Space trade

[Guest]

Just been chatting in- game to a couple of newbies, just getting going on the space-trade aspect of the game and really enjoying it (apart from the numptys shooting them for no reason).

I know some of the more seasoned players find the space trade laborious, even tedious, and others are finding it difficult, and that some of the recent chages to the space-side of things have meant smaller profits in the earlier stages, but can we all please stop putting others off by just saying its crap? if you're having probs trading, say what those problems are. yep - we all know its hard, time consuming and not overly profitable in the beginning, but when you get past that it can be pretty good.

A month ago, I wouldn't have bothered if I'd seen some of the comments that have been appearing recently, but (for me) the space trade aspect of the game has been the best part, and the acheivements - getting onto the leader board & upgrading ships etc - have been part of the challenge, despite bugs eating uridium and credits, shrinking cargo bays, losing infimp and changing prices

The more people out in space, the more fun - community widens, competition hots up, new friends are made. some of us even help each other occasionally, sharing info on routes, locations of good ships/upgrades etc.

Please dont screw it up by being too negative if you can't be bothered - go play a planet.

[DeVice]

I have to agree.

In different games, I always see lots of complaints each time a change is made to the game rules, even for very tiny changes. People despise changes because they got accostumed to get good results, and the change make them loose the advantage they got by developing an efficient method.

But think about it : is it fun to always do the same thing again and again ? Isn't that more interesting and more enjoyable to have to adapt your tactics to new numbers and rules ?

I reall think the better players are those that can adapt to changes faster. And enjoy it

[Fooli]

Exaaaactly. It ain't called The Universal for nothing: not just because of the space trading stuff, but because we're trying to do that most impossible of impossible things: be all things to all people. Mostly we'll fail, but just because someone doesn't like element x doesn't mean they have to go play something else entirely... there's always y, and z, and a-f, and...

Glad you're into the space stuff so much, anyway, oldcynic. I am too, though I'm useless at it (which, as I think I explained in game, is our kinda benchmark for whether it's working or not :) It's kinda weirdly addictive in a boring way, but (with an autopilot) it's something I can do while working, which is just great :) Once we get a lot of pirate activity and that I'll prolly go off it, cos I'll have to start doing something... Actually, once it's easier to attack people I'll prolly just stop trading and start nicking all your stuff instead :)

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[Guest]

yous'lll have to catch me first fooli!

[Fooli]

I'm not leaving dock until mit lets me repair my hull damage. Some fecker just shot me [cough] :)
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[Minku]

<.<

Wasn't me.. no no >.>

[Guest]

oops! that may have been me!

wasn't deliberate -some bassa was shooting me and I just fired at the first ship I saw!
lesson to learn - don't leave your ship unattended in space...

while I think about it - note to self - shooting game gods is BAD idea!

bad sonro!

[Kirby]

You can leave your ship untentended in space...
if your in small mode that is.
(F1)

[zaroba]

i did that once and came back to find my ship blown up.

[hannerii]

Continuing the subject of trade, any idea when the stock levels will go back up? Also, would there be any chance of opening trade on some other planets? Vector in M-209 for example. Or the other planets in M-383? Or even, dare I say it, on some of the unknown planets further out! If these were to be given temporary names, it would open vast trade opportunities. These names could then be changed when someone owns the planet. While I'm on the subject, would there be any way of having your ship just bounce off the planet if there is no game on it?
Great game! Keep up the good work!!

[Mit]

afternoon chezzie

Continuing the subject of trade, any idea when the stock levels will go back up?

Stocks update every 10 mins or so on the gal server.. I did increase the demand on a few items recently to ensure there were more opportunities for profit for players starting out, but it wouldnt really have affected the sorta stuff you'll be trading in. Could u let me know what sorta stuff you're finding is in short supply and i'll look at increasing the supply amounts for those items if necessary.

Also, would there be any chance of opening trade on some other planets?

I'll expand the amount of trade available sometime over the next few weeks.
Its a simple admin command to set up new planets for trading, combined with settings files that define the supply and demand amounts, so technically its easy to do.... just that at the moment im wanting to leave the econ static for a while so i can track and record how it behaves.

While I'm on the subject, would there be any way of having your ship just bounce off the planet if there is no game on it?

ah yes.. i was meant to do that in the last patch.. (*flog mit). I'll get my special highlighter pen out and ensure its on for the next one.. :]

[Fooli]

bounce off? heh.

at the moment, for me at least, any planet not online simply starts you through the atmospheric entry process, then chucks you back out again in orbit. Which works fine for me. Bouncing off... I'd rather see crashing and burning :)

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[DeVice]

Shouldn't be that difficult to make a tennis-ball like planet texture

[Mit]

aww, now theres an idea.. i really oughta get Ultrakricket going again with the appropriate planet texture...

awww

[Fooli]

heh. So we need, what - a giant ball floating in space, a batter model the size of a small solar system, a... oh hang on a sec. We need this:



:)
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[Guest]

prices have been pretty slim since the mad rush following the patch (47.7) a week ago.

it seems to be more of a price thing than an availablity thing, for a lot of items

computers seem to be doing ok, occasionally - but the prices drop wildly with several of the bigger ships spotting the pickings - doesn't give newer/smaller traders much of a chance

Industrial machinery stocks/prices have been more or less static since Mit fixed the bug.

Ocassionally reasonable profits to be made with Metals/organics, if willing to travel (can be 2 stardrive jumps to get the best prices)

doesn't seem to update as often as you suggest mit - I'm pottering in space whilst working from home a fair chunk of the day, and haven't noticed restocking that frequently - or maybe I'm just not trading the right stuff!

Just noticed (and like) that the station stock is related at least vaguely to the planet description - deliberate or coincidental?


I like Chezzies idea of opening up some of the unused space stations. that way it opens up more opportunity for the bigger ships, and at the same time (hopefully) leaves the smaller, more well-established routes to those who are just building up their trade, and gets around the "never anything worthwhile to trade" comments that have been floated a couple of times. Especially if some of those newer trade routes are only available on L8/24 stardrive - earn your wings for bigger prizes!

[Kirby]

i did that once and came back to find my ship blown up.

Must of been fixed. Oh well. If all else fails,dock at a nearby station.

Wonder if the station could be skinned...it could be a catcher and you dock at the glove.
Nice cargo transport by the way.

Anyways continue on...

[Chezzie]

What with the server problems, this thread must be really confusing to noobs! Anyway, I look forward to these new trade options! How about having some high profit runs that require you to make multiple stardrive hops across space? Any chance you could alter the price of plastics, slaves & narcotics to make trading them worth while? Keep up the good work!

[Sonro]

ok - bit of a trade update...
Some profit can be made with computers, organics & minerals, prices vary but it can be done. is useful to infimp system to system checking prices before setting out. (some of the mineral and organics trades only available with multiple starjumps at the moment)

some of the prices (esp computers) bounce wildly - partly due to suppy/demand, and also the bigger& faster ships coming in and taking all the profit while the wee transports are still crossing the system.

Industrial Machinery prices are static and virtually profitless since Mit fixed the bug & various items can't be traded at all - Chezzie mentioned them (tho I'm not too sure about him getting involved with the slave trade or drug trafficking )

as for his idea of opening up some of the unused stations for trade (an idea eaten by the SQL server crash) - I think its a pretty good one. It would provide new challenges and areas for those of us with the bigger ships, and at the same time hopefully free up the more localised trade routes for those just starting out. Access would be restricted by stardrive level, so only those with sufficient experience and cash would be able to trade there - not so much an unfair advantage, but added incentive. Also - if part of that trade was bringing goods back into the main systems, where others could trade them(maybe to one or two planets with high defences which prevent specific - big - craft entering orbit or docking at the station), it'd build on a system which already works pretty well.
could be good, or could be I'm getting things needlessly complicated. Ah well, its late!

[Fooli]

Interesting. In my experience, computers, metals, minerals, water and food can all make profit, though usually computers and metals are the only things that'll generate >1cr per tonne. Most of these can be traded within a single system (actually just within Tau). Machinery can sometimes make a bit, but not often; everything else for me, so far, is pointless. Eg plastics... I've only found one place selling, and one place buying, and the buy price has never been higher than the sell price. Also a lot of places seem to have weird buy/sell prices for the same commodity: worlds with huge amounts of stock in an item, that sell high, but buy extremely low - makes no sense :)

Fun tho innit. And yeh, all u people with massive 50 tonne+ cargo bays, well it just shouldn't be allowed! :)

As for "remote" stations allowing trading... hmm. Can see the point from the trade game point of view, but.. why would a dead planet have tradable items at all?

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