Smuggling

[Locke]

Am I reading this right, even as a trader, you can dock at bases that are/should be hostile to your tag?

And to make the smuggling thing really interesting, how about some semi perpose built ships to do the job in?

I doubt a smuggler would want to be tagged Outcast if (s)he were smuggling Cardamine, but just because you're friendly doesn't mean you have to be tagged. I think most smugglers/traders try to stay as neutral as possible to maximize potential routes. Causing contraban to be reputation-sensitive would force traders/smugglers to do a little more work to achieve their goal of higher profits. If only getting caught would ruin that reputation too-- that would be the perfect punishment, imo.

As for a "smuggling ship", it doesn't seem like a smuggler would want to stand out anymore than anyone else. However, maybe an armored transport, luxury liner, or prison ship is what you're looking for?
It would make sense to have a luxury liner if you're willing to relate it to RL, since smugglers in the Florida keys sail Yachts soas to not look conspicuous (and they can afford them.)

@Bluntpencil -- That would perfect, but I'm thinking there's some hard-coding problems there. Also, this would be a major Freelancer change which I know Igiss isn't too keen on (and with good reason, of course.)
I think we can come up with a viable solution if we keep discussing possibilities.

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[Dopamino]

make drugs take more space cuz the smuggler has to hide it in somethin

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I mostly lurk around Media Center these days.

[Quigs]

Re: special ships... The whole notion of carrying drugs into the heart of Liberty in a train is pretty rediculous. By modern day comparison that would be like supertankers full of heroin pulling into New York Harbor. Or maybe New Jersey if the captain was red to the NYPD.

For smuggling to really have an underground flavour it should be insanely profitable per unit but only done in ships that can slip through docking rings. Sadly I don't know how that could be enforced through game mechanics. Smuggling ships could also be rebalanced a little to make sure nothing carrying contraband can mount a transport shield. Unless you have the misfortune of getting stuck at a gate beside a battleship those big class 7 shields make NPCs totally irrelevant.

Creampuff

[uspatriotsf]

@Creampuff: No offense, but the things your are suggesting are completely impossible.

I think the best suggestion is to raise not only the selling price of contraband but also the minimum buying prices. Make it a large investment with a larger reward and much larger risk. For example: Cardamine on Malta instead of costing 300 would cost like 4000-5000 but would also sell on Manhatten for 6000-8000. I think someone made the reference to VIP's. The only thing I would take out of that equation would be the making them larger than 1 space per unit. If you do that it completely negates the process.

So thats what I would do. I would also make it so the best and only HUGE profits would come from some ridiculously long routes (i.e. Malta to Gran Canaria). This way you would have to pass through a ton of systems making your chances of getting caught much higher and when you just dropped $22 million on a load of Cardamine its kind of scary. But if you make it, your load will sell for $30.8 million.

Those are my ideas anyway.

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[alance]

Is anything besides Cardamine and captured pilots considered "contraband"? Seems like Small Arms and other military equipment would be considered such.

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&quot;To gain a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the highest excellence;
to subjugate the enemy's army without doing battle is the highest of excellence.&quot;

[uspatriotsf]

As far as NPC's go Cardamine, Pilots, Artifacts and Synthetic Marijuana are considered contraband. But, different PC factions have different regulations on other "non-contraband" items such as light arms. For instance I beleive that SF has a ban on light arms in Bretonia.

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[Drake]

I agree with AC_Merc... Very expensive to buy, but earning a ton if you manage to sell. Limiting smuggling to freighters instead of big transports would be cool (it would basically allow people to make as much with a freighter as a lawful would with a transport), but the only way to do that would be with either a new rule on the Trader ID or with a whole new ID (Smuggler, which I don't think is a good idea).

I also think that the 'target destinations' should be places other than in the New York system. It's no PvP and no RP, which means anyone who reaches NY is home free.

Is anything besides Cardamine and captured pilots considered "contraband"? Seems like Small Arms and other military equipment would be considered such.

Artifacts are contraband, synthetic ganja is contraband... Small arms and military vehicles are in some places, to some House-based player factions (Rhineland or Bretonia I think, I forget which). I'm not sure what else... There are only a few types of commodities really worth hauling.

-Drake

Edit: Merc got to it first.

[Quigs]

@Creampuff: No offense, but the things your are suggesting are completely impossible.

Heh, yeah. Pipe dream:) Unless it's possible to have a few old school bases that don't support big ship docking without screwing up the ones that do.

Corner to corner routes that are worth tons would be cool as long as they could be made fun (risky).

Creampuff

[Dopamino]

expensive to buy, large profit, large penalty is what it comes down to

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I mostly lurk around Media Center these days.

[X-Lancer]

yes........more profit for smuggle route!