The basic idea was that traders are more useful than lords doing trading, due to their wider range and ability to broker deals.
As it stands so far, it doesn't work out. So we will add more incentives to include traders. One idea I have is adding fees for lords who complete (but not publish) deals. So basically, for a lord it should be cheaper to put up a "buying 500 food for 100 gold" deal next to the already existing "selling 500 food for 100 gold" one than it is to simply accept it. In fact, it should be so much cheaper that he's willing to put up a "buying 500 for 105" so traders can make a profit.
Which means the fee should be around 10% or so.
When will priest/traders be allowed?
I also think that the system shouldn't be designed to penalize all non-traders... Traders are relatively rare. I understand them deserving a special bonus (range is a nice one), but it shouldn't feel like we are being cheated out if we can't find enough traders. Used to be that all food was free, and automatically moved around, hassle-free. Now, everyone needs to think about it. A price has to be set. people have to move. Build marketplaces. And now extra fees? I'm thinking it's not what most people would consider fun.
It all just seems like we are forcing people to spend a lot more gold into the economy that they used to be able to spend on the military before. Without any noticeable boost in income to compensate for all of these new expenses.
