Trading Tips for the Noobies

[Angelfire]

Okee dokee...

A light went on for me when I realized that 62 waypoints and 40 minutes of travel for 7 million bucks was not a good bargain... so I thought I'd start this thread in the hope of other Traders sharing some wisdom.

1 - Use a Calculator to make sure that your distance/profit ratio is good...

2 - It is better to check carefully for yourself if your trade route is as profitable as you think it is.. don't take someone else's word for it, check for yourself.

e.g. I have a trade route that is 44 waypoints, brings me 6 million profit and takes me about 20 minutes to do... my other trade route is 62 waypoints and brings me about 10 million but takes me 40 minutes to do,
this means over four runs I make much more on my 20 minute run than on my 40 minute run even though on a single run the 40 minute run is more profitable...

To some it's common sense, i know, but to others like me..well.. lets say we're not the sharpest tools in the shed..heh heh.

The less complicated version:

I now play with a pencil, paper and calculator next to the screen... it makes trading a lot less boring and a lot more profitable..

I hope this helps someone...

please feel free to post tips guys, it makes the game a lot easier for dimwits like me...

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The Chronicles of Angelfire

[Zelot]

Be aware of who's territory you are flying thorugh. If you keep doing the run, they will know you, you should know them.



PS. Major advice: you shouldnt be trading just to get your Battleship. Make your trading character an RP character, have fun with it. The trading wont have to be quicker if your having fun while doing it.

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[tfmachad]

I second what Zelot said.

I think it's fine to look for a profitable route. If you're looking for THE ONE more profitable route it's quite easy to find too, just follow the myriad of threads about traders bashing pirates bashing traders bashing terrorists and you'll figure it out.

Also, there's the threat aspect of the routes you'd have to put into your count there. How much money will I have to drop from time to time and how much time will I lose trying to shake pirates.

Then again, you could try and look around for the shipping and other private companies. Pick a region in space or two and figure which companies operate in the area. Think about someone that will work on that company and figure him/her a nice story, it doesn't need to be a novel, just a paragraph saying what that character is about, what's he like and stuff like that. Try and find some quirks for him, some personal traits and so on. It would be nice also for you to really associate with that company, go it's ID and tag, instead of the common Trader ID, Police tag.

Then you start worrying about what route is best inside the region you picked. To be honest, that are some three companies that have enough reach that you can travel as far as the border worlds without infringing any RP standards.

EDIT: I just saw the sub title... I shouldn't have posted here, I'm no genius. I'm very sorry.:crazy:

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Meet the Kriegers - The story of a family and of two men that shared more than just a name
Fantasmas de la Nube Siniestra
I Mon'Star: The Strange Case of Elizabeth Wallace

[Reverend Del]

I concur with the thought about picking your route by story, rather than profit, of course the route should still make you wealthy. My route takes me quite far, and passes through a couple of hotspots, but I run it because I've got a simple RP reason for running it.. I have to. I'm a contracted employee, I do as I am told. It means I can complain every now and again I can really get my trader character down, figure out what I want from him as a character, he's not just a faceless piggy bank for my other characters, in fact I don't use him to fund certain characters because he just wouldn't.

The suggestion I'd make is figure out what motivates him, why does he (or she) trade, this will help you respond to pirates better, for example is (s)he a political dissident, which group(s) does the trader feel most in sync with. Thusly when the pirate/terrorist group you like is politely requesting a donation from you, you may feel happy to support their cause, but when their enemies try to steal your money you'll feel annoyed and angry and will not want to part with your cash unless your life becomes threatened.

Oh and remember, nobody would rather be blown up than surrender between 10 and 20 percent of their cargo. Even if the NPCs are stupid and do it.

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Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.

[Lohingren]

another tip. don't pass through alpha without cardamine or you'll be told to drop your cargo in exchange for it.

look up the house rules im sure there is one's for each and every section of sirius on the do's and donts of trading. bare in mind just cause it says it aint illegal ingame it can be illegal to the player faction's. I.E. refer to QCR's rules for example

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Reapers of Sirius Database

[Jihadjoe]

another tip. don't pass through alpha without cardamine or you'll be told to drop your cargo in exchange for it.

Indeed brother lohingren. I enforce this with a passion. Spread the disease.

Now on a slightly different note, one of my routes in my smuggler (yes I ship cardimine amongst other things) takes me through Sigma 13 to New Berlin to drop off some cardi. Now that rather sadly has become extremely difficult in recent weeks due to some rather non-rp traders causing terrorists to descend on the place and kill without mercy. Since the phantom invasion I have tried to avoid it in my smuggler, cos frankly he values his life...

Now I roleplay my smuggler, his name is Joe (original eh), he's Bretonian and he's a downright coward. Now this has led to some fun times with the RM and the outcasts. It makes trading stop being a chore and start to be fun rather than just grinding out the credits. (Plus it makes sense with me then transferring credits to my character, most of whom are outcasts)

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[Reverend Del]

*deleted*

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Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.

[Xoria]

I would much rather see a BMM Tag and BMM ID on a Whale Transport carrying Engines out of Honshu to Freeport 9 in Omicron Theta, than see a generic Trader ID and no tag (or police tag) doing the same thing or anything else. I don't think we have nearly enough RP depth on this server yet to enforce ZOI RP restrictions on commercial faction affiliated characters. The only players who are going to RP to that extent are vets with tons of cash already who are doing it just for fun.

As for trading tips, here are a few :

1. Look for trades that allow you to sell one thing and purchase something else at the same stop (or at a minimum the same system).

2. Don't feel like you have to buy at the lowest price and sell at the highest price in order to make money. VIPs is a great example. If you buy at the lowest price and sell at the highest price, you are losing money compared to what you could have earned in the same amount of time by selling them elsewhere.

3. When a pirate has you cornered, start talking. You might as well have some fun before you pay them.

4. Find a rich trader and ask them if they are willing to convoy with you. Even if they aren't they can't stop you from following them to learn their routes.

5. A pirate has a right to tax you every single time he finds you. You are making money on the return trip, and so he can make some off it also. If you don't want to be taxed twice, then don't take the same route twice.

6. Piracy is the least profitable way to make a living in Disco, so pirates aren't doing it from greed. They are doing it because it's fun. So help make it fun. A good pirate loves a good chase, and doesn't mind losing a catch every so often. Without risk, there is no real reward after all. So do your best to put up a good fight to save your cargo and treasury, but if the pirate wins, don't cheat him out of the reward for his hard work.

7. Niobium and Diamonds is not even close to the most profitable use of your time, and that's not even accounting for lost revenue from piracy.

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[tfmachad]

7. Niobium and Diamonds is not even close to the most profitable use of your time, and that's not even accounting for lost revenue from piracy.

Really... I wouldn't know. My bad.:(

EDIT: I'd say that it's likely that newer players feel not only timid about RPing a character, or "making believe" as Unselie reminded, but also may think that to decently RP a character one has to be a novel writter and prepare it with two pages in the stories section in the RP forum. I don't think it's about that.

More experienced players (yet still not all of them), who like writing will do that because it's fun to further the life of a character and go beyond the stereotype.

What sometimes younger players may misunderstand is that stereotypes are a great way to start a character. They are a launching point. You don't have to figure your character's whole life from day one. You can start out with a name, a fisical appearance, an occupation, and something that will drive it from there. Also, RPing is much more about action and, in our case, what you do in game, than pages of RP in the forums. Of course, those are fun and important to, to a level, but really wearing the shoes of your character in game (remembering those starting points) is what will get you going. This applies to all types of characters. Once you unleash your imagination, there's no stop to it.

So, if you have problems coming up with an ultra original new thing, go for the old battered cliche and add a twist of your own to it.

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Meet the Kriegers - The story of a family and of two men that shared more than just a name
Fantasmas de la Nube Siniestra
I Mon'Star: The Strange Case of Elizabeth Wallace

[Angelfire]

as usual...awesome friggin advice from awesome friggin people!

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The Chronicles of Angelfire