@deenw I think you hit a big chunk of the problem spot on - less people = less feet, and less coin circulating from any and all activities (not only footfall, but even daily’s). I can also track sales drops to that week.
@Jyanin - I think another issue here is the profit margins some shops not only aim for, but actually make. People are willing to buy from and sell to flip shops making well over 100%. My issue with this is not profit gouging or immoral practices but rather tax. We aren’t getting huge amounts of coin into the world via footfall (and much less so if players have a single, efficient route that they run regularly as it doesnt spread footfall to anyone off their personal “highway”). Gatherers make coin by selling to shops (tax coin sink 1). Shop owners then re-sell for more than the gatherer made (shortfall 1, tax coin sink 2). higher margins means a larger total coin sink. If coin shortfall is greater than (currently) footfall + daily’s, you are bleeding coin and alts become even more attractive. It doesn’t have to be true for the entire system, but if - to the individual - it seems coin is evaporating faster than it’s generated, I would also rather remove myself from the coin game as it appears to be a losing battle. Coin hoarding (which is a reasonable reaction) adds to the perceived coin sinks.
@uni3k - I agree footfall pays more people (and usually better) than just builders, but same as above - moving that coin also destroys part of it. If each person visiting your shop incurs more than 20/30c tax (your average to big shop footfall per person), then footfall is not keeping up with the sinks - revert to point above.
^ I think footfall is a very nice idea, and I would be willing to bet that if it weren’t in the game we would have a waaay different experience. But this too. The economy would benefit as a whole from putting a pricetag on time spent. Sure you can still make an alt and just DIY that tool / map / weapon. But if the time you spent collecting those mats somehow reward you - why, now you have coin in your pocket… and you are getting sick of gringing wildstocks looking for the 1 in 50 that apparently has horns… to forge, hoping for the item you want… So then the more you grind the better the chance is that you can afford to skip the grinding, and I wager many people will rather buy than DIY then.
my 2c - footfall isnt the be-all and end-all, either as a problem or as the solution. I like the idea of added income for activities as this will increase active population and put coins in the hands of people who are more likely to spend it.