Basically, keep what we have in place except:

1. Create some number of vendor mobs that sell/create sleek a/s/b wands. Put them in the sort of magical places mentioned elsewhere in this thread. Tower of Sorcery, Consortium, Thar-Acacia, etc. Maybe put some in harder to reach places and have them charge less because they're so hard to reach.

2. Optionally add a minimum exploration and/or observation requirement in order for these vendor mobs to do business with a given mage.

3. Fix the prices so that gathering the coin necessary to purchase a wand of type X requires "slightly" more effort than what is needed to gather that wand using the current exploration-based sleek system. (discussion below)

4. Each time a character buys a sleek wand, regardless of the type, he has to wait a set amount of time before buying another sleek wand. (discussion below)

5. If you want to encourage character longevity (which may not be a goal) then optionally allow the haggle skill to affect how much purchased wands cost.

Point of #3:

This makes it so that the purchase-based system is actually utilized, but is not utilized to the exclusion of the current exploration-based system. It retains the property that "player knowledge" still gives an advantage, since a player with "perfect" knowledge would be better served by not purchasing his wands.

However it does limit the advantage a player derives from having "perfect knowledge", since even a 100% ignorant player can purchase sleeks as long as he knows how to generate gold.

It would be essential to set the prices and "waiting period" correctly, since if the prices are too high then this system morphs into exactly what we have today. But if the prices are too low and/or the waiting period too short then it becomes "every mage has a/s/b all the time".

Point of #4:

I think this one is especially interesting. At first glance you might think that since purchasing any wand type imposes the same waiting period, one would always want to purchase barrier. But if a mage is only using the "purchase" system and is always purchasing barrier then he will never have aura or shield. Thus, the guy using the purchase system as his only source for all three types must use them at 1/3 the rate of the guy who only wants to keep barrier on tap. Goal: If you want the "full wand package" then you have to use your wands sparingly.

This "dual" system would also let mages who've found only certain sleeks to "make up" for that by purchasing those types they can't get via the exploration-based system.

Some thoughts:

1. This proposal retains the property that "player knowledge counts for something". A player with perfect knowledge of existing sleek locations could continue to use those locations and ignore the purchase system entirely. He would, however, only get a "relatively small" benefit from doing so. Also, the ability to generate gold becomes more important.

2. This proposal retains the property that "getting your wands should incur some risk". Not only do you have to visit one of a small set of wand mobs, where an enemy could lay in wait, you also have to gather the coins or items necessary to exchange for a wand.

3. This proposal provides an option for veteran players who don't want to "pore over a bunch of areas I've already been through a thousand times". Such a player could ignore the exploration-based sleek system entirely and just purchase his wands. By doing so, however, he would be tying himself to a slightly less efficient system of wand delivery (i.e. more effort per charge).

4. This proposal provides an option for novice players who feel intimidated by the current exploration-based sleek system. Such a player could just buy all his wands, assuming he knows how to generate the necessary coin.

Potential problems:

1. Outlander mages are screwed since they can't use coins. One solution would be to have certain vendors accept powerful magic items in lieu of coins. However, this creates a perverse incentive for Outlanders to loot powerful magic items from Pkills. It also opens the door for players to exploit "pathological items" that happen to be high-level and magic-flagged but are not especially hard to obtain. Requested items would obviously be excluded from consideration entirely.

2. Pathological means of generating gold now become "a big deal". If a mage figures out how to generate gold at a pathological rate, i.e. in an exploitative way, then he essentially has "a/s/b on a stick". This is mitigated, however, by the fact that each wand purchase comes with a fixed "waiting period". It would basically mean that such a mage would buy all his barrier wands, since they require the most effort to obtain from the exploration-based sytem and because gold is meaningless to him, while using the exploration-based system to get aura and shield. But...as these gold exploits are removed, this becomes less of a problem.