Economy & Markets

1. Summary

The economy is open: any tradable item instance can be sold, bought, bartered, or listed — no artificial trade restrictions.

No interchangeable end-game gear — markets trade specific instances (weapons, armor, accessories) and bulk material lots (18). Two players never converge on the same loadout.

Two complementary market layers in the global world:

1. Broker markets — per town/region with dynamic supply/demand and cross-region price quotes
2. Player commerce — crafted market stalls (player-set prices) and direct trades

Players arbitrage between regions: list remotely at premiums, travel for better broker quotes, undercut stalls.

Control plane holds authoritative ledgers, price history, and listing state.

2. Design principles

3. Trade modes

All item moves = central-audited transactions.

4. Broker markets

4.1 Per-region brokers

Each town or region hosts broker market instances:

BrokerMarket {
  region_id,
  broker_id,
  material_books: Map<ItemTemplateId, CommodityBook>,  // ore, herbs — bulk
  instance_listings: Vec<InstanceListing>,             // weapons, armor, tools
}

CommodityBook {
  last_price,           // clearing price
  bid, ask,             // current spread
  volume_24h,
  stock_depth,          // broker inventory from player listings
  scarcity_index,       // derived
}

4.2 Price discovery (supply & demand)

When buys exhaust listed stock:

• last_price trends up (auction-like pressure)
  When sells flood the market:

• last_price trends down

Example: No iron ore listings; last trade was 3 silver. New listing at +10% premium (3.3 silver). If buyers take it, index rises; broker quotes shift.

price_delta = f(buy_pressure, sell_pressure, scarcity, time_decay)
new_price = clamp(last_price + delta, floor, ceiling)

Parameters per commodity in ruleset config — not hardcoded.

4.3 Player listings on broker

Players list items for sale at broker without standing there:

Remote listing: allowed at higher fees / minimum premium — reflects logistics and risk (08 bank transfers for payment; item delivered via broker pickup in that Area).

4.4 Buying from broker

• Instant buy if stock at ask price
• Partial fills if multiple listings
• Coins: physical at pickup or debit bank + fee

4.5 Selling to broker

• Instant sell at broker bid (below ask) — quick dump
• Listed sell at premium/discount — waits for buyer

5. Cross-region price quotes

Brokers on the magical market network publish read-only quotes across the world:

flatland market quote iron_ore
  Region Northhold:  3.0 silver (12 listed)
  Region Deepport:   4.8 silver (2 listed)  ← scarce
  Region Capital:    2.6 silver (400 listed)

Players travel to buy cheap or haul goods to sell where scarce.

5.1 Food & finished goods (decided)

Crafted meals and equipment list as specific instances on stalls and broker (18). Price discovery uses recent sales of similar templates — buyers inspect rolls and enchants before purchase.

Enchanted items — high-margin player craft (17); each listing is one permanent instance until destroyed.

Quote API:

• Control plane aggregates per region commodity books
• Stale TTL (e.g. 5–15 min game time)
• Cartography helps players find markets (06)

6. Player market stalls

6.1 Stall as crafted item

Market stall kit — crafted product (09):

• Placed in allowed zones (town market square, player lease plot)
• Opens stall container + UI for owner
• Owner sets per-item price in coin (any amount — no price caps)

6.2 Buyer experience

• Browse nearby stalls (AOI + market district)
• See item, price, inspect stats
• Purchase → coins to stall escrow → owner collects (physical or bank)

6.3 vs broker

7. Remote listings & arbitrage

Remote broker listing (player in region A, lists in region B):

• Minimum premium config (e.g. ≥ +5% over B's average)
• Higher listing fee
• Buyer picks up in B; seller paid via bank transfer minus fees

Encourages merchant gameplay across the global world.

8. Currency integration

9. Central authority & anti-cheat

Region hosts cannot fake sales or mint gold.

10. TUI / agent

• flatland market quote <item> [--all-regions]
• flatland market list <item> --region <id> --premium +10
• flatland market buy <item> --qty 5 --area w
• flatland stall open / flatland stall set-price <slot> <price>
• flatland trade offer <player>

11. Phasing

12. Open questions

Resolved (2026-07-06):

13. Design feedback

Open economy + broker indices gives emergence in a single world. Cross-region quotes tie into cartography and travel — knowing where to sell matters (01, 06).

Supply/demand on brokers should move prices gradually with configurable elasticity to prevent single-transaction manipulation while still rewarding scarcity plays (no iron → +10% listing clears → index rises).

Crafting graph & soul-bind scrolls: 09-crafting-and-recipes.html