User blog comment:The Milkman/The State of Skyrim's Economy/@comment-5280592-20121124221306/@comment-3492791-20121125095823

This comes for experience in programing. The number of variables it would take to make a system that diverse would be astronomical. I suppose technically you could make a system that basically does "Sell item K in city C U number of times, subtract from value by F%". But then the depreciation would be extremely linear, and I would doubt that's how you want it. To make a realistic economy they would have to have every entry for every increment done by hand, and even then re-appreciation would ruin the whole thing.

How long until something re-appreciates? But what percent? How many of said item can be sold without offsetting the timer? What if you buy the items back?

It just doesn't work. Too many variables, too little time.

The latter of my statement is more of sociology and just my general understanding of the gaming masses. Instant gratification gamers don't have patience, and thus, do not easily identify subtle patterns. People won't actually analyze the prices, nor even remember them, so they won't notice them slowly decreasing. Most people would not even notice that items were depreciating. Obviously at some point they will notice that selling the same amount of crap nets less cash, but that won't be for a while. Hell, it took me a while to notice that iron daggers weren't actually power leveling me anymore when they patched it. And when they did notice it they would likely dislike it as they would have to find a new item to farm for cash.

Sure, there are some people that would notice and be ecstatic about it, but they are few and far between. As a business, they are looking to appeal to as many people as possible by putting in the least effort. This idea would not "sell" to a publisher. So in short, not likely to ever happen...at least for a AAA title. Indie games make a habit of focusing on all the stuff publishers won't risk the 1% of profits on.