Idea (essay more like it) on changes to stockpiles/economy

[medic911]

Over the course of my two long-term games as Iraq in 2020 and The ROK in 49, I have discovered a problem with two resources that can break the economic experience for me. I believe the problem comes from the way that resource stockpiles are represented, and I think I have a solution that is possible with the technology and system already in the game, though since I am not a coder and don't know this engine at all, I cannot say that for sure. My main observations relate to Agriculture and Oil.

First, let me elaborate a little bit on my observation. I am not suggesting that starting with a "strategic petroleum reserve" or reserves of other critical resources is a problem, as some have suggested because of the sharp decrease in prices this creates early. In fact, I think this initial has little bearing overall—it is the ability to continually stockpile limitless supplies of resources in what amounts to thin air that is the problem. In reality, a strategic reserve of petroleum has a physical location, one that can be targeted by enemies, and one that holds a finite maximum supply of the resource. This is the case with any resource that is stockpile-able —there's a maximum limit to the infrastructure to store it, and in the case of agriculture, there is a shelf-life to it as well.

When it comes to agriculture in game, we are not only affected by the ability to limitlessly stockpile food, but also food's indefinite shelf life. In reality, most unprocessed agriculture has a very narrow usability timeframe. While a detailed economic simulation might call for separating agriculture production (farm/fishery) facilities from agricultural processing (canning/bottling/etc) to create a storable product, I suggest a simpler approach. For agriculture, I suggest that a certain percentage of all stockpile agricultural goods 'expire' on a weekly or monthly basis. This percentage would start very high (80-90) and decrease as the nation researched related technologies (forgive me for not remembering all tech names in the game, but something like manufacturing improvements, commercial radiology, agri-genetic modification, etc) until the expired percentage reaches maybe 15-30%. In addition to this 'spoilage,' which could MAYBE be loopholed into then random events (like those 'you lost X number of oil barrels due to whatever' messages, only recurring monthly for agriculture) or maybe coded on its own, I suggest implementing a cap to the stockpile of resources based on storage capacity.

A good question to ask about now is what I mean exactly by storage capacity. In the real world, there is an inherent storage capacity built into the production/distribution network. At any given time, there is petroleum in pipelines, in cargo ships, in refinery tanks awaiting processing, in tanks post processing, and in various storage and transport containers in transit after processing. Then there are the actual gas stations storage tanks, farm storage tanks, and military/strategic reserves…
I think that, each production facility for each resource should have a base stockpile value something like .5-2% of their daily production value (representing that, at full production capacity, they are using that space already for raw materials and finished products already traded, so only a small fraction of their network still has any of the finished goods left in it compared to total amount produced. ) Technological advances over the decades in manufacturing improvements and efficiency, perhaps even a higher infrastructure rating, could boost this higher by the late game (or the increased production efficiency itself would boot inherent storage by consequence, 1% of 100,000 is better than 1% of 75,000, for example).
Additionally, a dedicated 'storage facility' for a specific resource can be implemented. This could be used in augmentation of, or in replacement of, the previous idea to use inherent storage from facilities. This gives players the ability to conduct strategic bombing and sabotage on important logistical targets. This also means that a country cannot simply flood the market continuously with ultra-cheap goods at a massive loss and tank the economy for everyone else as easily, since the buyers would have to have enough storage capacity to maintain that stockpile. (splitting petrol the raw material and processed fuel into two different industrial categories would be cool too, but that’s a battle long since lost if its not already in the game)

What do you guys think about doing something like this in an attempt to offset this unrealistic stockpiling, at least in agriculture, where the price of production is crazy high compared to sale and the UK somehow manages a 137 billion ton stockpile after 8 years? (this and some AI tweaks to make sure they understand supply/demand a bit better and don’t endlessly produce commodities that sell at a loss)

[MrRipper]

You are right and 100% agree with you.
Also compare raw material hexes (also wood) with sr 2020 and you know whats the problem. In much of the sr ultimate scenarios. Everything shows dark red and much more red all over the place.

This makes a huge difference on big regions and affecting prices worldwide. I feel there is more wrong in the economic system but this is easy to see and understand for me.

[GreenGoblin]

I really like the perishable agriculture idea.

[dax1]

I like it

Additionally, a dedicated 'storage facility' for a specific resource can be implemented.

[ixonixas]

+
You have my vote

[number47]

+1

[Yyyman]

+1

[georgios]

I add that oil and natural gas should be separated.

[LoganZombieOfTime]

+1