Oolite Bulletins

One thing I've often wondered is how on earth do people make a living from scooping? I always find the cannisters go flying off in at all angles and velocities making it a rather tiresome task of picking them all up again and the net profit doesn't really make it worth my while. Am I doing something wrong here?

virgopunk wrote:

One thing I've often wondered is how on earth do people make a living from scooping? I always find the cannisters go flying off in at all angles and velocities making it a rather tiresome task of picking them all up again and the net profit doesn't really make it worth my while. Am I doing something wrong here?

Nothing wrong, but if you are faster then they won't be scattered so much. So stay close before the ship dies .-)

Svengali wrote:

virgopunk wrote:

One thing I've often wondered is how on earth do people make a living from scooping? I always find the cannisters go flying off in at all angles and velocities making it a rather tiresome task of picking them all up again and the net profit doesn't really make it worth my while. Am I doing something wrong here?

Nothing wrong, but if you are faster then they won't be scattered so much. So stay close before the ship dies .-)

But keep an eye on the radar in case the malicious git drops a Q-bomb as a farewell gift....

Captain Hesperus

It's very rare that typical transgalactic scum will deploy a q-mine, so you're reasonably safe from that dirty trick.

Random Hits contract kills, Assassins contract kills, and Renegade pirates, though... Look out and be prepared to light the candles and get the hell away from a sudden sapphire death.

Cmdr Wyvern wrote:

It's very rare that typical transgalactic scum will deploy a q-mine, so you're reasonably safe from that dirty trick.

Random Hits contract kills, Assassins contract kills, and Renegade pirates, though... Look out and be prepared to light the candles and get the hell away from a sudden sapphire death.

Indeed! I did a very low reward (350 C's) random hit and the sucker decided he'd take as many innocents with as he could. Lucky for me (but not so lucky for others ) I fired up the injectors and made myself scarce!

My last RH mark was loitering around the Station. Just as I got him he dropped a Q-Bomb. Rather impressive fireworks. From a few klicks away! Especially as the station was just in a launching-ships frenzy... I felt rather bad for a while.

virgopunk wrote:

One thing I've often wondered is how on earth do people make a living from scooping? I always find the cannisters go flying off in at all angles and velocities making it a rather tiresome task of picking them all up again and the net profit doesn't really make it worth my while. Am I doing something wrong here?

Each cargo cannister scooped is worth whatever you can sell it for. The entire selling price is yours to keep as profit.

I've scooped many Thargoid drone fighters after a fleet battle between Thargoids and the Galactic Navy. I can sell each one for 65+ credits at an agricultural planet. Scooping 50 or more fighters may be time consuming, but it improves my credit balance significantly.

CptnEcho wrote:

I've scooped many Thargoid drone fighters after a fleet battle between Thargoids and the Galactic Navy. I can sell each one for 65+ credits at an agricultural planet. Scooping 50 or more fighters may be time consuming, but it improves my credit balance significantly.

It's even easier! Find a place where you have most Thargons around you and NO other ships (navy, civilian). Then use the energy bomb.

That does cost you a few hundred credits only (if you're good with galnavy, you can get it for half the cost!), but the thargons give always a reward between 60 and over 100 credits each. It also does reward a kill and saves the space in your cargo hold so that you can scoop other things! I've often had an e-bomb deliver around 50 thargon kills this way. That's up to over 5K money after removing the cost for the e-bomb.

Really, scooping thargons is usually not worth the time, as it reduces the money to be gained (compared to the money for shooting them down).

Screet

Screet wrote:

Really, scooping thargons is usually not worth the time, as it reduces the money to be gained (compared to the money for shooting them down).

I am with you here, but the Thargon Scooping Coalition is surprisingly fierce, and they won't have it any other way.

I sell scooped Bug drones at Hoopy casinos. Apparently the Hoopys host a network of alien items collectors or something; they'll pay 80+ cr a tc for alien items.

I like to find a nice fat Boa, check for police and navy. Then take out the escorts, this is easier at close range. Then getup behind the boa, very close and personal like, matching speed. When he starts spewing fuel use very short bursts of laser till he.. well bursts, slow down immedietly and most of the cargo will be in your scoops before you even have to look for the straglers. The radar zoom function is a great help too.

Alex wrote:

I like to find a nice fat Boa, check for police and navy. Then take out the escorts, this is easier at close range. Then getup behind the boa, very close and personal like, matching speed. When he starts spewing fuel use very short bursts of laser till he.. well bursts, slow down immedietly and most of the cargo will be in your scoops before you even have to look for the straglers. The radar zoom function is a great help too.

A nuclear torpedo can take down a Boa in most instances with one round.

Not that I condone your piracy, or anything... But please, keep it up. Some day I (or my fellow hunters) may catch you in the act.

Screet wrote:

Really, scooping thargons is usually not worth the time, as it reduces the money to be gained (compared to the money for shooting them down).
Screet

Hmm,. should this get adjusted? After all, a Thargon is no threat without the mothership - so there shouldn't be a huge bounty on one.

Also, the original Elite manual alluded to the fact that Thargons may fetch very good prices at military installations (not that there were any in original Elite):

The Galactic Navy are developing their own deep- space RemCraft, and pay a large bounty for any thargon craft that are brought to them.

Galactic Navy Stations will pay 80+ credits for Thargoid fighter craft.

CptnEcho wrote:

Galactic Navy Stations will pay 80+ credits for Thargoid fighter craft.

...which never made sense to me. Surely they of anyone already have an adequate supply of this particular doohickey?