The Civmarket online exchange is now open for testing and feedback at:

http://civmarket.e4u1.net/

Please PM me for an invitation. All invited accounts will get a #10,000 test balance to place some bids and offers.

This operates very much like a stock or commodities exchange, allowing people to place bids and offers on products and match up compatible orders. The aim is to shore up the knowledge gap in what people are willing to trade different products for. Its features are:

• Restriction of which quadrant of the map you will buy/sell within, automatic selection of mutually acceptable trade hubs.
• Market credits are stored in the market, so do not have to be carried to trade - reduces risk.
• One market credit (#) is 0.1 DRO stored in the market - prices are divisible down to 1/1000 of a DRO.
• Automatic escrow on all trades - the buyer gives up the funds immediately on trade formation, but has to "settle" the trade before the seller will receive anything.
• Accounts by invitation in limited amounts to prevent too many dud/joke accounts (being improved).
• An extensive set of policy documents, setting the terms of trade - http://civmarket.e4u1.net/policies .

Things still being worked on, known not to work:

• Graphing changes in product price.
• Cap on outstanding sales, disabled for initial testing phase.

Some of it's still fairly basic, and there are a few known errors, but the basic functionality required for trading on Civcraft is available.

The cost for providing this will be only 0.5% of the trade value on each trade arranged.

The following are expected to be developed shortly after go-live:

• Stocks, contracts, metagame credit without a trade location.
• Ability to build custom lists of which trade hubs you prefer and can trade at.
• More products, where these add substantial value. Wheat is unlikely to be listed as it's too correlated with exp, etc.