Trade network

[dageir]

I was freshing up on the barter stand function today and got the folowing idea:
What if we could link barter stands or let us call it trade hubs in a network? The max range from each stand to the other could be for instance 500 tiles.
Each hub could link any other hub within 500 tiles. We could "post" items for sale in the hub and what we want for it.

After a while many hubs might be connected and trade be done over greater distances. No visible caravan would show. In the hub screen we can see what other hubs are Connected and what they offer for sale and want in Exchange.
Once you get a buyer for Your items they are transfered from one hub to another at a certain speed (for instance walk speed or "crawl"). The trade would thus not be Instant and might be delayed for several hours. Still it would in most cases be a better option than traveling yourself. Trade over seas could be done if for example special buoyes that would need to be placed.


Each trade hub should have a pretty high cost, but not so bad that a hermit could not make one over time. The hubs both on land and sea should be able to be destroyed and cargo looted. An attacker would receive the object en route to the specific hub (but not if the Objects had not yet passed the hub before that). A land hub could be palisaded and defended as per ususal. Sea hubs would not be easy to defend from pirates.


This feature would introduce more convenient trade and give Focus Points for PvP/piracy. Realms could help expand trade within their borders by placing hubs throughout the land and even levy taxes from trade.


Any thoughts?

[Grog]

Hard to impossible to protect.

[Kaios]

It’s a mechanic used more effectively by bots but barter stands already have this capability although I believe at much shorter distances. However, Z-positioning is not taken in to account so you could already transport goods through multiple levels with the correct setup. This sounds like it would make a mass transportation system even easier to create.

[dageir]

Hard to impossible to protect.

It would be hard over great distances, yes. But nothing really good comes free og charge.

[dageir]

It’s a mechanic used more effectively by bots but barter stands already have this capability although I believe at much shorter distances. However, Z-positioning is not taken in to account so you could already transport goods through multiple levels with the correct setup. This sounds like it would make a mass transportation system even easier to create.

What do you mean more effective by bots? The mechanic I suggest would ignore terrain (other than water).

[Kaios]

I meant that the way it currently works for barter stands is more effectively used by bots or players with multiple alts available. For example, you place the hand that takes inside of a cupboard/chest where you are storing goods and then an alt is positioned at the barterstand within whatever the current distance limit is monitoring the cupboard/chest that contains the hand that gives with stone or something inside. 1 stone is purchased from the barter by the alt in exchange for the goods stored in the chest, thus instantly transporting them from one location to another. It can be expanded upon as much as you would like, it simply requires more barterstands to increase the network size.

As for whether or not I actually want to see a real instant transportation network implemented I am not sure. I don’t feel it would be too conducive towards facilitating regional trade if it is unable to go over water and would more likely be used as a way to transport goods more easily between claims and villages.

[dageir]

The system I am suggesting is not Instant though.

Also a bot free system would be Nice.

[Kaios]

Well no but it also removes the risk involved in transporting goods in the first place, at least the character/knarr risk. If you send something off and go to work it might as well be instant because you’re not really taking the time to do that yourself.

I don’t know it’s not a bad idea but I feel like once those networks are known they will just be camped by alts anyways looking to intercept the goods, it might facilitate more player interaction because of that but I suspect it would have the opppsite effect.