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Post by Sinocelt on Dec 25, 2017 16:51:46 GMT -5
My experience (on Impossible) might differ from other people's, but I've found that between trade bans, pirates, and trading permits, trade simply isn't worth it. It can change much later in the game, especially if you access black markets, but for many years trade is better avoided: many missions are much safer (you can just surrender and let the unlucky pirate loot your empty cargo hold) and pay a lot better.
Not a problem in itself, but since the title of the game is Star Traders, the fact that trade is a (very) subobtimal option until long into the game is a little weird, and will probably throw off new players. That said, if the balance is different at easier levels, if trade is worth the time and risk on Normal, then OK.
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Post by Brutus Aurelius on Dec 25, 2017 17:27:50 GMT -5
I've been playing Impossible for months now, and trade by opportunity has been integral to all of my Captains. It pays for my fuel and crew pay while I go from mission to mission or contact to contact.
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Post by fallen on Dec 25, 2017 17:29:33 GMT -5
Interesting impression. Players are trading a lot on all difficulties and I've seen some amazing screenshots of insane profits. The $450K profit in a single trade ... not sure why you'd avoid it, but that's great because Star Traders: Frontiers lets you pick and chose how you want to play!
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Post by fallen on Dec 25, 2017 17:30:08 GMT -5
I've been playing Impossible for months now, and trade by opportunity has been integral to all of my Captains. It pays for my fuel and crew pay while I go from mission to mission or contact to contact. Yeah, that is one way we are seeing many players use trading. Even if you aren't making hundreds of thousands in your trades, it is a constant income while traveling between larger income hits. |
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Post by Sinocelt on Dec 25, 2017 17:42:29 GMT -5
I've been playing Impossible for months now, and trade by opportunity has been integral to all of my Captains. It pays for my fuel and crew pay while I go from mission to mission or contact to contact. So you always fight for your cargo? Don't you end paying more in ship repairs, even if you manage to flee? Interesting impression. Players are trading a lot on all difficulties and I've seen some amazing screenshots of insane profits. The $450K profit in a single trade ... not sure why you'd avoid it, but that's great because Star Traders: Frontiers lets you pick and chose how you want to play! I wrote: "I've found that between trade bans, pirates, and trading permits, trade simply isn't worth it. It can change much later in the game," I don't think that the "$450K profit in a single trade" you mentioned happened early in the game.  |
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Post by fallen on Dec 25, 2017 18:00:17 GMT -5
No, I doubt it did. If you surrender constantly, then trading might not be for you -- that is true. Luckily the game is built to support many play styles! Personally, I never click surrender. Ever. But that is due to RPing pride. And anyway, I still trade lots.
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Post by Sinocelt on Dec 25, 2017 18:04:37 GMT -5
But if you DON'T surrender, then what you pay in repairs is far more than what trading brings you -- at least, as I said, in the early game.
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Post by fallen on Dec 25, 2017 20:00:46 GMT -5
Everybody plays differently. All depends on how you resolve your battles and manage your Rep.
Merry Christmas!
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Post by contributor on Dec 26, 2017 7:59:09 GMT -5
I use trading a lot even on non-trader captains and I almost always surrender to pirates. Unless I've got a really high profit cargo it's rarely worth it to fight them, if you don't stand a high chance of doing well (i.e. better ship/level). I think that for every merchant (present and STF), you are always going to have some things that you have to write off as a loss and just accept that. It is more economically in your favor to do that than trying to prevent it. And yeah, I haven't said it explicitly yet, but I do find trading, whether alone or in conjunction with missions, to be very worthwhile. Sometimes I think I make more money going there and back than on the mission itself.
A few of my tips would be:
* Pay attention to rumors. Don't play around with pirate rumors or non-permitted goods with heavy patrols.
* Keep healthy cash reserves. If you're investing your last creds in some goods, you better know where they're going and it better be close.
* Pay close attention to mission times. If you've got lots of time, do a lots of short trades along the route. If time is short, look at the destination planet type and buy something to sell there, but be very conscious of what you can afford to lose if you're traveling long distance. The longer you just fly around with random cargo in your hold the more likely you are to lose it.
* Get level 4 trade permits (which can be gotten fairly quickly with at least your starting faction) and find the gravy trades. Most quadrants should have a few trades that will net you 10, 20 or 30k. Hit those and then go run some missions while stocks replenish.
* Trade across factions. Even boring old Clothes can get you 5-8k with the right combination of planets. With a bigger hold, you can probably get over 10k.
* Look for dual zones with Refinery and HTI/Industrial/Orbital. Clean those out every time you can. It might seem tedious, but in terms of game-turns, you're way ahead of the curve over what it takes to run missions. There are a few other good dual zone combos too.
*Seriously, again, don't be ashamed of being a Clothes trader. You can make bank with humble garments.
I probably have some more, but lunch is calling.
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Post by fallen on Dec 26, 2017 17:21:12 GMT -5
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Post by Sinocelt on Jan 22, 2018 18:50:28 GMT -5
Sounds like solid advice, contributor , though I'm usually on a very tight schedule for missions, due to my cumulating them -- another way to make great profits, if you have many contacts and can plan your route efficiently. Which brings me to the only objection I have with your list: "Pay attention to rumors. Don't play around with pirate rumors or non-permitted goods with heavy patrols." It isn't always a real choice when you've already accepted a mission that leads you to a quadrant full of pirates or heavy patrols. |
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Post by lancelotbiggs on Jan 23, 2018 2:59:28 GMT -5
Trade Permit 4 makes trading profitable. Especially when you got that permit level from more than one faction, because you need a nearby place to sell your goods and most of the time that place belongs to another faction.
In early game it's really about paying crew and fuel. It is a struggle that continues on impossible until you have Skip off the void - then you can risk investing all your money (about 300k) in Rare Trade Goods and get incredibly rich.
Before I have Skip off the void I use a workaround: I always have 5 different single units of cheapest cargo like scrap or biowaste in my hold to decrease the chance that Jettison Cargo sacrifices the more valuable load.
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Post by Zer0Winds on Jan 23, 2018 5:11:24 GMT -5
I'll be the one to share my early game impossible merchant I suppose.
Little Whatever the hell his name was, of Moklumnue, using a Galtak Freighter.
He started off pure trade. Starting trade ban didn't really affect him: It was De Valtos anyway. Traded, getting multiple thousand every run. Upon getting only a level one permit, he was able to, without stopping to refuel/repair, go 3 jumps away, land on a planet and make a 8k almost 9k profit including refueling and repairs.
In the end I wasn't paying complete attention... Ended up clicking surrender to a Rychart MO with permit restricted goods which I invested all my money into and lost it. But I died a semi alright definitely not rich Man of... Well, a couple hundred credits. As I said: I invested all my money.
Lesson learned. Time to fail better.
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Post by Sinocelt on Jan 23, 2018 6:02:46 GMT -5
I'd like to point out that (1) there's a trade ban in place with your Faction at the start of the game, (2) getting a level 4 permit takes time, (3) getting Skip off the Void takes even more time. I'm not denying that trading can become a valid option; but I've found it not be an optimal one at the start of the game, even though the game is called Star Traders.
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Post by En1gma on Jan 23, 2018 7:07:53 GMT -5
I think that trading is a means to an end.
You can go through the game, lorewise and roleplay wise, and never touch trading. And that's ok. But, any and every Captain benefits from the exchange of goods. I never play as a merchant, yet 9/10 captains I play hunt down indie systems and trade within them while I do my missions, and then between them on my way back to the contacts.
Again, you don't need to trade, but using the resources available to you while you're already there is important, especially when the clock is against you and you're scrambling to keep the ship running and the crew fed.
Don't think of it as your main source of profit-- think of it as a powerful supplement to the money you make on missions. I notice major differences in my games where I don't do any trading, that my effective income from contracts is constantly being lowered by constant upkeep and costs from combat and wages... Trading is a way to turn those costs into a measure of profit.
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