Enterbrain has announced the newest piece of information about RPG Maker VX. As spoken by Arts Kawashima:

What's the Counter Attribute?

When you make a weapon shop, inn, or other shop, you will generally insert a counter and place the shop owner behind it.
And although the owner may be set to act as the store event, errors where the counter becomes an obstacle and the main character cannot initiate conversation frequently arise.

Therefore, in our previous work, XP, the map tile itself could have the "counter" attribute attached to it, and those with that attribute attached could allow events to be carried out over the counter.




The Counter Attribute in VX

However, since it was also believed that such would prove troublesome, the counter attribute has changed in VX.
Now, specific map tiles have had the counter attribute affixed and those tiles added in advance.



These are four kinds of desks, found in the A set, which can be stretched in all directions.



By dragging, you can make the desk this big. This desk is one that has the "counter attribute" affixed to it.


[picture text: The protagonist cannot trespass beyond this shop counter.]

Establish the counter and then place the shop owner.



By all rights, an event that couldn't execute because they weren't adjacent to the player can now be executed because of the counter attribute's ability to cross over the desk (as long as they are one space away).
Now beginners should be able to intuitively create counter events.