This Weeks Hypothetical Scenario

[Darkard]

Ok, Dynamic pricing is good. But open to falling over if certain Comoditys are Spammed in either Import or Export.
We can never have a 100% true to like economy, Its just not possible to have and not cripple traders/miners. Setting hard limits on stock levels will mean a team of miner can 'Fill' a base and then everyone else in that area is forced to haul it out. If there are no Miners then the Hauler are forced into mining when Stocks run dry. This cannot be allowed to happen.
BUT with a combination of set Upper and Lower price limits as well as a self-correcting unit costs could possibly work.

Ill Use a compleatly made up example here.
In System A you can haul Copper to the base there. Everytime a cargo haul of copper is dropped onto the base it tweaks the price in that base down (To show they need less of it).
Eventually the price of Copper will hit the Low limit for that price (it cannot drop any lower than this price so that there is always SOME profit to bringing it here, just not much i.e. it will never sell for less than a trader can buy it from its production point. This also means that its never profitable to take Copper FROM the base to a production point.).
With a little time the price of Copper at the base will come back up to simulate it being used and thus it become more profitable to take it there again.
The base in System A produces Engine Components from the copper. These can be sold at System B.
Buying the Engine Components at System A would drive its price up until it reaches the Upper Limit. (This is never higher than System B's Lower limit. So again, there is always SOME profit to hauling it. You will never arrive to find you are making a loss.)

This would continue on from base to base idealy making a loop where you take an Import good in and an Export out to each base in the chain, Just like the current Fixed economy trys to simulate.
The fluctuating prices are to make traders have 3/4 good routes that they can switch betwwen when they find thier profit on one loop getting slim. This would stop A <-> B routes as they would quickly hit thier limits and slash profits. And would ecourace longer routes through many bases, and also would not cause one route to have hundreds of traders while another has none, as people would move to less used routes.

To help with traders finding how much a route is being used. Have a permanant Bar News item in the major trade hubs that informs on price levels and how much stock is being moved to and from bases that are part of that Bases Trade Loop.

I hope I made that clear to people.

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