I really don't see how this would work, even in RP. Pirates can acquire anything by taking from other people, whether it's demanding cargo or shooting an NPC. What you decide to haul or what you haul it with shouldn't determine how much you make.
On a related note, I have always thought it would be cool if human cargo would be perishable unless hauled by a ship designed to haul people like a liner or a yacht. (this would not include pilots as they would be in escape pods/flight suits, etc.) IRL, if you pack a bunch of people in a cargo box and ship them halfway around the world, there won't be many left when you get there.
In relation to that, you could make certain commodities damage the ship that is hauling them unless the ship is specifically made for that. Like hauling toxic waste. In a regular transport it could eat the hull like exterior radiation, but in a train with hazardous material pods it wouldn't.
Pirates steal every kind of commodity they can, then they bring it to a Junker depot or the closest friendly base. Junkers will not offer the maximum price of that commodity because they do not need it, they accept it sure, they will make use for it, but they don't need alluminium as bad as a station with a production line that eats huge quantity of it every hour. It's a matter of supply and demand.
If you bring it in a ship that was designed for shipping that kind of product, the time it takes for the product to reach the production line is shorter. Imagine in real life if bricks were delivered to a construction site in an oil tanker. Sure you can load it with bricks, they will fit there, but loading and unloading is absurdly difficult, bricks will get damaged and i don't know who would accept that delivery.
Your second and third paragraph explain exactly what i mean about the proper ship. The lore even talks about that: ALG Heavy Mover
Quote:Incorporating extensive rad shielding and magnetic storage units not seen outside of heavy capital class engine reactors, these highly specialized vessels are hardened to withstand the toxic nature of the cargo they move.
(08-20-2013, 10:54 PM)Highland Laddie Wrote: What your saying isn't restricting Commodities to an ID, but PRICES to the ID, which sounds good, IMO.
Well, thats the beauty of a discussion, other people can say what you want to say but can't find the words.
Thank you. The concept of a real economy based on lore, with shifting prices dependant on id and ship is getting more and more clear in my mind. I am waiting for 4.87 to come out and then i will start making case files for commodities and stations based on the new infocards.
Right now i am thinking about Cardiff Mining Facility and the Beryllium field in Cambridge. It would make so much sense and it would boost activity for miners, corsairs, BPA and bounty hunters in that system. It would be an activity hub, like it's intended to be in lore.