I would like to propose a series of changes to the passenger commodities to allow for a greater variety of routes whilst maintaining the established A->B->C->A standard.
The Idea
As the Kusari update draws near and the Mackinac's repositioning along with it I felt it a good time to address an issue brought up by my members time and again, diversity in passenger routes.
Although OS&C have functional routes at the moment many of them contain luxury items that are ill-fitting of RP when stocked en mass onto Liners, things such as alcohol, furs, food and tea. As you can imagine trying to explain why a luxury liner is filled to the brim with furs is a difficult sell at the best of times, doing so while trying to maintain character is often a groan inducing experience to the extent that the entire roster of OSC has cut anyway any routes that are not passenger only, leaving their options extremely limited.
The Proposal
I propose a reworking of the passenger route system that allows a greater variety in routes without creating excess commodities or radical alterations by using strategically placing the current passenger commodities on planets that previously sold Vacationers and utilising pre-existing sell points. Below is a simplified version of what the changes would result in.
*Not displayed - Malta and Crete, both of which keep their inbound passengers with Malta losing its Vacationer buy point.
Changes Removals
VIP’s from Golden Dragon and Hawaii.
Vacationers from Denver, Malta, Stuttgart, Holstein, Houston, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles,, New Tokyo, New London and Cambridge.
Passengers_li to Denver
Passengers to Hamburg
Passengers to Grand Vista
Additions
VIP’s to Denver
Passengers to New London
Passengers_br to New Tokyo
Vacationers to Manhattan
Tourists to New Berlin
Connections
Passengers_rh to Manhattan
Passengers_ku to Curacao and Baden Baden
Passengers to the Mackinac, New Tokyo and Denver
Tourists to Denver
Vacationers to Mackinac
Relocating VIPs
These are our big ticket item, unfortunately they happen to be sold on the base of the Hogosha who according to the Mackinac's infocard actively extort the liner for protection money, an odd pairing to say the least. By moving the VIPs to Denver, a planet known for its weathly upper class, it allows us a much more lore friendly destination in addition to allowing for a greater variety of routes.
I have discussed this with WPeregrine and the Hogosha who have kindly granted permission for this change to take place, I'd liked to of placed another commodity in the VIPs place but felt it best left to the decision of the Hogosha faction themselves.
Removal of Vacationers
Lots of places to buy, only two places to sell. Vacationers made up the bulk of the passenger routes selling from no less than 14 planets spread throughout the sector yet only bought at the Hawaii and Shetland giving very little in terms of variety. In this proposal the number is cut down to a modest 3 planets, Manhattan, Hamburg and Crete, opening the use of other passengers commodities to create more diversity.
Malta and Crete
The reasoning for removing outbound vacationers from Malta is an obvious one, anyone staying on Malta would be dosed with huge amounts of Cardamine either becoming a fully fledged Outcast or in the least developing an addiction. The inbound passengers remain unchanged as I can imagine quite a few possibilities for the Outcasts to proceed with their insideous Orange Dream by luring unsuspecting passengers to their home.
Crete's status remains unchanged for both simplicity and for the sake RP possibilities, who knows how the Corsair Empire will expand its revenues.
Lack of Freeports/Passengers_bw
This was done intentionally as the passengers_bw is sold at almost every freeport and in many cases does not generate a profit large enough to be considered viable cargo. The buy and sell points remain untouched in this proposal, however with the removal of vacationers from so many planets finding a connection to the larger passenger network may prove troublesome.
Conclusion
In summary, this proposal was meant to accomplish one thing, to make passenger trading more fun by giving greater option in route and destination. I have attempted to be as thorough as I can in the design without creating an over-complicated tangle in the hopes that the goal is not overshadowed by the method and would welcome any changes that lead to greater variety for those of us who move passengers.