OSC Trade Route changes

[Xoria]

I have thought for a long time that Orbital Spa and Cruise offered some very interesting role-playing opportunities, but I have been frustrated that the "trade runs" open to them force an OSC vessel to choose between authentic role-playing and making credits. So, I have designed trade runs for authentic OSC routes that would require some changes to the mod. In the real world such a business would be more profitable than the mere transport of lifeless commodities, but in order to prevent OSC routes from becoming a replacement for the power-trading Diamond-Niobium route, I have kept the profitability numbers from being as high as they realistically should be.

I have constructed these routes using these criteria :

- OSC should be able to operate by only visiting OSC bases and planets that are either population centers or major suppliers of goods needed by OSC. OSC primary "bases" are : Luxury Liner Shetland, Luxury Liner Hawaii, Planet Baden Baden, Planet Curacao

- OSC should be able to buy and sell role-play authentic commodities at each of the above bases on the route. Authentic commodities include : Passengers, VIPS, Luxury Food, Luxury Consumer Goods, Consumer Goods.

- Transactions on the route should have an average profitability that compares favorably with "life-less" commodity transactions that could otherwise be traded.

- I have used jump holes for all profitability calculations. If I don't, then the routes would actually be much more profitable than stated. I don't consider jump holes to be very role-play authentic for OSC, but it's a fact of life that can't be ignored. The last thing I want to do is inadvertently create new "power-trade" routes.

In each case, I indicate in parentheses what the prices should be to meet the above criteria. In some cases, no price change is needed.

1. Purchase Luxury Consumer Goods at Manhattan (no price change), Sell Luxury Consumer Goods at Curacao (sale price changed to 600) in Cortez for a profit of 534 credits / unit, 159 cents / second profit

Two notes about this transaction : A) Boron from Manhattan to LD-14 nets 199 cents / second, so we don't want to trump that

B) At this point there is a big problem in the current mod version. Currently there is nothing to buy at Curacao that can be sold for any profit elsewhere. So here is a change :

2. Purchase VIPs at Curacao (commodity added for purchase and priced at 4749), Sell at Luxury Liner Shetland (sale price changed to 9799) for a profit of 5050 credits / unit, 200 cents / second profit.

Note : it may be a good idea to remove VIPs from being available for sale at Planet New London

3. Purchase Passengers at Luxury Liner Shetland (commodity added for purchase and priced at 521). Sell at Planet Baden Baden (sale price changed to 2212) for a profit of 1691 credits / unit, 217 cents / second profit.

Note : I have looked at the prices you can receive for Passengers in Bretonia, and I don't think adding them as a purchase point at Shetland really changes much. Prisoners from Shetland to Baden Baden currently provide a profit of 1691, so the Passenger prices are adjusted to match that)

4. At this point, the current mod version allows the purchase of Luxury Food from Planet Stuttgart to Luxury Liner Hawaii for a good profit, and Artifacts from Luxury Liner Hawaii into Liberty. None of the "authentic" OSC commodities can be made available for sale at Hawaii without substantially changing other buy/sell locations and prices, so I'm at a loss about what to suggest for any change at that point. The only alternative to adjusting prices everywhere would be to introduce a new commodity just for OSC, but that sounds like a non-starter for new mod versions.

5. Separately from the above route, if Luxury Liner Hawaii purchases VIPs then OSC vessels can go directly there from Manhattan. This one price change adds a new option for OSC trading all by itself, since there is already a possibility of making a purchase headed back to Liberty from Luxury Liner Hawaii. Setting the price for VIPS at Hawaii to be the same as for Planet Honshu is the simplest : 10249

Summary :

1. Planet Curacao changed to buy Luxury Consumer Goods at 600 credits

2. Planet Curacao changed to sell VIPs at 4749 credits

3. Luxury Liner Shetland changed to purchase VIPs at 9799 credits

4. Luxury Liner Shetland changed to sell Passengers at 521 credits

5. Planet Baden Baden changed to buy Passengers at 2212 credits

6. Luxury Liner Hawaii changed to purchase VIPS for 10249

---

Check out my
Trade Development Blog
for all the latest news on Nerfs and Final Nails, or to request trade changes.

An Interactive Tour of OSC Routes  | POB Supplies