Why most traders feel sad

[ngforever]

You are aware, that with 300 million credits you can buy a CAU6 Battletransport, while still having the money for a first trade run ?

i have a 5k train, have had it for a while. when u say battle trans, which ones are u actually referring to?? im also img, so im usually buying ore.

[Tachyon]

Battletransporters are: Akegata (Kusarian), Bison (Libertonian), <somenamei dontknowrightnow> (Rheinland) and the Shire (Bretonian).

Also, in the near future, IMG will get it's own battletransport.

If you do [as IMG] the Omega7-Tau23 business, you should use Akegatas as Battletransports.

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[Mímir]

I think "giving them better weapons" would probably make trading even more dull. Then there is absolutely no possibility for any form of excitement. A few ships are armed quite well against gunboats and similar sized targets, and I think its a positive thing that you have to break out in sweat when you see a nasty bomber approaching - the chase to the nearest safe haven and the risk of actually losing something are some of the most exciting parts of trading. You see how people go berserk when they have their ships shot down by pirates - thats because people get really invested in the experience, and that is a positive thing, even though you might be p**** off at the moment you are shot down.

I really enjoy trading, I actually do it for fun quite often - I make my real money popping Ossies in Eta - but I think you need some form of idea or purpose to make trading somewhat interesting. Like, what is the most dangerous route I can think of or what exotic type of goods can I transport - stuff like that. A year or so ago I had a Shetland (the big Bret transport, right?) and got it Cryer ID'ed and hauled marihuana (don't know if that is allowed anymore). And then I had a whale and did human organs. I did go back to making a junker trader (like the very first transport I ever had on disco) and realized that Junkers have a wider range of possibilities than most: You can smuggle fun stuff, don't get pirated (if you play nice), you can haul goods from ships your pirate friends vaporized, and you can do a bit out-of-house pirating yourself (Can't wait for the new Junker ID btw, and I hope everyone on the server will make a Kusari trader ASAP, so I can blow them up in my Salvager). That type of trader suited me.

So in short: You have to be somewhat creative and not always think of what has the most profit - you will make a fortune fast anyways.

That being said, the Freelancer Trader ID does suck. As I recall it has 3500/3600 max cargo space, and I think it should be rewarded with a bit more than that, perhaps 4300, as well as a new indie ship of the same size. The House Corporation supertransports will still be around in plenty, and most House Corporation players I see are in supertransports anyways, and they still have a comparative advantage profit-wise, as well as priviledged position within House space in most circumstances.

EDIT: When I read what other people wrote it seems like everyone thinks that safe trading=fun trading...? Is it just me being totally off by seeing it the other way round?

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[Lunaphase]

honestly the problem is for the most part the pirate tech is better than anything the lawful traders can bring to the table. Battletransports are really the only thing that stand a chance against gunboats if that, but a single bomber with a hellfire , cd, and snac can rip any cap8 ship apart in less than a minute.

350k dmg if you hit with all hellfire shots. Thats more than enough to down most transports besides for the aforementioned battletransports.

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[dodike]

honestly the problem is for the most part the pirate tech is better than anything the lawful traders can bring to the table. Battletransports are really the only thing that stand a chance against gunboats if that, but a single bomber with a hellfire , cd, and snac can rip any cap8 ship apart in less than a minute.

350k dmg if you hit with all hellfire shots. Thats more than enough to down most transports besides for the aforementioned battletransports.

Good, because CAU8 Bison has 1.760.000 hullpoints.

[Markam]

Good, because CAU8 Bison has 1.760.000 hullpoints.

Ehm, I'm interested, can you supply the maths with which you came to this number?

Just wondering...

[dodike]

Ehm, I'm interested, can you supply the maths with which you came to this number?

Just wondering...

I can.

(140.000 + 500*600)*4=1.760.000

[Unseelie]

There's a point to be made here which I find it very curious that no one has mentioned yet in the discussion

You are aware, that with 300 million credits you can buy a CAU6 Battletransport, while still having the money for a first trade run ?

That pricetag is more than any Cruiser...
And for that, you're buying a ship that may be able to go toe to toe with a gunboat. My money's still on the Gunboat.

As far as the pure numbers go, transports pay an awful lot of money for what is essentially empty space.
It costs 50 million credits to build the Bretonian Gunboat, about the heaviest gunboat in the game. It costs twice that much to build in the cargohold of the shire, strip the powercore, and downgrade the weapons.

That is, of course, an roleplay based argument about a game mechanic that is not set up with any intention to make sense in roleplay, but rather a result of the amount of effort deemed necessary to reach that position of mastery in the ratrace, which has its own critiques.


There was even a time when piracy was rampant, and the shippers in those days used ships that were quite
heavily armed. To take an example, a first rate warship was equipped with 104 guns, and the Manila Galeons in the realm of 54 guns. That's to say, a heavily armed transport with half the firepower of a Battleship...Anyone making arguments about the pirates along the coast of africa may want to consider that example, and focus on the 1750s


My personal opinion, in relation to the roleplay of the things, is that if there's a sizeable chance for a 100, perhaps 180, million credit ship to be destroyed, corporations would spend a few more millions making them reasonably hard to attack...

None of those arguments really matter, though. No argument about the numbers of things or the proper roleplay, or even comparisons to the real world ships is particularly effective in this debate, which is a debate over a game, one who's arguments, as much as they're directed at each other, are also directed at the persons who decide the balance of things. Therefore, the only argument that makes sense are ones of persons playing the game.


I find it quite a lot more fun, when playing a combat game, when I meet an opponent, to have the upper hand as often as I don't. The situation as it lies is that transports are designed to run. Transports are told to find escorts, other people to do their fighting for them, so that they can run..

So is that the lot of transports, then? Always the pray, always to flee? Its a game, at its core, about shooting things...no wonder no one likes the character that always loses.

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[Markam]

I can.

(140.000 + 500*600)*4=1.760.000

Last I checked you simply times by 4, the Bison has 560.000 armour with cap 8.

You trolling brah?

[Madvillain]

a lot of interesting posts , but i worry for this turning into another trader vs pirate discussion.

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