Create a new type of Merchant Company activity called a Trade Route. This isn't something you get a specific Voyage for it is just something you do.
At each Outpost create a shop that is tied into the Merchant Company. They will sell you Planks, Bananas, Cannonballs, Animal Crates, and Supply Crates.
The pricing of these supplies is based off of Supply and Demand. The less of any individual product that has been sold to the shop keep the more expensive it will be to purchase supplies. In that same situation it will also be more profitable for you to sell supplies to that merchant at that time.
Rough outline of how I see it working.
- Each Outpost has a new shop that you can buy and sell supplies from.
- They will not sell gun powder barrels. (purely because I feel it'd quickly become a pain for everyone)
- The price of supplies is dictated by how much stock they have which is determined by players selling supplies to them.
- Individual sales have a smaller impact on the supply/demand than selling and buying crates of supplies.
- At the Merchant you can look at prices for supplies at other Outposts. From here you can select where you want to go, what you want to deliver there, and then buy the crate and the goods.
- Trade Routes are high risk and high reward. Buying a crate of goods to transport to another Outpost can be very expensive even from an Oupost that is well stocked. In my head I'd say 10,000 gold for a Banana Crate with the reward being in the 5,000 gold range for an Outpost that has gotten no Bananas at all in a very long time.
- Selling your Trade goods to a different outpost than the one you contracted to go to will still net you money but it will be less.
- You can remove supplies from trade crates or add to them if need be. This means that shipping lanes for supplies can be tracked and pirated.
- Completed Trade Routes will increase your rank with the Merchant Company.
