Ideas for a more stimulating economy?

[iamahh]

you'd need to make world knowledge personal to each player, not easily shared

And in what way would this make big factions not dominant?...

Maps could still be made, either by hand or then custom clients.

without minimap tiles, and maybe some server magic, could create pockets of neighborhood, small markets, etc...

[shubla]

without minimap tiles, and maybe some server magic, could create pockets of neighborhood, small markets, etc...

You could draw your own maps. Or then just generate them with the client. Not that difficult. Eventually these things would be made public and we would have just one big market again, and global world maps too.

Initially hand-drawing those maps might be fun though.

[Astarisk]

It's an unpopular answer but I'd have to agree that removing any forms of fast travel beyond hearthfire travel would have a significant effect on the in-game economy and on trade in general, especially if there were more localized resources specific to certain geographic regions as was also mentioned. Obviously that change has numerous effects on the game itself but I think the effect it would have on in-game trade would be overall positive as it forces a more dynamic trade environment in terms of both market placement and the moving of trade goods. Once we have bridges what's the excuse to keep fast travel anyways?

I can agree that it would have a significant impact on the in-game economy, but are you sure it'll have the impact you desire? I feel like if you make it harder for someone to get to a market, the more likely it is for the village itself to start doing things more in house. Take for example my group, we pretty much stopped producing anything of value and buy all our stuff off of CF because its just easier and more convenient. The biggest thing we buy seems to be leather in fact. We haven't made our own leather in god knows how long. Instead anytime we need it, they just take a few roads arrive at CF and buy their own. If this convenience is removed we'd probably be more inclined to just throw hides in a tanning tub.

[jorb]

Not sure I like deterioration, as it seems like a chore. Does that work well in EVE?

I agree that high-end goods need better sinks. Metal, silk, &c. Expanding villages and realms could be good uses. I also kind of miss how bricks worked in Legacy.

I would really like to see some other means of qualitatively or quantitatively rewarding the player. All we have are food, curios, and equipment, and they all reduce to stats. Not sure if other games do something better there, or if we could. I kind of like the Credo buffs in that they are fairly localized, specialized and qualitative, and perhaps we could do more in those veins?