some of the things in this thread may have been adressed in the thread about economy, but this is more about the act of buying something not the way flow of wares and mony.

1. buyers and sellers: one would think that an industrial world would have several competing factories or middlemen, in a dynamic economy where the local prize of say steel is going up and down one would thing some people wants more rupees (or what ever currency LT uses) for it than others. will the demand for my steel be decided by the buyers stockpiles of steel or is it asumed that everyone is drawing from a "vault" of steel so everyone has almost the same prices. if there is fluctuations in local prizes it may be profitable to make a contract with some of the best stockpiled traders so you can accsess their secret stash of steel under the great steel depression, remember for the love of your neecaps to pay them back later.

2. corporations. some buyers or sellers of Steel may not be influenced as much by the local prises since their suply of steel comes from a magma planet only a few jumps away and they have no problem with buying steel at a shitty prise while everyone else builds wooden spaceships (steel depression, remember?).

3 hunt for sellers. say i want 60 tonnes of carbon i can transport to my steelplant, however not many people have large amounts of pure carbon on theis particular space station and i cant bother to go to the next station, i would then place my buying order, pay for some time on the intercom and wach the four carbon sellers pile forward from the hundreds or thousands of traders on the trading deck.
once they start wressling for my mony i get some great deals and leave with my pressius carbon.

at least one of these ideas is probbably stupid or has aleredy been awnsered. feel free to throw shoes at me .
Edit: sorry if this is the wrong board...

I do like the sound of that end suggestion about putting out the word in the world what you/others are looking for and this would mean maybe being able to sell items at a higher price in certain outpost because the buyer is willing to pay that bit more or you can pay more to get a resource you desperately need. It also add the ability to the game to make some extra money you could just go on recourse hunting/gathering expeditions to fill demand.

I also think both your first and second suggestion have places in the game as it adds more opportunity and realism there would be large corporations that could afford to sell lower and individual traders that might be able to get there hands on more "unique" or "rare" items, but if the balance isn't correct it could throw the market into chaos but then again maybe this would be a naturally occurring event.

ravener96 wrote: 3 hunt for sellers. say i want 60 tonnes of carbon i can transport to my steelplant, however not many people have large amounts of pure carbon on theis particular space station and i cant bother to go to the next station, i would then place my buying order, pay for some time on the intercom and wach the four carbon sellers pile forward from the hundreds or thousands of traders on the trading deck.
once they start wressling for my mony i get some great deals and leave with my pressius carbon.

at least one of these ideas is probbably stupid or has aleredy been awnsered. feel free to throw shoes at me .

I would love to see a market interface where you could place an order out there for some amount of product at a specific price and give a range of systems you are willing to travel to get it. Then leave it up to the AI on whether they are willing to fill it at that price or not. Or possible respond with a counter offer that you are able to accept or reject.

Idea 3 is legit. Purchase Orders and fulfillment contracts... industrial management.

Seems very well-suited for this genre.

kaeroku wrote:Idea 3 is legit. Purchase Orders and fulfillment contracts... industrial management.

Seems very well-suited for this genre.

I agree. I think the concept can be applied in a number of fashions that would feel right at home in a space sim with a well-developed economic system.

Tuned out to be more of a suggestion thread after all so...

*move*

sorry about that...