

Reputation growth follows a diminishing returns formula. Your first hundred sales build reputation quickly. The next thousand sales add less per sale. Eventually, each additional sale contributes very little to your total reputation score.

This means:

• Early sales matter the most. Getting your shop operational and selling quickly gives a disproportionate reputation boost.
• Long-term traders plateau. After thousands of sales, your reputation stabilizes. The advantage shifts from "more reputation" to "maintaining high reputation."
• New shops start at a disadvantage. A brand-new shop in a competitive region will struggle against established shops with reputation bonuses — even at identical prices and quality.

How Reputation Affects Appeal

Reputation acts as a multiplier on your shop's NPC appeal score. When the demand engine calculates which shops get customers, reputation gives a percentage bonus to your overall appeal. A shop with high reputation appears more attractive to NPCs, drawing a larger share of the regional demand.

The practical effect: two shops with identical products, prices, and quality will see different sales numbers based purely on reputation. The established shop wins.

Building Reputation Faster

• Start selling as early as possible. Every day you delay opening a shop is a day of missed reputation growth.
• Focus on Grocery first. The high sale volume builds total reputation faster than any other category.
• Stay stocked. An empty shop cannot make sales and cannot earn reputation. Keep your inventory full at all times.
• Sell across multiple regions. Reputation from different regions contributes to your overall score.
• Complete quests. Some quests award reputation directly, bypassing the per-sale accumulation.

Tips

• Reputation is your competitive moat. Once you build it, competitors cannot easily catch up.
• Do not neglect older shops in starter regions. They contribute ongoing reputation even if the margins are smaller than your high-level shops.
• When entering a new region, accept that your initial sales may be slow until reputation builds up. Price competitively to accelerate early sales and reputation growth.