Feature Request: Integrate VillagerMarket with EssentialsX or Other Economy Tools for Dynamic Item Pricing

Summary

The idea is to integrate VillagerMarket with tools like EssentialsX or other economy management plugins that can handle item values. The goal is to implement a system where the base value of items is predefined and can change dynamically over time based on demand. This would help create a more stable market and prevent price dumping.

Problem Description

Currently, VillagerMarket allows players to set their own prices for items, but there's no mechanism to ensure price stability or balance in the economy. Without a system to manage and adjust item prices based on supply and demand, there is a risk of:

Market Instability: Players may set prices too low or too high, leading to a highly volatile market.
Price Dumping: New or inexperienced players may unintentionally lower prices too much, devaluing certain items.
No Incentive for High Demand Items: Items in high demand may not increase in value over time, which reduces the incentive for players to trade or produce those items.

Proposed Solution

Integrate VillagerMarket with a dynamic pricing system, possibly using EssentialsX or other economy management tools, to introduce the following features:

Predefined Base Item Values:
- Each item in VillagerMarket should have a default base value defined through EssentialsX or another economy tool. This ensures a starting point for prices and avoids complete devaluation.
Dynamic Price Adjustments Based on Demand:
- Implement a system where item prices can fluctuate automatically based on trading volume or availability. For example:
  - High Demand: If an item is frequently traded, its price should increase.
  - Low Demand: If an item is rarely traded, its price should decrease.
- This could be based on the number of trades or stock levels in the market.
Anti-Price Dumping Mechanism:
- Introduce a minimum price threshold for each item, preventing players from selling items below a certain value.
- The threshold could be dynamically adjusted based on the item's current demand or could be fixed by the server admin.
Time-based Price Fluctuations:
- Introduce a mechanism where prices naturally adjust over time, based on long-term market trends. This helps to stabilize the market in the long run by reacting to persistent over- or under-supply of items.
Admin Controls:
- Admins should be able to set the base value of each item manually if necessary, or allow the system to handle it automatically.
- Admins could also define a maximum or minimum percentage of price fluctuation, ensuring that prices remain within a reasonable range.

Benefits

Market Stability: Ensures that item prices reflect demand and supply, leading to a more realistic and stable in-game economy.
Incentivizes Trading: By increasing the value of high-demand items, players are encouraged to trade or produce those items.
Reduces Exploitation: Prevents players from intentionally or unintentionally devaluing the market by setting prices too low.
Flexibility for Admins: Admins retain control over the economy with the ability to adjust or limit price changes while still allowing for automatic price adjustments.

Technical Considerations

Requires integration with EssentialsX or another economy plugin capable of managing item values.
Might need a new database structure to store historical trade data to track demand and adjust prices accordingly.
The dynamic price adjustment logic could potentially be resource-intensive, especially on larger servers, so performance optimization will be important.

Potential Challenges

Balancing the System: Setting the correct base values and configuring the dynamic price adjustment logic could be complex, and may require extensive testing to avoid unintended market manipulation.
Performance: Monitoring trade volumes and adjusting prices dynamically could create performance issues, especially in large or highly active servers.

Additional Notes

This feature would be particularly useful for servers aiming to create a balanced and player-driven economy, where item values naturally fluctuate based on player activity. Integrating with EssentialsX would also leverage existing infrastructure that many server owners are already familiar with.

Conclusion

This feature would provide VillagerMarket with a more robust economy system, ensuring that item values remain fair and reflective of in-game demand while preventing price dumping. It would also offer admins greater control over their server's market and help create a more engaging player experience.

Bestem0r / VillagerMarket