Sea of Theives Economy

Economy - A potential issue but, still, an interesting thought!

Ahoy there, fellow pirate and advocate for a more dynamic and vibrant Sea of Thieves market!
You make some truly compelling points about the potential benefits and excitement such a feature could bring to our beloved game.
I could NOT agree more with most of your arguments.

The prospect of player engagement and economic strategy is truly tantalizing.
I can already envision myself spending countless hours poring over market trends, forming alliances with other pirate crews (especially if we see something like Pirate Unions and/or Pirate "Clans/Groups"; In reference to Xbox Groups for Sea of Thieves), and plotting my investments as I sail the high seas.
It would undoubtedly add a new layer of depth and immersion to the game.

The idea of a dynamic economy, influenced by player actions, is thrilling.
It would make every voyage feel meaningful, knowing that our choices in the game could impact the world around us - especially, internally and externally, the lore of the game itself!
And the potential for unique player stories is boundless - from rags to riches and daring adventures on the stock market seas, it would create memorable moments to share with our fellow pirates - just imagine the passive income from having a successful play in the market! OR being in debt to a Pirate Crew/Union/Clan, and having targetted bounties (PvP or PvE) to come and get you! (Kill you).

However, I must admit, there is one concern that lingers in me mind. The transition of outposts into ports in two years' time, as ye suggest, could indeed lead to substantial profits for those who invested early.
But I worry about the potential for exploitation or a rush to monopolize the market. It's important that such a feature be carefully balanced to ensure fairness and accessibility for all players, whether they be seasoned veterans or fresh-faced recruits.

In the end, I'm all for embracing the spirit of adventure and entrepreneurship in Sea of Thieves. I reckon with some thoughtful design and safeguards in place, a stock market could be a treasure trove of excitement and opportunity for us pirates.
Let's hope the developers hear our call and set sail on this grand adventure together!

while the idea itself seems to be very interesting I doubt that this game is the right place for something like this. First of all because story and lore and everything is planned ahead mainly by Mike Chapman if I remember correctly. But the more important thing is that I feel that stock market things are more suitable for any other game before SoT comes in my mind. It is about pirating and plundering and investment stuff seems counter intuitive and something that you would not even need to play the actual game for. I guess you could check the stock market and invest all from the main menu without even loading into a session. I feel like this would be very detrimental to the actual current way SoT is played and I assume meant to be played. Thirdly I think the whole stock market thing is way too complex for most players, considering that very few people even know the basics of stock exchange in real life and I think only a niche part of the playerbase would be interested in such features. Lastly I'd like to mention that gold in SoT is meaningless. You can easily amass hundred of millions of gold in kind of little time if done right. Whole thing feels really off for me.

Ahoy @axecaliburtv, I hear your point on how this may simply be not the right place for such a system to exist. I understand that it may be complex for some players, however, even something simple such as a demand and supply system surrounding the existing commodities provided by the merchant alliance could possibly be very beneficial to the game play of SOT, allowing players to feel as if they are truly part of the story, affecting the things around them. This system would comprise of certain commodities increasing in value/price as more of them are demanded by the players, or decreasing in value as less are demanded by the players. Of course I agree gold in SOT is somewhat meaningless, which is why another currency such as doubloons may be more appropriate for this system. While I agree that this game may not require such a system, I believe that an economy system would be most beneficial to it's players and the entire community, by allowing them to be more immersed in the game, as if they are really sailing the Sea of Thieves, affecting the events around them and creating stories, all while amassing riches in a way that would simulate reality.

Ahoy @ltlightclaw, I agree! If such a system ever comes into existence, it must be balanced to ensure player satisfaction. I too hope the developers hear about this system, and that we get to see something like this in the future!

I can see this happening as a overhaul to commodities. As in, supply and demand is driven by a tracker of what commodities players are selling. I can imagine some YT videos like "I crashed the market for [item]!"

Happy Sailing!

I think if something with variable demand and offer comes into play, it should maybe be something with a commodity rework.

Also I would prefer if Rare would use their limited resources to fix the current content over rushing new content. Doing something with quest boards for example. There are hundreds of minor bugs who are in the game and not being addressed. Not even talking about the bigger issues. And I'd much more prefer those being addressed than a new mechanic being added.

Players would need to think strategically about their investments, considering factors like market trends, events, and the actions of rival pirates

No thanks. Only thinking I wanna focus on is should I fish while I wait or sail around looking for trouble.

Ahoy @devtryak! This is a very intriguing proposition, however I was discussing a market of commodities. It would be most interesting to have a player based market for cosmetics, giving more value to these treasures. However I believe that many players would not like the idea of a volatile market that could cause their rare cosmetics to decrease in value over night! Hopefully the developers embark on implementing a economy system in the future!

I feel like you’re an Eve Online player and if you are not, you should check it out because it seems to be right up your alley. As for Sea of Thieves, I’ve been around for some time now and i’m not sure it would engage a lot of its player base. People get excited by rabbit-shaped cannons and mermaid gems here, not by player-driven economy and stock market options.

More importantly, it is a fairly big project you are suggesting and the devs already chew more than they can handle with adventures, tall tales and seasons and the constant issues in need fixing. I like your enthusiasm and your ideas in theory, just not in practice.

There would be a fair bit of coding behind this so I am not certain it would be worth the time compared to other features.

For cosmetics it could be feasible if you could sell them back, lowing the price. However, how would it work when someone quits the game? They buy up a butch of items, driving up the price but they never get sold back. I have more gold than I can spend to the point of loot meaning nothing to me, this means if I go on a buying spree, newer players have a harder grind. I think there are too many down sides here.

What could be fair is removing the cap on supplies. Each time you buy supplies the price increases, selling them back decreases the cost.

@masterharry-who I have no idea how that would even begin to work, but hey, if Grand Maritime Union is introduced with this mechanic involved Im all down