These circumstances mean that anyone actively using the trade route will
inevitably be left with unsellable goods. The turn the markets disappear,
they will buy goods that are immediately worthless.
This problem becomes more acute the further apart the two cities are. A
trader working a route 4 turns apart will suffer more and larger losses than
a trader working a 32 day route.
I propose that markets buying a trade good disappear a random number of turns
after the selling source ends. Say, 2-5 turns. This change should be easy
to program. It would increase verisimilitude: news travels by horseback,
why should the demand disappear before the news arrives with the merchant?
>From a game perspective, traders will still risk losses, if they choose a
long route, or they don't pay attention to their markets. However, they
won't face the prospect of 100% losses when a route expires.
--Erik Gunderson/Gryphon Lords