questions about black market

[daveal]

Should I be allowed to enter a black market when the contact doesn't even have level 1 access?  The button is not greyed out and I was able to enter.



What does this mean, and how can I find this out in advance?  The black market looked normal and I had an epic fight to get in, and then I found out I can't sell what I went there to sell.

[fallen]

The black market access is based on the card you draw. The lower the level of the contact on the ladder, the less predictable the access level on the cards. Check the cards, they all state their access level if you look. By the time you get a Smuggler up to Ironclad Access, its only access 4 cards, trading as if you held a grade 4 permit.

[contributor]

I'm confused by it though, if he doesn't even have level 1 access he shouldn't even be able to play the card game right?

[daveal]

May 19, 2018 14:43:20 GMT -5 fallen said:

The black market access is based on the card you draw. The lower the level of the contact on the ladder, the less predictable the access level on the cards. Check the cards, they all state their access level if you look. By the time you get a Smuggler up to Ironclad Access, its only access 4 cards, trading as if you held a grade 4 permit.

Is it possible to make the message more clear?  The message says "This black market trades equivalent to rank 1", which implies the rank is a characteristic of the market itself.  Your explanation is that it is due to the card game outcome and based on the contact's level.  So, if I improve the contact's prep/erep/influence as shown by the breakpoints in the screenshot, then the effective permit level goes up for the same black market.  For example, "Due to your contact's rank, your trading is equivalent to trade permit rank N" would be more clear.

[daveal]

Not really black market related, but I'm curious about how supply, demand and cost work for rare trade goods.

In a few games, I have gotten to the point where I have a contact who will sell rare goods. I usually buy one unit first, and go around to all the places I might sell it to make sure it works. There are lots of reasons I may think I can sell, but I can't. For example, I can get to a black market but that contact doesn't have a high enough access level for me to sell; or I find a planet of the right law level and trader permit, but the demand is level "F" and I would sell at a loss. In one game I was able to find about 5 different planets where I could sell a particular rare trade good, some in the same quadrant and some one or two quadrants away.

I was able to set up an infinite loop with profit of about $50K per trip. I would sink my entire savings, about $150K at first, into a load of rare goods, sell it, upgrade my cargo hold to higher capacity, and repeat. Each trip took less than 5-10 minutes. I built up my cargo capacity from around 90 to around 140 (galtak freigher, three large holds, up to cargo 4). This was still in what I would consider relatively "early game" around 10 years in, captain level around 10, merchant build.

In economic terms, there was infinite supply. Every time I went to the contact she would sell as much as I had cargo space for. There was infinite demand; each of the 5 planets I went to would buy the full cargo load every time. There may possibly have been decreasing price; I did not take careful notes but each time it seemed I spent about $200K and received about $250K.

So, my questions/comments:

1. In the screen where you purchase rare trade goods, can you please add the list of planet types where it will sell? There is no list on the wiki, and you cannot tell this list of types till after you purchase it and click in your cargo hold.

2. Is there supposed to be infinite supply and infinite demand? Other goods don't work like that; for example if I buy all the raw spice from a farm planet and go right back, it doesn't have any. (BTW selling rare goods seems the fastest way to make income, so please don't consider this a "bug report" :-)

3. Apart from the planet type, what affects the selling price? Selling at different quadrants did not appear to make any difference. Selling to the same planet over and over again did not appear to make any difference. Selling a different rare good does appear to make a difference; maybe the ones with lower law level sell for more.

[fallen]

Rare Goods is a service type that is getting revamped to fit the ladder style you can see with the other services, like Black Market.

[fallen]

May 20, 2018 4:22:44 GMT -5 contributor said:

I'm confused by it though, if he doesn't even have level 1 access he shouldn't even be able to play the card game right?

If you look at the actual values involved, the black market level 1 is open. I fixed the bug that was causing the ladder display up top to not work.

[fallen]

Also, added a line about the minimum trade permit rank.

[daveal]

Thanks!