>Has anyone given much thought to allowing a player to barter
>for several items with one single item that is worth the
>multiple items?

It has been considered, but is so low priority that you're not
likely to see it any time soon. Trading items one for one is
simply how things are in Thera, and while in the real world
you could trade a diamond ring for lots of things, in Thera
that's just not the case.

Also, because that's the case, trading a diamond ring for
something like a pie may seem like a stupid code limitation
to you as the player, but to the character it is simply an
exceptionally bad trade or one of desparation.