Player Driven Economy

[Krynnost]

So... leave it as is for single player. However, reduce what traders sell to a bare minimum (food, basics as related to that trader, etc.) for multiplayer. Traders would still buy from you, and then list at higher price, but it would be items gathered/produced by other players.

I think it would be great for servers. What say you?

[Seftak]

Here is a crazy idea : setup your server to make water filters and solar panels lootable / craftable and remove traders.

[Krynnost]

I don't wish to remove traders, rather they would buy low/sell high and mostly stock what other players sold them.

By example: the trader would only have a dozen duct tape for sale because another player on the server crafted or looted the duct tape and sold a dozen to the trader.

[Sr Humungus]

The idea is nice but is server resource consuming, also, i prefer (dont know if they patched it, hope they did it) to cap what you sell in the rent trader vendor machine and avoid tricks to have unlimited dukes in huge amounts in a very short time.

[Mithrandir]

IMO, even for single player, I would simply cap to quality 3 anything the traders can sell or give as rewards. The best quality gear should be reserved to crafting or looting, not something so common that traders are regularly selling or giving them as rewards (and way before you can craft or find them).

[SylenThunder]

Something else to keep in mind....

The game isn't designed for 30-50 player servers. It isn't supported at all.
The game is designed for a max of 8 players playing co-op.

So when you think of ideas like this, think of how it would affect only a small group of friends playing together.

[Crater Creator]

There are vending machines where players can put items they have up for sale. I’m heavy into single player but as I recall, the player can set their own selling price. Other than removing the trader’s regular stock too, doesn’t this already provide what you’re asking for?

[ShadedMJ]

Originally posted by Krynnost:

... but it would be items gathered/produced by other players.
I think it would be great for servers. What say you?

It would only benefit the first players to join the server. Those first players would purchase all the water filters and everything useful from the trader, and sell all their garbage to the trader. After a short time, a new player joins the server and the trader is useless to them.

[Crater Creator]

Originally posted by ShadedMJ:

Originally posted by Krynnost:

... but it would be items gathered/produced by other players.
I think it would be great for servers. What say you?

It would only benefit the first players to join the server. Those first players would purchase all the water filters and everything useful from the trader, and sell all their garbage to the trader. After a short time, a new player joins the server and the trader is useless to them.

I disagree with that, because nearly everything in the game is useful for something, for someone, at some point. I’ll sell stacks of raw ingredients, like feathers, raw meat, or wood, simply because with my playstyle I accumulate an excess of certain things. But they’re still useful. I’ll also sell items that are lower quality or lower tier, as I advance and find better items to replace them. But a new player would be grateful to have them. Lastly, there are items like clothing/armor. I can only wear one set of goggles, so someone else can buy any duplicates I acquire.

I’m sure some items would be in higher demand than others (which might suggest an underlying imbalance/underutilization to address). And some servers might have players that cluster around certain builds or levels of progression (amplified by the supported 8 player sample size, as SylenThunder mentions). But in the aggregate it should work out. The only always-useless things I can think of are silver and gold nuggets. If there’s e.g. a weapon that nobody ever uses, it could sit around unsold… but the solution there should be to fix the weapon so it’s good enough for some people to use sometimes.

[Krynnost]

Originally posted by SylenThunder:

Something else to keep in mind....

The game isn't designed for 30-50 player servers. It isn't supported at all.
The game is designed for a max of 8 players playing co-op.

So when you think of ideas like this, think of how it would affect only a small group of friends playing together.

That's a good point. The game has to work for solo, small gang, and groups. All we really need are a few more toggle switches in the menu.