Did anyone play Freelancer? It had (in my view) a great system where one could buy commodities from certain stations and sell them at others. This system is very simple at the fundimentals, but had some interesting added features. Here I will give an outline of the trading system I am hoping to implement in my MMORPG, Turmoil. Player may buy commodities from most traders/producers. The commodities that can be bought and indeed their price will vary greatly depending on what commodities are produced in that area and the availability of the particular commodity. From here, the enterprising player can sell the commodity anywhere it will be bought. The price and who buys it will depend on the factors described above. The fundimental system is very simple. What would add interest is the actual time spent trading. That is the boring part of most trading system and certanly where Freelancer was found wanting. Freelancer did make a commendable effort, but the result is still boring. What I am planning to implement is a system where various routes can be used to get to the intended target (eg: the place that will buy/sell the commodity for the best price). Some of these routes will be slower than others. Some will be at a high risk of bandit attacks. Some will pass over freezing mountains where every night poses a new risk. Others will be more simple, yet longer - and if a competitor has already flooded the market of the commodity you are trading, you are left with a lot of nothing in particular. As most peddlars will not be trained in the combatative arts, it is wise to hire mercanaries to guard your caravan along the path you choose. Both NPCs and PCs can be hired for this task, and it is up to the trader to negotiate a price suitable for the effort. Any feedback would be awesome, and constructive critism is highly encouraged

If you liked Freelancer, you should play X2: The Threat. It should be pretty cheap by now ($18.88 according to GameSpot), and my neighbor got it free with his graphics card. It has, as near as I can tell, a great framework for MMO play. It would need some tweaking for multiplayer, obviously, but the commerce model is quite nice.

I think that a good MMO commerce system should include an auction dynamic for setting prices. Arbitrarily set prices were the backstabbing Judas of X2.

Yeah, my friends and I have been looking for X2 for some time, though our local EB always says it is "coming soon, as they we to reorder". We have heard that it is Freelancer with less corny system names, bettr graphics and more minerals. Woot!!

So I gathr you feel that the system could be implementable in a fantasy setting? There will always be auctions, and we are planning to have an in game newspaper where player can buy advertising space to advertise private auctions.

Home of the Underdogs has 2 abandonware games about auctioning and trading whose names escape me (although I remember one is 33mb)...that I keep downloading to learn from...but never play. :(

There's a guy on the GarageGames forum who's working on a new version of TradeWars (ahh the bbs days).

Looks like this type of play is ramping up!

I had envisaged it as part of a game, just a feature that makes a world more interesting and gives more options for things to do. It is a popular style of game, going all the way back to Elite.