Oolite Bulletins

I'm currently flying a Python Class Cruiser equipped with a Hypercargo system, giving me a total cargo capacity of 320 TCs. I tend to fly a route visiting all the Kiota stations, SuperHubs and Rock Hermits (plus any dockable Liners or Behemoths that are in the system) before going to the main station, so I can fill up on trade goods to take to the next system.

When I do this I would like to sell goods at the best price I can find at these stations in the next system, but I invariably find that I have more than 127 TC of one item to sell. Its annoying I cannot sell more than this.

Is there any way we could change this upper limit please? It would be nice to double it to 256 TC or even remove it completely. Especially as one day I plan to buy an Anaconda....!

Flying a grand ship like mine with a 200 ton cargo bay with only the stock extension, I find that this is a valid concern. I heartily concur... and am now considering HyperCargo.

Hmm.

The main trading system was designed for the 35tmax Cobra and incorporates the original limits from the Elite algorithms for generating amounts of cargo that limit quantities to 127t. Changing it would likely break the originality some people value highly.

When I realised that bigger ships were going to present a problem with that I added the cargo contracts screen, rationalising that the trading of raw commodities was a retail market, with a wholesale market (represented by the much larger, long-haul cargo contracts) underpinning it.

The cargo contracts system is pretty limited though, and doesn't accommodate players who want to accumulate larger quantities of saleable cargo.

So. How about a system where, on accessing the cargo contracts screen, you can offer your larger quantities of cargo for sale? You would receive offers for each type of cargo you are carrying more than 127t. The bids would vary in value according to the market demand for the commodity, but because of the quantities involved they would likely be at a lower credit per t rate than the regular trading screen (typically from 50 to 100 percent of the 'retail' price, generated alongside the market prices when you enter the system). Of course you don't have to accept the offers, they're good only while you remain in-system.


Any other suggestions?

This sounds like a good idea to me and it will add another level of variation.

This is not a 'problem' for me even with my 150TC Boa Clipper - sometimes you just have to hold on to a few TC of something till the next stop, and I can live with that.
However, the ability to sell the surplus at a lower price sounds both sensible and 'realistic'. Is there a way it could relate to the amount already available at the station? For instance if the station already has lots of the commodity on sale before you even arrive, the reduced price for surplus is even lower.

aegidian wrote:

So. How about a system where, on accessing the cargo contracts screen, you can offer your larger quantities of cargo for sale? You would receive offers for each type of cargo you are carrying more than 127t. The bids would vary in value according to the market demand for the commodity, but because of the quantities involved they would likely be at a lower credit per t rate than the regular trading screen (typically from 50 to 100 percent of the 'retail' price, generated alongside the market prices when you enter the system). Of course you don't have to accept the offers, they're good only while you remain in-system.

Bulk Auction OXP sounds pretty darn good to me, especially since I'm the kind of pilot who'd be out collecting bulk amounts of whatever the pirates are dropping once I get HyperCargo on my ship.

aegidian wrote:

How about a system where, on accessing the cargo contracts screen, you can offer your larger quantities of cargo for sale? You would receive offers for each type of cargo you are carrying more than 127t. The bids would vary in value according to the market demand for the commodity, but because of the quantities involved they would likely be at a lower credit per t rate than the regular trading screen (typically from 50 to 100 percent of the 'retail' price, generated alongside the market prices when you enter the system). Of course you don't have to accept the offers, they're good only while you remain in-system.

Any other suggestions?

This might need some care when dealing with precious metals and gems: these are already "bulk" goods (in that any player can easily carry more of them than can be sold in any one go), can be accumulated in large quantities quite quickly from salvage, and – for platinum at least – can be worth a lot, even at half price.

It might be worth differentiating between different kinds of goods, too: maybe not all cargo can be traded in bulk. It would encourage players to try different cargo types, rather than just the same old Computers-Furs with a bit of Luxuries/Machinery-Liquor & Wines ... permissible bulk goods could be the (largely) unprocessed, e.g.:

Food (grain, pulses, roots)
Textiles (bolts of raw, cheap cloth, or even pre-woven matter like flax, than finished garments)
Radioactives
Alloys
Minerals

Off-topic, but ... if we're going to make changes to the F8-F8 screen, too, could I suggest adding some parcel deliveries in there for the small ships? They don't have to pay big money, or lead to any big contracts, but they would give beginning players something more mission-y to do. Say between 25 to 500Cr (rare) a pop for urgent packages that can be carried in the ship's safe (i.e. no cargo space required)? Like the bulk contracts, the player has to post a bond to get the package, then gets paid if he makes the delivery on time ...

Disembodied wrote:

Off-topic, but ... if we're going to make changes to the F8-F8 screen, too, could I suggest adding some parcel deliveries in there for the small ships? They don't have to pay big money, or lead to any big contracts, but they would give beginning players something more mission-y to do. Say between 25 to 500Cr (rare) a pop for urgent packages that can be carried in the ship's safe (i.e. no cargo space required)? Like the bulk contracts, the player has to post a bond to get the package, then gets paid if he makes the delivery on time ...

I agree. Just because a pilot has a small vessel does not mean that their regular day-to-day cashflow should be confined to small cargo runs, long passenger runs, or bounty hunting. When I was still running a Cob3, this rather annoyed me. More options for the small-ship pilot should be made available as well as the above-discussed additional option for the cruiser pilots.

I overcome the 127 TC limit problem by adding secondary stations.

I modified Globe, Nuit, Sothis, and SuperHub stations to appear based on Tech Level, Gov type, and Economy such that there's at most ONE of those near the planet. These also must use basically identical price formulas as the main station or they're much too profitable. I did reduce the amounts for sale at them relative the main station to reflect their lesser importance.

I also have Hoopy Casino installed as well as Commies, Dictators, Pirate Coves, Random Hits, Free Trade Zone, and Black Monks Monastery. These add specialty stations of their own, but typically only 1 or 2 each and only in certain systems. And most of those are not near the main station.

On top of this, there's the standard Rock Hermit which the system populator may add 1-4. With my Switeck's Shipping, it's worth visiting them to sell some items the main station either doesn't want or is full on.

My main ship is a Boa 2, so its 175 TC capacity is capable of exceeding the 127 TC limit but I rarely do even with all these stations.

The one commodity I tend to accumulate is Platinum, because the only "good" places to sell it are the uncommon Rich Industrial systems...and even they rarely have good selling prices. Gold is bugged to only be for sale in small quantities and I didn't see fit to change that. Minerals are similarly bugged, but in the opposite direction -- always lots for sale at the main station but NOT at Rock Hermits! Gems are hard to accumulate because main stations and Rock Hermits sometimes have none and never have more than 10-21g.

Disembodied wrote:

Off-topic, but ... if we're going to make changes to the F8-F8 screen, too, could I suggest adding some parcel deliveries in there for the small ships? They don't have to pay big money, or lead to any big contracts, but they would give beginning players something more mission-y to do. Say between 25 to 500Cr (rare) a pop for urgent packages that can be carried in the ship's safe (i.e. no cargo space required)? Like the bulk contracts, the player has to post a bond to get the package, then gets paid if he makes the delivery on time ...

The problem with making big changes to the F8-F8 screen - especially with adding whole new types of contract - is mainly a lack of space (and, of course, the usual GUI horribleness). I have some ideas to get around that, but they do change the contract interface a fair bit in ways that may or may not be very popular. Have a look, anyway...

Hypothetical backstory for sales exceeding the 127 TC limit, edited after paying more attention:

Galcop passed the Fair Trade Act in [insert sensible date here]. This act prohibited limited market resources and commander purchases exceeding 127 TC in order to prevent the unfair alteration of system economies. Private businesses have developed the practice of sales "under the bar table," where private brokers will approach commanders with large cargo holds with offers that, while lower than the local Galcop-standard prices, enable a commander to sell off cargo in greater quantities than Galcop markets allow.
This practice is frowned upon by Galcop and, if done often enough by an individual commander in a single system, may provoke fines and/or confiscation of all proceeds from such transactions. Seeing as this is difficult to prove and prosecute, a smart commander will avoid these fines by not making a habit of such transactions at a single Galcop station.

Disembodied wrote:

Off-topic, but ... if we're going to make changes to the F8-F8 screen, too, could I suggest...

Long range (or if you really must "inter-galactic") contracts with a destination on the next chart.

Rese249er wrote:

Disembodied wrote:

Off-topic, but ... if we're going to make changes to the F8-F8 screen, too, could I suggest adding some parcel deliveries in there for the small ships? They don't have to pay big money, or lead to any big contracts, but they would give beginning players something more mission-y to do. Say between 25 to 500Cr (rare) a pop for urgent packages that can be carried in the ship's safe (i.e. no cargo space required)? Like the bulk contracts, the player has to post a bond to get the package, then gets paid if he makes the delivery on time ...

I agree. Just because a pilot has a small vessel does not mean that their regular day-to-day cashflow should be confined to small cargo runs, long passenger runs, or bounty hunting. When I was still running a Cob3, this rather annoyed me. More options for the small-ship pilot should be made available as well as the above-discussed additional option for the cruiser pilots.

In a MkIII Cobby with a cargobay expansion, it is perfectly possible to get enough bulk cargo contracts to build a solid rep and start scoring the juicy gems & precious metals contracts.. I've done it many times. You may have to look a little harder/longer to find the <35tc contracts, but they're out there..

just sayin'