where to complain about a lack of smugglers :(

[stardust47]

Well, Croft is putting a smuggler faction together. If you want, you can hit him up on Skype: baseili01

---

[ai_ascendant]

Think of it this way, people mostly trade for money. Smuggling is more dangerous and exciting, and more risk/reward right?
Nope, smuggling routes I've seen don't keep up with the best legal routes available. So not many smuggle.

Smuggling is not "more exciting"--it is in fact, "boring". The routes are so disjointed and pay so little in comparison to legal ones that there is not a lot of reason to pursue it other than to fill in a short leg on a long route.

The RP purists will claim that your trading should be based on RP and that is all the satisfaction you need--yet I don't see many Synth Foods players carrying only synthpaste on every single run or Liberty police in AT's ferrying only VIPS and prisoners. I see them all carrying the biggest and most profitable cargoes they can carry in their 5k trains to typical locations far away from their own houses.

So supposedly, criminals--who are TOTALLY profit driven--should run longer, less profitable runs so that in this OORP manner they can be "more RP". Supposedly, it is "more exciting and fun" to run run a route for less money that takes more of your play time on the marginal chance you'll interact with some ace RPers trying to catch you.

I'd love to risk millions in a single very high priced cargo run in return for making millions more if I make it in with it. That would be more fun and more exciting. An example of this would be Gallic artifacts...only the run is so long and disjointed that when you are done with it would have been better to just take Cryocubes from Gallia to Kepler with less risk and more profit.

"Smuggling" will be given a base in Bretonia next upgrade though that is not a fix for "smuggling"--which there seems to be a paranoid fear of making profitable here on the server. I guess everyone powertrading in a house 5k transport is somehow "safer"--so I wouldn't expect a lot more genuine smugglers.

[Hawk]

Only way to bust smuggling and to keep risk/profit ratio is to increase prices for contraband and also increase profit.
Example-make full trans of cardamine worth say 30 mil,selling price say 60mil,profit-30 mil per cargo.
That way there will be no power-smuggling due to a high cost of goods,
risk will be higher,reward will be higher,more smuggling activity,
more lawful activity,more fun for everybody.

This is close to what we need. I don't know that the profit should be quite that high, but I do think everyone with a transport full of cardi should be risking at least 20mil with every run. If will definitely make people more careful if they stand to lose that much every time. If the profit is equal to the risk it will be worth it.

Also, the one thing that is also needed with smugglers are the people looking to catch them. I don't have any ideas for this yet, but could there be some kind of RP incentive to hunt and catch smugglers? I think smuggling is definitely more fun when there is someone trying to catch you.

---

[Anaximander]

looting the cargo if it is really valuable should be an incentive. the lawful claiming the contraband can just RP that they are bringing it to manhattan to have it destroyed rather than sold on the black market.

[Sava]

traders->pirates->navy activity chain

smugglers->police/hunters->escorts/raiders - works the same way

[Croft]

Also, the one thing that is also needed with smugglers are the people looking to catch them. I don't have any ideas for this yet, but could there be some kind of RP incentive to hunt and catch smugglers? I think smuggling is definitely more fun when there is someone trying to catch you.

Lets be sure there are smugglers to catch first before we bring in the metagamers delight.

---

Jimmy The Rat | Croft's Feedback | The Rat Pack

[ai_ascendant]

Having very high price items in your hold would bring people to intercept you--it might even keep the police in their systems patroling instead of flying to other houses to make money. What a concept.

[Tenacity]

We smugglers are an extinct breed.

---

[Coin]

Smugglers are the perfect interaction device to maintain activity in the police factions - but the navy has to hold back, or else there is no point rolling a police char.
If you want more police activity, you need to let smugglers know that if they come through your sandbox, they wont face the firing squad, and have a better than even chance of 'explaining the discrepancies' or 'contributing to the widows and orphans fund'.

@ OP if you see a smuggler - they ain't doing it right.

---

A Day in the Life of an NPC | Coin | The Journal of Caius Oakley | Build Your Dream Boat

[Hidamari]

@ OP if you see a smuggler - they ain't doing it right.

um, so if im sat at malta with my squad, ready to escort some smugglers, im not doing it right? okay.

---