Oolite Bulletins

I was having a nice little scooping spree just now, and after docking
at a station i was unable to sell all the gem stones. My ship can hold
more than 127gr, but the market cant.

The limit of 127 seems a bit low, especially for weightless stuff.

Maybe it's a dash of ye olde economic protectionism..?

jonnycuba wrote:

Maybe it's a dash of ye olde economic protectionism..?

Closer to the truth than you might think.

Trading on the Oolite 'market ouvert' is limited to quantities of 127 or less. Dealing in greater quantities risks the attentions of the revenue men, so the dealers just won't do it.

Which in turn leads to the question of 'le marché ferme' could an alternative market be imposed (would it add anything to the game)

I've always thought another layer to equipment would be fun, junkyard stuff that was cheaper but maybe not so reliable (until repaired). Maybe illegal upgrades...(a super laser that could deplete your shields or energy banks on 50/50 chance) etc.

Also, you may have noticed a limit on the amount of Gold or Platinum that can be carried. (I think it's about 450kg.) Perhaps there might be a way to carry more but just reduce the overall cargo space by a tonne to compensate when it the metals get over a certain weight. This would be great as us miserly traders don't want to part with our stashes until we find a market where the price is right.

Is there also a limit on the amount of Gem Stones you can carry? I haven't got there yet.

Actually, that reminds me…

When you scoop gems or precious metals, they come in a 1 t-capacity container. This suggests it is common practice to place such items in a container… so, when you have a non-zero quantity of precious metals or gems, you should be using 1 t of cargo space for them.

Can't you just stash them in the glove compartment?

Of course you can’t. If you did, people wouldn’t be able to scoop them when they kill you. Quid pro quo, and all that.

True, true. But if we’re really going to be logical about this, would any sensible trader not do their utmost to conserve precious cargo space. So if in fact all goods, large or small are kept in standard 1 tonne canisters, then surely one would logically choose to put all ones smaller cargo, (i.e. Pt, Au and gem stones), together in a single container. One would therefore be unlikely to encounter the situation, as one often does, of scooping up several different containers from the same ship containing small quantities of these goods. What would be much more plausible, in this line of reasoning, would be occasionally scooping up a single cargo canister containing the mother-load of gems and precious metals. And this would be pretty cool to boot.

Thoughts?

This is very interesting, leading me to the 'glove compartment' theory...
Scooped escape pods would make a great place to have precious metals/gems...

cosmonaut wrote:

One would therefore be unlikely to encounter the situation, as one often does, of scooping up several different containers from the same ship containing small quantities of these goods.

Unless what one is attacking is a successful pirate who hasn’t had the opportunity to dock and rearrange the stuff he stole from other ships. :)

cosmonaut wrote:

the mother-load of gems

That’s “motherlode.” Meaning a lode that is significantly larger than nearby ones typically radiating from the motherlode. :-)

However in the case of bulk cruisers (Anacondas and Boas) with a "Clean" legal status, travelling in covoy and showing no pirate tendencies whatsoever... I don't think that applies to them. (Not that I would ever contemplate piracy.)

I am thinking of the ship's safe.

Could be a separate model, but could just as easilly be mounted inside a standard cargo-container.
(what better place to hide your gold than amongst the 100 containers full of 'fertiliser'?)

Arexack_Heretic wrote:

what better place to hide your gold than amongst the 100 containers full of 'fertiliser'?

Is that a euphemism for "slaves"?

No. The difference is that slaves are alive.