KA-POW - NOT JUST FIREWORKS!
| Useful Links: The Pyrotechnics Guide The Test of Pyrotechnics Details Star Rack and Star Info Fireworks Stadium Locations |  | Our Tellers: Calen / catharsisqueen Asheara / Gniss Peabody Hatnofret Sedelyan |
Who are we?
Ka-Pow is a firework shop in Kush, just west of the CS along the road and just below the fireworks stadium (Indigo/Purple Building). We were established primarily to help players get started with the Pyrotechnics (fireworks) test, since so many of the resources can be hard to make or expensive to obtain. We do trade more than just fireworks resources, however, so read on and see what we have to offer!
Although we haven't set an exact date yet, the grand re-opening will be soon!
What Do We Trade?
Ka-Pow can buy or sell any item in the list below and, in some cases, more items than currently shown (ask if you don't see an item listed). We revise this list as our inventory grows and changes. Prices will differ a bit depending on whether we are buying or selling. Read below for more on our pricing guidelines.
You can do trades with us for items that you need for projects other than fireworks. For example, if you need some metal, charcoal, or beeswax fast, you can trade us some other basic resource for that item, assuming we have enough in stock. We aren't here to supply everyone's metal needs for every project though, so we may limit some trades or stop if we run low on specific items.
| BUY and SELL LIST | ||
| Fireworks Materials: | Basic Resources: | Manufactured Items: |
| - Various Stars (if we don't have it, we can make it) - Metal Salts - Gunpowder - Saltpeter - Sulphur - Charcoal - Mortars - Papyrus Paper - Tar - Aluminum Powder - Beeswax - Cactus Sap | - Clay - Wood - Papyrus - Flax - Leeks - Straw - Onions - Metal Ores (depending on supplies) | - Salt - Acid - Canvas - Coconut Water - Bricks / Firebricks - Dung - Refined Metals (depending on supplies) - Other Items (ask us) |
Speak to a teller before coming to the shop to work out the details of your trade.
Why do we want this stuff (or what use is it to you)?
- Straw and Onions go to making Dung, which is used to make Saltpeter for Gunpowder. We carry these items mostly for your benefit, since the shop generally has a large supply of this resource in stock.
- Wood is used to make Charcoal (which is used to refine metals for salts). Wood is also burned in kettles to make salt, acid, and potash.
- Charcoal is also used along with Saltpeter and Sulfur to make Gunpowder (used in Fireworks shells).
- Metal Salts, Sulfur, Clay, Tar, Beeswax, Cactus Sap, and Aluminum Powder are used to make Stars (used in Fireworks shells).
- Dried Paypyrus, Dried Flax, and Leeks go to making ash, which is used to make Potash, which is used in making metal salts for Stars. Papyrus is also used for Papyrus Paper, which is needed for making Fireworks shells.
How Do Trades Work?
Ka-Pow doesn't have a fully automated trading page like The Goods (yet) but we do have a web-based tool that the Tellers use to figure out trades. This tool is based on our internal Price List (see below). This keeps trades consistent (nothing is "made up" on the fly) and fair for everyone.
So How Does it Work? To initiate a trade, ask for a "KaPow Teller" in the RTrade channel or Kush regional chat -- or chat one of our tellers directly. Tell him or her what you want and what you have to trade. The teller will tell you how much of that item it will cost you to get what you want.
Trading Tips: Keep in mind that items that are easy to get (like wood) are not going to be as valuable as items that take time to make, or that are rare. For example, trading Charcoal will get you a better trade ratio than trading plain wood, because it takes more time and effort to get -- so it is more valuable as a trade item. Fireworks materials tend to be expensive in general, and stars are perhaps the most expensive single item in our inventory because they have so many expensive ingredients. The advantage of trading with us is that you can just trade wood (or metals, papyrus, leeks, etc.) for these hard-to-get items.
For example, you contact a Teller and say: "I want to buy 10 Ka-Pow Comet stars and I want to trade wood for it." The teller will use our trading tool to calculate how much wood that will cost and tell you: "That will cost you 1883 wood." You can agree to the trade at that point and arrange to meet at the shop, or you can change your trade, or you can explore other options to get what you want.
Who Are Our Tellers?
Our Tellers are players like you and they are donating their time to what they see as a (mostly) fun and worthwhile cause - helping others to get started with Fireworks! However, many of them have limited time, so please be patient and ask again later in RTrade or Kush regional chat if you don't get a response right away (please don't spam). Sometimes our tellers are online but they might be busy with a personal project that is taking all their attention - we play the game too, so please understand if we don't respond to chats immediately.
Currently the following people are in the guild and have expressed an interest in conducting trades:
- Calen
- catharsisqueen
- Asheara
- Gniss
- Peabody
- Sedelyan (although his time may be very limited)
- Hatnofret
Want to become a Teller? We expect a lot of our guild-mates. Most of us have donated tons of startup materials to get the shop running and it takes a lot of time and effort converting raw materials into the Stars and other materials that we sell. If you don't want to make that kind of commitment, try another guild. Sad to say, but we have also had thefts in the past (those people aren't with us anymore), so we are careful about who we trust with all these very valuable resources. Get to know us in Kush regional or one of the Pyrotechnics guilds. For example, the Inferno guild hall is located right next to the Ka-Pow guild hall and is open to everyone. Once we have gotten to know you ask one of us to sponsor you to the guild. Please don't take offense if that person asks you to wait until we know you better or if the guild turns you down at first. Thanks!
How Are Prices Set?
The Gunpowder Standard: To begin with, we have a spreadsheet where we calculated how much time it takes to produce many of the resources in Egypt by various means (for example, dung from sheep pens vs. camel pens) and averaged these times. We then figured out the time it takes to produce 1 deben of Gunpowder (based on all the resources that go into it) and then we based all our prices on that.
Are all resources treated the same? No, because not all resources are equal. Some are easier to get than others and some are downright rare. So, some prices are weighted by scarcity (such as gold ore). Where there is disagreement within the guild, prices are set by discussion and group consensus to keep things fair for everyone (for us and for you).
Do we keep a profit? We do keep a small profit on trades. We do this for two reasons: 1) We want to give our Tellers something from each exchange for their time and effort; and 2) We want the shop to keep a small profit so that our inventory grows over time and we can provide more goods and services to the community. So, you will notice that we sell items for a little bit more than we buy them for. This is how we stay in business.
The "profit" we give our tellers doesn't really begin to make up for all the stuff they have donated (or the time they spend converting wood to CC, or CC + ore into metal, or metal + acid + potash into metal salts, or metal salts + other resources into stars, etc.) so we are definitely not making a profit in terms of our own time! All those donated materials and time stay in the shop in one form or another. It's just enough to keep the shop going and fuel our own pyromania a little bit. :)
Price Stability: Because we base our prices on the time it takes to gather the resources and make the items we trade, our prices generally do not fluctuate. From time to time, as new technologies make some things easier to produce (like bricks, for example), we may drop the price for those items (both buying and selling prices). In general, however, you can expect consistent pricing from us day-in and day-out!
Other Benefits:
- Because we own or have access to every type of ore mine, we can offer prices a bit lower than what you would generally pay to get them yourself. For example, most public Gold mines will cost you hundreds of leather and jugs to repair. While you could get tons of ore for that, it is a huge initial investment and you would have to build chests to store it, carry it back, and so on. It is a huge effort to get your money's worth that way and for many players the initial cost is just too high. We do have to take into account the general market for each item (we don't want people buying up all our gold ore and reselling it at much higher prices!), but we can offer better prices in general and it saves our customers a lot of effort.
- We also have access to all the latest tech, so we can offer other items at lower prices than it might cost you to make them on your own (in some cases) if you don't have all the expensive facilities built already.
- Lastly, we have all the skills needed to make every fireworks resource, such as acid, metal salts and stars. The cost of these skills (for example, Dessication level 3) puts them out of easy reach for many players so they are often forced to trade for what they need. That's why we are here. We don't inflate our prices because of this, so you get the benefit of our skills.
Guild Resources
The Chem Lab can be used by customers to change their saltpeter, sulphur and CC into GunPowder if they like.
At some point we hope to setup mortars with every star currently available so that you can test fire them to see what they look like.
Pyrotechnics Notes
To get started with fireworks you will want about 30 stars, 50 gunpowder, 1 papyrus paper and 1 mortar.
Remember to Test-Fire and NOT launch your fireworks unless you are at competition or want to share the experience.
Fireworks make a great addition to any compound, especially great to have close to ceremonial tasting tables, so your guests can enjoy a firework with their beverage.
