The recent flood of gold/economy/merchant posts has got me to wondering about the new conversation system that Skyrim will have.

I the clerk continues to go about their business, how do I buy from them? Or will it go into another screen where I buy/sell items or will I have to pick things out and then go up to the counter and pay for them or risk walking out of the store and stealing the items I picked up. The picking up of items and bringing them to the clerk/merchant/smith would mean the "You stole my spoon collection" crime would no longer exist unless we simply walked out the door without buying anything.

Err, a menu just like it always was. Just because the dialog is in real time now, it doesn't mean everything has to be. We can still pause to go through our inventory, we will still pause to browse the merchant's inventory.

maybe there will be an option to click on a till or something to open up a buying/selling tab... who knows? I've never thought about it before. Or maybe the shopkeeper NPCs will be the exception where engaging with them opens up a tab.

I think you're reading too deeply into the conversation system. I'm sure merchants will still have dialog options for bartering and the like - hell, buttons for persuasion and bartering could appear at the bottom of the screen when engaged with these NPCs as they've always been. It shouldn't be any different.

I hope it uses the UI interface where you view the items in 3D but kind of like they did The Ocarina of Time where you saw the items before you purchased them and when you purchase something it is removed from the store.

I.E. if you buy a book from a bookstore that particular book would be gone until another copy was put up

Will we get the 3D representations of the items like we're supposedly getting in the inventory? If so, hell yes.

As long as the UI is different on PC versions...

Sounds a little hard to implement except for special items as I assume store content will be random like Oblivion and fallout one day they have multiple armor next refresh they have none, now add items you sell.

It's a new engine so they could be using a different shopping method.

Everytime you go into the Best Defense they would have items out on display but always have different items in their inventory. If they redid the shopping system then they would have to buy/sell from/to other NPCs. The AI is supposed to be smarter this time around also, so say they get an item of value over a certain amount of gold they could put it into a storage room or glass case. But if you bought the items then they would dissapear from the store.

If you are in there buying, you are their business
I imagine it will be a menu system, similar though improved, like found in Oblivion.
I would love to see the 3D representations included in the bartering process.

yeah, menus still seam like a good way to buy stuff, and if the interface is changed up abit to show more info of the item easily, and even the item in 3d, then im all for it.
and although buying items without a menu seems cool, it might get tired or boring quickly or annoying if you want to stock up on a ton of items and supplies.

Keep it simple I say. Menus are alright.

A screen would be fine.

I think it should be like it was in Daggerfall, shelves lined with items, and when you click the shelf it brings up a tab showing everything for sale, like it was in Oblivion.

To sell, you go up to the shopkeep and choose the "sell" option. The rest is pretty self-explanatory.

i like it the way it is. its simple and it works

I'd like one thing from Daggerfall to return: trying on things. If something looks stupid on my character I don't want to have to buy it to find that out. This could probably be done without difficulty with the same system from Oblivion.