now, i will write down what I would do, i'm not saying you should, i'm just hoping to serve as an inspiration.
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first off, i would do research, look what would actually be necessary for my guild. next i would find out where it could be gotten, and who has it. make sure i have not overlooked any possibl sellers who could have better offers. then i would engage in EARNEST haggling with those that i could find and contact.
haggling is a special game that works like this: i ask for a price for a certain item. the seller will tell mean outrageous price and embellish it with some story about his starving guild. i react with a similarly outrageously price, only at the lower end of the scale, retorting about the noobs i just got in my guild who need to be kept in gear. this is a battle of wits. he who argue best and manages to push the price as far as he can wins, but usually we end up somewhere in the middle. (i also try to be creative about what i offer, for example: man-hours(as in healers, careplanners, crafters, diggers, warriors, etc.), physical goods, military help, entertainment in the thesos bar, etc.)
now there is also the case that i am not successful and the selling offer stays outrageous. this is the point where politics get into play. i talk to other people, tell them about what could be gotten where and ask them wether they already tried to strike a deal on these things. if they repond positively i ask them what offer they have gotten.
did they get a better offer and accepted it then i try and offer them more than they spent. if they accept everything is fine, i win, they win and the op owners win. if not i have to move on and talk to other people.
if they did not get a better price i try and get them to work with me in the following venture: try to find as many people who have also gotten offers they think are inacceptible.
when i think i have enough guilds and people supporting me i write up a draft of a writing which details that i and my allies would like to enter a trade contract and as such would like to renegotiate the prices that were initially given. this would then be approved by my allies and sent to the op-owners.
if they react positive and indeed better prices can be made, everybody is happy.
if they don't or if there cannot be reached acceptible prices i would set up a writing which would actually threaten them for weakening the fyros empire by hoarding the produces of the ops, demanding they reduce their prices to an acceptable, unnegotiable level or face an attack of me and my allies.
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this would make sure that i haven taken all peaceful steps i possibly could and would also ensure me that i have considerable support from the community.
the only drawbacks: i'd have to sell the produces at a similar level to what i demanded or lose face.
currently it is possible to use a gameplay design oversight to ensure the safety of one's outposts, but that is a completely different matter and should not be of much concern after the next patch.
hope this helps or at least makes for a slightly interesting read
edit: please forgive any spelling errors, i am writing this on a new laptop and still need to ride the keyboard in as it tends to swallow letters.
