Post by MTKnife on Oct 20, 2021 15:41:08 GMT -5
When I carry out a Mercantile Negotiation mission, on the first step, the negotiation itself, I get rep with the sponsoring Contact and Faction.
On the second step, unloading the cargo, I also get negative rep with the target Faction. Even in the bizarro world of STF, this is counterintuitive. I am giving them stuff. For free. And this makes them mad? Huh? Aside from being an odd outcome on its face, it doesn't really follow the mission text about building a trade relationship. (I mean, if you really hate the other guy, don't trade with him in the first place--if you agree, voluntarily, to trade, don't get mad at the other guy for trading with you. Unless we're getting into some post-colonial dependent development arguments, which really don't apply between roughly equally advanced Factions.
) Or maybe it's just irritating other members of the Faction who aren't involved in the deal? Ugh, I guess, but if that's the idea, it's not obvious from the mission text. An idea following that thread: if you've got a Contact on the world in question, maybe it would add positive rep with that Contact, even if it upsets the Faction as a whole? Maybe Contacts with "Traitor" would be more likely targets of the mission, at least during conflicts--but by the same token, a Mercantile Negotiation when no conflict is ongoing really shouldn't produce negative rep.
Granted, Mercantile Negotiation does show up up in some odd situations where you would in fact expect a hostile mission: I mean, I have no idea why Calagan Faen has suddenly decided he can bring down the Chars by making trade deals in their quadrant....But you could just as easily rule out these missions in truly hostile situations.
On the second step, unloading the cargo, I also get negative rep with the target Faction. Even in the bizarro world of STF, this is counterintuitive. I am giving them stuff. For free. And this makes them mad? Huh? Aside from being an odd outcome on its face, it doesn't really follow the mission text about building a trade relationship. (I mean, if you really hate the other guy, don't trade with him in the first place--if you agree, voluntarily, to trade, don't get mad at the other guy for trading with you. Unless we're getting into some post-colonial dependent development arguments, which really don't apply between roughly equally advanced Factions.
) Or maybe it's just irritating other members of the Faction who aren't involved in the deal? Ugh, I guess, but if that's the idea, it's not obvious from the mission text. An idea following that thread: if you've got a Contact on the world in question, maybe it would add positive rep with that Contact, even if it upsets the Faction as a whole? Maybe Contacts with "Traitor" would be more likely targets of the mission, at least during conflicts--but by the same token, a Mercantile Negotiation when no conflict is ongoing really shouldn't produce negative rep.Granted, Mercantile Negotiation does show up up in some odd situations where you would in fact expect a hostile mission: I mean, I have no idea why Calagan Faen has suddenly decided he can bring down the Chars by making trade deals in their quadrant....But you could just as easily rule out these missions in truly hostile situations.
