Yes, it is a time sink if you're going to buy 10-15 rare commodities, and then fly 150 LY away to sell it for maximum profit. But, if you're smart, you'll create a long trade route. You pick up rare commodities in one star system, fly 15 LY away, and get 15 more rare commodities of another type, and so on. You do this until when you're 130 LY away, you sell off your original stock of 10-15 rares for maximum profit, and then buy new items, and make a trade loop. So for example:
0LY: Buy 15 of rare commodity A.
15 LY away: Buy 15 of rare commodity B.
40 LY away: Buy 15 of rare commodity C.
50 LY away: Buy 10 of rare commodity D.
80 LY away: Buy 10 of rare commodity E.
110 LY away: Buy 15 of rare commodity F.
130 LY away: Sell off all 15 rare commodity A, buy 15 of rare commodity G.
And then you start swinging back in a large arc to get back to the original system with commodity A. When you get back to A, you sell all your rare commodity G.
These trade loops are common, but they require you to research and figure out how to plot your route for maximizing your income. On top of this, the places you buy from and sell to add to the political stability of that region. So, if you buy and sell commodities in Leesti which is run by the RI, you're adding to their control of that system. On the other hand, if you deliver Tantalum, which is used in the construction of weapons, or sell other weapons in Leesti, you add to the ability for a minor faction in the system to topple RI because there are now more guns and tantalum to make guns to kill off the faction in control.
So, if you're an Alliance Trader with Empire sympathies who hates the Federation, you need to create a creative route that works for you.
On top of this, if you move beyond rare trading, most space ports run out of supply in about 3-4 hours of trading in the largest ship in the game (The Type 9, or the Anaconda if you add speed as a factor). So being an effective trader is about building up a network of trading sources so you're able to maximize your profit per hour over time. Personally, I have about 80 networks. However, it used to be around 110 trade networks until one of the Federation player guilds decided to flip Empire systems to the Federation. That meant I could no longer sell Imperial Slaves to those markets, killing off that trade route. These do not require you to go great distances, just to find two economies that mesh. One system is High Tech, so it needs minerals and metals to make into High Tech resources. High Tech systems create technology which helps extraction. So? Find an extraction economy system, go there, buy metals. Go to the High Tech system, sell the metals for massive profit, and then buy extraction technology and sell it to the Extraction system. That's how normal trading works.
There's also the potential to create long roads of trade where you soak maximum profit over time, rather than just going back and forth.
As for why rare commodities cost more the further away you are: They are rare. Not many people, NPCs, etc. are going to trade long distances. Why was silk not expensive in Asia but when it had traversed the Silk Road into Europe did it suddenly become valuable? Because the commodity is foreign there, and has greater value to those who don't live on it. This is a real big issue in modern days with oil exporting countries. The oil companies in countries like Iran don't want to sell Iranian oil to Iranians because it is so much cheaper in the country which produces it. They'd rather sell it abroad and make much greater income, but the Iranian government needs to offer sufficient incentives for the oil companies to sell domestically so that way they can assure for their domestic energy needs.
It is pretty much how international trade works.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Norok
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However, the progression curve is too steep. I bounty hunted as it was the most engaging role. I earned up to a Vulture which is superbly combat capable. It costs about 4 mil credits. I was earning at least 1 mil/hour. The next real upgrade is the max level ship the Anaconda for 76 mil. I could not see it really making combat much more efficient for 70+ hours of grinding to get it.
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Note that the Anaconda costs about 130 million to buy, not just 76. But it is a shitty combat ship. It is good for trading (420/436 tons, large jump range, more maneuverable than the Type 9). After the Vulture, the next best is the FDL (caps out at 100 million with full upgrades). After that, the Python, but it is more a shield heavy FDL. My Python, maxed out, costs around 230 million.
Also note the way to make money isn't to just grind 1 million an hour. Get involved in community goals. I played for 4 hours this week due to the release of The Witcher 3, and in those 4 hours, I made about 4 million in Alliance bounties. But I turned them in at 78 Ursae Majoris as a part of the community goal of making the region safe for the President's visit. The CG ended earlier today, and I got 9 million more on top of it.
One of the more recent CGs was about Unknown Artefacts which have been starting to appear around civilized space. You can see one here (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxxZB9ytxQw). They corrode the inside of your ship when you carry them, and they were believed to be on Alien origin. So, the story is starting to lead into the introduction of Aliens. All at the same time, The Empire is divided over a succession struggle, and the Federation is getting rife with crime due to a lame duck President.
One of the ones before that was a CG based on the liberation of the system Lugh from the Federation. Back in Gamma, players decided to test the background simulation by helping the Crimson Party of Lugh grow in power in the Lugh system as opposed to the Federation. Frontier used this to patch up the background sim system, and in the end, made a 4-5 CG long event over the course of a few weeks of the war between the Crimson and the Federation. The Crimson were victorious (my side!) and the Federation pulled back, and Lugh was freed from Federation control. I made about 40 million on that event.
Community goals are the "story" of the game. It is how you get involved in the expanding, growing galaxy. If you're not reading GalNet, you're never going to find those community goals, and you'll wander around aimlessly. And that's fine, if what you want to do is wander around aimlessly. But if you want something to do, to be a part of the story, the option is there, you merely need to look for it. Since I was a part of the liberation of Lugh, whenever I go to Lugh, I know I was a part of that. New people to the game will never know how crazy the PvP was in that war, because they weren't there for it. But there will be more wars in the future for them to be involved in. It's the exact same thing as EQN proposed about creating a story in an open world environment.
The story is there, and it is something you can get involved in, but you have to want to do it. You can't just log in, go bounty hunt, and log out and expect the story to be jammed down your throat. Just like with EverQuest, the story and the lore, it's out there. It is in the world. It is in the books and news you find. The game doesn't begrudge you listen to the story, merely offers it to you to take it, to enjoy it, if it is what you want.