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[Zaereth]

So its occurred to me that ever since the contract payouts have gone up, and the already high payouts for selling illegal goods have been well beyond any other means for turning a profit, these current methods are leaving the poor merchant class in the dust.

I was wondering if we could balance this out by allowing the negotiation skill to have a slightly stronger impact on the cost to buy legal goods (only)? As of now its just not a viable source of income. But to stay true to the game's title, and for the sake of balancing explorer and merchant classes, I think it'd be a great idea.

Finding the best rates on the planets, stockpiling goods and cashing in for maximum profit have been a core element of this game as long as I've been playing it. But these days I find myself lazily hoarding artifacts and dumping them on the (closest) bidder. Let's get some incentives for bargain hunting!

[Cory Trese]

During testing today I made $541,421 credits in 66 turns using Merchant selling Crystals.

Fair question in there is -- does Negotiation provide enough of a bonus. That's something I'll look at today. I'm really not sure =)

[shallowthought]

Cory: I bet that was with shortage/surplus if you managed it in just 66 turns. While I have been able to make a profit as a merchant outside shortage/surplus conditions, I have never noticed a massive difference by putting points into negotiate.

[Deleted]

Well the sell price is alwayes less than the buy price on a planet. So you may b able to get them closer together but there's a limit. I don't really invest in negociate when I'm profiting via trade as an explorer. However I have the political officer with spice (as well as pilot) ad that's supposed to increase negociate. Even if you want to invest in negociate, you shoul still invest more in the other stats.

[BlastGT1]

I've had better luck by buying military ranks when it comes to altering prices, at least with respect to buy prices, than with negotiate leveling. That won't affect indy worlds, but does with faction worlds. Combine that with buying on surplus then selling at a faction world, or buying anywhere then selling to a shortage, and you can still make a good profit.

Fired from Ice Cream Tube #1 of my CM9 Droid Incredible