Elusive big contracts

[Bogatyr]

I finally had achieved the perfect cargo racket -- got to top cargo reputation with the python, generated enough cash to switch back to a fully loaded Cobra, and switched back to the Cobra at a station where there was a gold/gems contract available. I kept multiple gem/metals contracts going with the comfort and speed (and fighting ability) of the Cobra. Then I did something stupid. I was lacking only the Military Shield Enhancement. I had two contracts going with LOTS of time on them, 10-15 days of time left. But the stupid slow mechanics ate up all my time and I ended up failing the contracts. Ah well think I'll stick to bounty hunting and missions for a while, until I can afford a faster, better hauling vessel than the Python

Top cargo reputation is not hard to attain in a Cobra MkIII.. I've done it several times. It just takes a little more effort to find contracts that will fit in a 35TC hold.

(Mild spoiler WRT cargo hauling)
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Yeah, I'm finding I'm able to maintain the cargo rep in a Cobra MkIII as long as I stop at every planet on every jump while at high rep looking for jobs, and having started at near the top (6 or 7). I don't see how it's possible (well I suppose it's possible but could take a long time....) to build up to 7 starting from 0 in the Cobra, since the rep declines (it seems) faster than the rate you can find <= 35TC jobs. Also something I figured out is that there's apparently no point in delivering cargo while at top rep (unless you need the cash) since you can't go higher than 7 -- wait until you drop to 6, then deliver, and then keep searching for new contracts. If you have a bunch of ongoing contracts of course then it makes sense to finish one and move on to the next. Definitely interesting and adds a variable into the "where do I go now?" decision tree which makes it fun.

[Diziet Sma]

I must admit I've felt for a long time that the rep degrades a little too quickly.. I do understand that it's time/jump based with something of a random factor thrown in for good measure, but it really should be slowed down some.

[cim]

I must admit I've felt for a long time that the rep degrades a little too quickly.. I do understand that it's time/jump based with something of a random factor thrown in for good measure, but it really should be slowed down some.

Hmm... I don't know. It's only really a problem if you can't do multiple contracts at once. Getting to top passenger or parcel rep is pretty easy (parcel is a bit harder, because they're rarer contracts with tighter deadlines, but it's still doable) and then a slight slip while you're off delivering isn't that big a deal, and you don't really need to be at absolute top reputation to get the big rewards anyway - +5 is usually more than enough.

TC Cargo contracts it's fairly easy to do more than one at once if you're flying something bigger than a Cobra III, though admittedly only because these things are far more fungible than they should be.

Also, the gems/metals contracts are by at least an order of magnitude the quickest money-making method in the core game, and a fair bit faster than a number of OXP methods I've seen criticised on this forum as "too easy" ... so should it really be easier than it is now to get/keep that hauling reputation high enough to get them?

[Bogatyr]

I must admit I've felt for a long time that the rep degrades a little too quickly.. I do understand that it's time/jump based with something of a random factor thrown in for good measure, but it really should be slowed down some.

Hmm... I don't know. It's only really a problem if you can't do multiple contracts at once. Getting to top passenger or parcel rep is pretty easy (parcel is a bit harder, because they're rarer contracts with tighter deadlines, but it's still doable) and then a slight slip while you're off delivering isn't that big a deal, and you don't really need to be at absolute top reputation to get the big rewards anyway - +5 is usually more than enough.

TC Cargo contracts it's fairly easy to do more than one at once if you're flying something bigger than a Cobra III, though admittedly only because these things are far more fungible than they should be.

Also, the gems/metals contracts are by at least an order of magnitude the quickest money-making method in the core game, and a fair bit faster than a number of OXP methods I've seen criticised on this forum as "too easy" ... so should it really be easier than it is now to get/keep that hauling reputation high enough to get them?

After doing cargo runs for a while in 1.77 and "getting the hang of them" I think the balance is pretty good as is. As noted in a larger ship it's easy to get in on the TC hauling and move up to the gems/metals reasonably fast. It introduces a decision/strategy to the game which keeps things interesting. The fun part is then moving back to a small ship (e.g., Cobra MkIII) and trying to retain the metals/gems deals. If anything is too easy then it gets boring and is just "something else to do".

I did get to top parcel status and it didn't really seem worth it as the rewards were always pretty small. The passenger hauling rewards are reasonable if you decide to fit a bunch of berths. For a smaller ship it doesn't seem worthwhile but it is another factor that keeps things interesting.

[Switeck]

TC Cargo contracts it's fairly easy to do more than one at once if you're flying something bigger than a Cobra III, though admittedly only because these things are far more fungible than they should be.

Also, the gems/metals contracts are by at least an order of magnitude the quickest money-making method in the core game, and a fair bit faster than a number of OXP methods I've seen criticised on this forum as "too easy" ... so should it really be easier than it is now to get/keep that hauling reputation high enough to get them?

I disagree about the TC cargo contracts. Many pay less than 1000 credits even if you're at max reputation. They are simply one of the worst ways to make money in the core game. Hauling the usual computers/furs cargo between trading system pairs is more profitable and quicker too. The only point of the TC cargo contracts seem to be so you can achieve top reputation and get Gold/Plat/Gem contracts. There's basically no point in having an Anaconda to do this, because the largest contracts are rare and not fairly profitable and multiple smaller contracts tend to pay even less.

However Gold/Plat/Gem contracts are ridiculous for their profit potential in the core game. In v1.75 or earlier, the max profit I saw for a single Platinum contract was 140,000 credits which I saw only once...though I saw a few that were for ~100,000 credits profit. In v1.77, I spotted one for 270,860 credit profit, 541,880 credit deposit, 6240kg of Platinum to be delivered about 70 LY away and plenty of time to do it. So profit was roughly doubled from v1.75 to v1.77!

Were you to fail the 6240kg Platinum contract, you are temporarily down over 1/2 million credits and can only sell 64-127kg of the Platinum per station...made even worse because you're selling the Platinum for way less than it cost you to get it. On top of that, because you'll need at least 50 station visits (and probably much more so you lose less), you'll probably be needing to do ship repairs multiple times before you're done. End result, you lose way beyond 100,000 credits and probably all your reputation as well.

The cargo contract mod (found here) I created deals with these issues, though ironically enough it does so "accidentally" for the Gold/Plat/Gem contracts. I worked within the min/max prices possible at systems to generate profit levels for cargo contracts, while still making them reasonably profit.

[Arch Stanton]

Sorry for the huge gap folks, been a disturbing amount of real life in the way this week! Thanks for all the help and explanations - will try to make use of all this now I can escape back into the ooniverse :)