The last entry on crafting shows the seeds of the economy in the game. Our goal is to create a thriving market where players can trade whatever they want. In this episode, we will show you the concept of trading, and the next episode will focus on enchanting items.

Trading in MMOs is usually treated in two ways – either it is an integral part of the gameplay or it is a neglected addition. Vis Arcana targets the former, which is significantly different from the trade in the previous version. The destruction of items has already been described earlier and is the basis of demand. Supply is ensured by expedition rewards and crafting. Let’s see how to connect one to the other.

## Marketplace

The basis of trading is a market based on buy and sell orders. Anyone with a marketplace built can place such an order with the amount in gold they expect. You can trade items or resources apart from gold. In addition to placing orders, you can sell something immediately by fulfilling an existing order, or buy something while also fulfilling an existing order. It will become clear in a moment which method could be better.

First, let’s look at how orders work in practice. Listing an item moves it from the warehouse to the market, where it can be found together with other orders by the search engine. The maximum number of orders is equal to half of the hero’s charisma. This prevents the market from being used as an infinite warehouse extension. In the case of resources, you can only place buy orders, which will make it impossible to hide resources. The items on display must be of normal quality and can have any prefix and suffix.

## Orders

There are two ways to complete an order. The first is to issue an order that matches the existing counter-offer. In this case, the order is executed with the adjusted price in favor of the last issuer, e.g.

1. Player X places a sword sell order for 1000 gold.
2. Player Y places a sword buy order for 2000 gold.
3. Orders get matched – player Y pays 1000 gold.

If an order cannot be matched, it will remain on the market until it is matched or canceled.

The second way is to sell / buy immediately. In this case, we select the order for completion, if we have the appropriate item / raw materials and accept them immediately. Let’s compare both ways of trading.

### Placing orders

pros

• no need for manual order hunting
• potentially large profit
• possibility to manipulate the market

cons

• time takes for completion (possibly never)
• taxes

### Immediate completion

pros

• instant effect
• no taxes

const

• potentially lower profit / higher cost

As you can see, the two ways are quite different. One magic word appeared among the arguments…

## Taxes

Servicing the market is expensive in the world of Vis Arcana. Therefore, all orders are subject to tax. Placing or modifying an order must be paid in gold:

tax=(5\%-marketplace\ level \cdot 0.2\%) \cdot value

where a marketplace level can be up to 10 in a province or kingdom, or 5 in a municipality.

The completion of a sales order is also subject to tax:

tax=(5\%-marketplace\ level \cdot 0.275\%) \cdot value

Example:

1. Player X places a sword sell order for 1000 gold at a level 1 marketplace. He pays 48 gold immediately.
2. Player Y buys that sword for 1000 gold.
3. Player X gains 953 gold. The rest is paid in taxes.

In addition to the marketplace level, you can have items and skills that change the amount of taxes. One idea is for the king to set an additional sales tax that goes directly to the alliance’s wallet. So far, the idea has not gone beyond the design phase.

## Direct offers

Besides the marketplace, you can also create direct offers for another player. Both sides can add items or resources to the offer. Completion requires the approval of both parties.

## Conclusion

As you can see, trading becomes one of the more advanced aspects of the game. Fortunately, it also has a simplified version in the form of instant buy and sell. Any values may still change, so let us know what you think in the comment here or in the FB group.

UPDATE 24/11/2020: Orders will only be visible to the kingdom you are currently in. A new tax is added to the final price, equal to 20% per 1 distance between kingdoms.