Your idea with Trading Posts does not work. No one uses these Trading Posts. Because the Trading Posts are unused their is no economy whatsoever.
This game would be a really fun game if it had a economy like just about every other video game MMO. But instead most guilds hoard their resources. Controlling their resources with a select few people they trust in their guild. Which they don't have any other choice but to do so.
But it would be great if this game had an economy like every other MMO.
Most trading posts are only usable by the guild that made them. And each guild is just to small to create an economy within themselves.
Personal Monuments could greatly help with trading between players and allowing players to have their own stuff. But as I said each guild is just to small to create an economy within itself.
And allowing each guild to create their own coins will not help with this problem at all.
In short this games 0% economy problem quickly.
As I feel like their may be a lot of people that feel the same way as me. When you consider that every other MMO has a economy. And most people are used to having their own stuff in every other MMO.
Without naming any games, even the hardcore MMOs have an economy.
Economy in LIF MMO looks like this:
1. Most of the guild have everything or overall dont have need anyone's help.
2. Why even try to sell anything to the players when you simply sell it to computer for minimum coin, yet you have enough stuff to simply feed it non stop to puke coin for guild monument or personal monument.
3. Thats why coin dont have that much of value - its better to exchange goods for goods. - You cant exchange this way goods in trading post - just coin.
4. Transportation - its very hard to transport goods if horse carts is simply swallowed by server - and dont even try mentioning sea transportation.
You can fix those problems. Answer already exists in game.
Here are my simple propositions. I just want to mention that change for any type of players will be painfull and will contain major re-think.
1. Instead having regional goods why no do major reshuffle of resources that ARE BOUND TO REGIONS. (the longest point sorry)
Examples
Chilling thicketts
++Very good high quality hardwood tree that gives many planks billets etc.
+Pockets of marble slate and medium pockets of iron (pehaps silver)
+Wild non mostly non tamable animals that gives fur
-very little food and ground gives very little possibility to grow vegetables or food have very little quality
--softwood is almost impossible to grow there and tress that grow in warmer climates dont grow there or give very little wood
Potential for guilds (and lone players) to trade furs and foresters to sell high quality hardwood to the rest people.
Icy hermits
+++Enormous pockets of iron and silver
---nothing grows there
Potential for guilds (and lone players) to trade gold and iron for other guilds. They will not survive there on gold alone.
Western domain and central domain.
+++Possibility for farmers to grow very high quality food
+small pockets of iron - enough to to survive but not enough to make war economy on it.
Potential for guilds (and lone players) to make and trade food resources veges and some tamable animals.
And so on. If in central domain every guild have their own iron mine - then there is already too much of iron there.
ardon:
For defense of this suggestion i just want to mention that regional goods economy between guilds is fine and dandy. People are always exchanging goods - even without trading post (they dont because another regional are more precious - and coin again doesn't have that much worth.) I just wish other goods are exchanged that way.
2. Add possibility to exchange goods for goods in trading post.
OR
3. YOU CANT sell goods to the crown in guild or private trading post. JUST main city. This way coin will have great value - this may result in lowering coin upkeep of guild and private claims.
4. Fix server crossing and add ships (most crucial part). Devs shouldt try to change anything if this issue is resolved.
If those points are met, other issues in game will be resolved.
F.eks
-Private claim owners will gain value. If they can hold their private claims.
- If one guild will start hoarding resource on region of map and will not trade - just hoard. Major alliances will start to wage war and strip kingdom piece by piece and even siege to kick people out of there.
-People that are peaceful will have join the war just to protect their resources
-War will have more sensible approach and "War for fun" will be traded for "War for resources"
Telling the truth thats how i myself imagined economy to function - before the beta.
Im afraid that devs have some kind of diffrent idea about economy and resources in game.
However i must mention - that concept dont work.