Oolite Bulletins

And the question is: why take them at all?

It seems like the reward-to-hassle ratio is very low for passenger and cargo contracts. When examining the passenger contracts, it appears that I can make more cash in a single trading run than by accepting the average passenger contract. Seriously, 400 cr for a minimum of 4 jumps? I can make nearly that much carrying 10 t of Computers between the right systems. Heck, the fuel for the trip costs a hefty percentage of that if I decide I don't want to sun skim.

And looking at the cargo contracts, well, I'm not sure where to begin. Right now I'm looking at a contract to take 240 tons of Furs a distance of 56 LY, for a profit of 2400 cr. First of all, Furs are usually a high-profit item, and it seems I'm only earning 10 cr/t on this contract. Of course, I'd never find 240 t available under normal circumstances. But that brings me to my other observation. I fly a Python (a ship with a moderately large cargo bay) and I can only ever even have the option for the smallest of these contracts. The smallest one available in my current system is 120 t (just above my ship's capacity). I guess my question is, what's the point of these types of contracts if they are only available to the hugest ships, and the profit in the contracts is mediocre at best?

I feel like there may be some aspect of these contracts that I'm missing. I absolutely love the idea of having the contracts in the game (the ONLY cool thing about that mess that was Frontier), but right now I'm just not motivated to accept any of these. They just don't appear to be worth the trouble.

Bob

Carrying cargo and passengers is not mutually exclusive - you may be able to make more money taking a passenger + cargo than just cargo alone (depending on the contract).

Passengers tip.

The cargo contracts are there for the large capacity ships that don't use the gray low-quantity market.

The profit margin for a given run is usually higher than taking the same goods on the same route without a contract.

Also, once you have a perfect reputation as a cargo hauler some very lucrative contracts for transporting gold, platinum and gemstones become available.

If the risk/rewards don't suit you then don't use the contract market. Contracts are only valuable for certain classes of ship and if you don't like that sort of ship you may be better off as a bounty hunter or pirate.

Giles, I hope you didn't take offense at my post. This is exactly the kind of information I was searching for. Figuring out what exactly I was missing. Now you've got my curiosity going! Silly me for assuming that what I see is all there is. Thank you all for your responses.

Bob

rbird wrote:

Giles, I hope you didn't take offense at my post.

Gosh no! Sorry if I gave that impression!

Glad to hear it! Have already completed two cargo hauling missions (and am simultaneously working on the Longway mission). I have to admit, it's added some variety to the game. Sure, I can make tons more cash just hauling cargo between two profitable systems, but it's pretty fun to see the galaxy as well.

Bob

A question I've got about passenger contracts - do they 'escalate' in the same way that cargo contracts do? From what I've seen so far I assume that they don't but it would be nice to go from being a taxi for hard up colonists to providing a passenger berth to highly paid executives (or other well off people)!

IIRC, yes...

Maybe an idea: put something up at the cargo/passenger market to indicate your current 'rank' as a transporter, so it is more obvious to newer players the contracts will get better if you gain confidence from the customers?

For some reason there are 7s for both contracts and passage fulfilled, though i did both 30-40 times at least! What is the reason?

Uncle Reno wrote:

A question I've got about passenger contracts - do they 'escalate' in the same way that cargo contracts do?

They do, but only in as much as your reputation increases more contracts are offered, so you get a better choice of fares.

What happens if you miss a deadline?

Does it wipe your reputation and you have to start from scratch? Or does it permanently prevent you from earning the big bucks.

It's rather more complex than that.

Reputation for contracts and passengers are handled separately and spread across 3 variables: contracts-completed, contracts-failed, and contracts-unknown. Every so often these variables are nudged towards 'unknown' (as memory fades), every completed contract nudges the scheme towards 'completed' and every black-mark nudges it towards 'failed'. Passengers and contractors assess all three variables as well as the approaching deadline for their travel arrangements to determine if a pilot is up to snuff.

how long does it take to get a good enough reputation to get some good contracts (Gold, Gems, etc...)?

Complete at least seven contract deliveries within good time (maybe eight or nine, depending on how long you take).

sounds good thx