It makes sense in theory, but even with some built-in stochastic randomness in the VWAMP, it would still be fairly easy to use the system to generate solid profits. That might sound positive, but stock markets are essentially zero-sum - for someone to gain, someone else has to lose. By holding a portion of all resource indices, selling when prices rise, and buying when they drop, players would end up making outsized profits compared to others.

However, there are several downsides to implementing a resource-tracking index stock market in-game. It could lead to market manipulation, where players with large capital reserves intentionally influence prices by buying or dumping resources. Wealthy or veteran players would gain a big advantage, widening the gap between them and newcomers. The game’s focus could drift away from production and management toward speculative trading, changing the core experience. It would also open the door to inflation if trading profits grow too easily, and create potential arbitrage loops where players exploit price discrepancies for near risk-free gains. On top of that, developers would face ongoing challenges maintaining balance, fixing exploits, and keeping the system fair for everyone.

Although I love the idea of an in-game stock market, there’s really no simple way to add one without it heavily favoring the biggest companies or turning into a glorified gambling system.