New Captain...unless he died again already...

[axehandle]

I bought the elite version two nights ago for my Kindle Fire. I feel the same way about games as I do about books; If I can finish them in a day, I dont want them. Star Traders certainly fits the bill there. In sum, thanks so much for your hard work and continued efforts with this.

Now, bring me more De Valtos ships/captains to destroy. Incidentally, how are they getting enough metal to continue making ships? I mean, what with the number I've destroyed and the derth of good metal to find exploring (I can vouch for the exploring problems) how in the world do they still have ships left?

I took my usual approach to this game. I loaded it and started playing right away. The disadvantage of this is I lost alot of good men out there. ALOT! The advantage is that, when I drag my defeated arse to the forums the next day to actually learn about the game, I'll actually understand what is being said. Now, things are looking up.

I decided that, for my first serious attempt, I'd roll a pirate/smuggler. My biggest decision was how to handle the factions. Unfortunately for De Valtos, I chose to become an upstanding citizen of all but one of them. Listen, it's not my fault they keep getting into multiple solar wars. All that easy rep...I just cant stop myself. I also took a cue from another poster and have never traded with any faction other than independents. It's too easy to stop in at Joes Bait and Tackle Shop on WeDontBelongToAnyStinkingFaction planet on my way to my next adventure. I worked Javat Mining to start out, as has been suggested here, and havent looked back.

Next stop- difficulty level - Crazy

[Cory Trese]

Welcome. I can tell you are one of us because you said "I'd roll a pirate"

If you "roll up" and mean a new character then you're a friend of mine.

Glad you like it. Star Traders RPG is a game I love dearly.

[axehandle]

Hah, thanks. The only game I have ever really played was WoW. (See: 2 1/2 year addiction-but ya' know, orange and purple pixels and sitting around so people could look at my *$%# was the thing to do, I guess ) So any lingo I have was garnered from that.

Still, immersion within 8 megs is nothing to scoff at.

[slayernz]

Hey AxeHandle and welcome ...
For finding good metal, look for a planet that has high Harvest stats and do a Harvest not an Explore. Explore only finds rubbish things like weapons, electronics and artifacts. Sure you could pull them apart to extract the metal, but it's just not worth your whilele.

Trading with independents is okay, but they have steep margins. Something you could sell at an independent planet will be more than 50% more valuable at any factional planet. Likewise when you buy something at an independent exchange, is it more expensive than you could get elsewhere.

Javat Mining is good ... and if you have reasonable explorer skills, go to Ghactllli (13,-9), or Ihaca-3 (19,-9). They have the BEST ratio of Explore vs Hazard numbers in the galaxy (Explore = 7, Hazard = 6).

If it's metal (or other harvest stuff) that you are after, Tennath Outpost (8,10) is awesome, as is Delta Hydri-3 (2,-8) and Ggett II (16,25).

Those are the best planets in the galaxy for finding stuff without putting yourself in deep peril. Okay Ggett II has 12 for hazard, so it's no cakewalk, but it has 17 for harvest, so it's wooooooooorth the risk (of your crew).

[axehandle]

Yea, everything you said makes perfect sense and thanks for the info on the other potential hotbeds of early game explorer success. The only reason I chose to only trade with independents was to avoid rep loss through trade embargos/wars. Especially in the early game, where rep isnt high to begin with, and your hoping you dont get stopped by a member of that faction and lose any rep before you can get to town to get that permit.

I'm around level 20(ish) so far and I have around 1.3mil credits, some from early explorer success, some from trading off rumor, but mostly from quest rewards, so, in reality, milking every cent out of trade isnt as important to me right now as to continue to gain positive rep. Part of this could be RNG-or dice roll, as I've seen it called on here- but I was just seeing way too many trade wars to try and keep up with all of it. Especially since I chose not to use a political officer.

I do think that I will tend to lean more your way once I get a firmer grasp on the game and become more of a perfectionist on each of my turns. I hope I'll be able to join in conversations about aliens, Royals, and Hulks soon!

[axehandle]

Ahk! I tried to post a glowing review- good lord at the google account mess. Then, since I'm on a PC I didnt download the app from, it wouldnt let me post either. I'll figure it out when I get home.

[Cory Trese]

Google is a joker, right?

Somewhere there is a chart of all the world's that are mining vs. industrial so you can find where the metal is cheaper but like all documentation i'm bad at locating it

[slayernz]

Hey Axehandle ... you've commented on avoiding factional trades to avoid the trade embargo rep loss - but one thing you need to consider is the trade alliances. When you have two factions trade allied, selling restricted goods at one gives you +RP with both. In some cases, even more RP with the allied faction than you do with the one you traded with.

Additionally, depending on your negotiation level, you get a good price for the sale too. Eg selling an artifact at De Valtos Prime will get you around $1,900 or so before shortage/surplus. Selling the same thing at an independent faction will get you below $1000.

Using Trade Alliances and keeping a close eye on faction conflicts, it's actually really easy to get +RP with all factions and therefore a Trade Permit with all factions. Once you have that, then the only thing that tries to interfere with you are independent pirates.

[blackgauntlet]

@slayer- axehandle did mention that he's a stinkin' (no offence ;D) Indie-lover, didn't he?

[slayernz]

Yeah ... but I gotta break that habit so he can discover the joy of Cadar

[blackgauntlet]

Too true. When you go Cadar, you never stray far. ;D

axehandle- The De Valtos get all their metal from salvaged ships and scrapped metal debris left by Cadarian torpedo aftermath.

[axehandle]

Ah, that would explain the bumpy ride my Javat Cutter experienced around De Valtos Prime. I suppose its too late to retrieve my first-mates dead body from deep space. True, it appears I off loaded him in error, but he did look guilty of SOMETHING when he was being loaded into that torpedo tube.

Agree on the trade alliance thing. Question- If I trade with A who is in alliance with B who is in a trade war with C, do I lose rep with C?

[blackgauntlet]

The first mate is guilty of galactic terrorism. His mode of attack is to bite on 2 sticks of dynamite and spitting them out at his target while yelling, "Jyhad!". Repeated attacks like that caused his lips to swell.

As for the trade alliance thing... I'm not sure about that one but I won't be surprised if yourrep with C drops. ST is deep that way.

[slayernz]

Hey Axehandle, nope ... if if Javat and Cadar are trade allied, but Cadar and Steel Song are embargoed, if you trade restricted goods with Javat, you get +RP with Javat and Cadar.

If you traded with Cadar, you get +RP with Javat and Cadar but -RP with Steel Song (definitely a good thing in my opinion).

TO extend the combination one last step ... If you traded with Steel Song, you'd get +RP with Steel Song, but -RP with Cadar. Javat doesn't care.