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Interplanetary Trading

Discussion in 'General Economy Discussion' started by David | Arkadia, Jan 18, 2011.

  1. David | Arkadia

    David | Arkadia Administrator Staff Member PAF Administrator Planet Arkadia Official

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    One of the most exciting things about Entropia Universe is the opportunity for Interplanetary trade.

    As additional planets come online it's only going to get more interesting.

    What do you guys think, are we likely to see planet specific shops popping up? Do you think there is an opportunity for people to make a profession as a trader who takes goods from one planet to another to sell the novelty? Do you think some planets will develop a reputation where their items are in greater demand around the universe?

    Cheers
    Dave
     
  2. harmony

    harmony Active Member Pro Users

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    trading is boring, sure some people can make a few peds,but i would really prefer the planets to be more stand-alone
     
  3. Jod

    Jod Well-Known Member

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    I think there are few 'holes' in certain area's that can be filled to encourage interplanetary trade.

    As in the real world you want to encourage exports rather than imports so the natural place to look is where the other planets are lacking.

    Some high level clubs and plasma SIB weapons could be quite attractive on all planets.
    Will be interesting what they do with taming but if they make larger mobs tame-able then higher level whips could be needed.

    Theres currently no decent limited cold armour,though there arent any mobs that really require it yet.
    When making the specific protections for armours I would look at the most common mid level to high level creatures from other planets and balance the armour accordingly.At the moment with a few mobs you have protection types that aren't needed and therefore not used but they are still the best type of armour available for that mob.

    There is a few opportunities in the crafting area such as BP's that use the mostly unused components.
    If the loots to make these unused components are not found in abundance on Arkadia but the bp's that use them require Arkadia specific loots there will be a need for trade.

    As things are now though I think there isn't a whole lot of opportunity for interplanetary trade unless a planet basically has nothing of their own like NI and Rocktropia that almost completely depend on what Calypso can produce but then this is all imports and not necessarily taking the best advantage.
     
  4. GeorgeSkywalker

    GeorgeSkywalker Banned

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    This is an interesting topic and I think there is scope for this to flourish but it all really depends on what MA do. They could hamper this completely or provide the conditions which allow this to flourish. Likewise it also depends on what planet partners decide to do, they could aid this or block it drastically. For example if a PP decide to use some useless item from Calypso that could be a good tradable item which would benefit both planets. For example the item could be an argonaut skull, these are pretty useless on calypso but if they were required for something on another planet e.g. a BP material for crafting somethign useful they could be worth something. If the value of these argo skulls goes up it would benefit hunters on calypso, traders trading between planets and consumers on the new planet or indeed elsewhere in the universe. It all depends on how useful the end product is.

    Some interesting trading patterns could develop if PP's work together on this...

    Reminds me of the old game Elite. The trick there was to buy something really cheap on one planet and sell it at a considerably high price on another and if you could do that on each journey you'd maximise your returns or if it was only profitable in one particular direction that trade route would not be that good. Meaning if PP's work together they could make thoughtfull trade routes that would benefit both imports and exports from each planet.
     
  5. Faye

    Faye Member Pro Users

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    Good idea , but only when that planet has better items then the current planet items where the shop is based. but the concept is kinda interesting

    I already know ppl with that idea
    Not to be biassed but atm the Unl weapons of calypso are the best. Also better supply of L wepaons ofc and eco. If another planet owner makes , for example, a better blp rifle then the apis +dante combo then that gun will be in hot demand ofc. So yeah I think so . *time to make one Dave :)*
     
  6. dee

    dee Member

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    I am looking forward to see real interplanetray trading. Hopefully there will be many attractive items and resources that are only available on a certain planet, but in demand on other planets too.
     
  7. krm398

    krm398 Member

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    Interplanetary trading demands uniqueness

    I think it's possible for specific items to be in great demand, but only if they're hard to find or make. If everything's too easy to gather then, like lysterium on Calypso, it'll be worth the bare minimum, so items and resources that are harder to get or make will be worth the most, that just makes sense. So if Arkadia wants to be thought of as a good exporter, they need to be truly unique in what they do and have, renaming things and making them different colors while still looking and working like things do in EU won't make Arkadia the home of special items or resources, sorry to state the obvious.(PS I spelled Arkadia right several times in a row, I'm getting better..lol)
     
  8. Cyborg Bill

    Cyborg Bill Well-Known Member Pro Users

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    There are already people capitolising on on this trade thing. Specially for items needed for crafting. Narfi does regular runs brining ore from Calypso to RT for crafters and then takes back looted weapons like the shotguns and axes.

    Id have to say yes there is a definate place for interplanetary trade. Transportation is going to be the most deciding factor how pheasible it will be. That all depends on how badly MA perverts the hangar system should they ever decide to bring it back. The hangar owners held us all hostage for simple transportation so I cant imagine what they wil do to exploit trade once (if) they get complete comtrol over interplanatary travel.

    Like everything else EU it will be under MA direction how it will work then trickle down to those who can afford to do things other then count pec's every button press a to the fate of it all.

    At any rate I hope for all our sake that they think it all thru because that coud play a major part in the survival of the platform itsself. Already we see the Us vs Them mentality of the incoming Wow defectors taking root on other planets. It will be interesting to say the least.
     
  9. M Rufen Power

    M Rufen Power Member

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    The only thing I have issue with is this, what george said is true. But if you make a rare material on calypso be common on another & since all items that are not unique share the same history of sales this could be a problem. 1 the planet were it is most common will try hold out on the high mu, but then that market will be over supplied which means ppl will start under cutting each other, then Calypso can start buying up the amounts that are lower in mu effectively making it cheaper to buy from other worlds. I don't see how you can buy cheap on one planet then high on another if planets sure the same resources. I would welcome such a change even if the mu lower because it would make such armour as zombie, vampire, dragon, vindicator, ghoul etc a lot cheaper to make like it was years ago before ppl realised those materials were not in such supply.

    So imo this would be a good thing, another issue would be how interplantery travel/trade will be done & what are the things that could possibly make it stagnate ie MA or hangar owners or high travel fees. But ideally a planet should have its own unique items that could on some level use other items needed from other planets increasing the value of things not valued as much, like argo skulls for example. I think if PP's joined forces on what items need to be used inorder to manufacture something on their planet would benefit everyone, if those things being made used foreign items/materials. I would like to see how this plays out in the future if pp's were not able to communicate about such issues. I think a lot of what I said above will happen a lot...

    So whichever way it plays out they are both good, as it would bring more balance to the universe, what am I saying :laugh:.
     
  10. krm398

    krm398 Member

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    Things on many worlds will make for better trading, since trading itself is a sort of exploit. Traders are the best at exploiting resources and items to make or sell it for a profit. The word exploit doesn't always mean something good in games, but here it just might. Give them a reason and they'll travel the universe to find whatever they need to make hard to find or unique items. I don't mean that rare items on Calypso should fall out of the sky on Arkadia, but just knowing that they are there, in even the same amounts, gives people twice the chance to find them, and that should lower prices on the most expensive things just a tad, something that makes the 'man in the middle' better.(the average guy with a few credits that can't afford the best)

    The prices of vehicles right now is an example, vtols have doubled in price even a mk1 is going for 300+ and sneaking towards 400..ridiculous, since the first ones sold for 250 and we all know the resources didn't go up that fast, if at all.It's all about exploiting the prices and since there is a small group of traders capable of making them easily, they watch each others prices and think the whole universe will go along with it..hehe, I'd like to see such an over abundence of crafts sitting that they have to sell them for a reasonable rate, trading is ok, greed is a little too far.
     
  11. XeroX

    XeroX Active Member Pro Users

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    I think it depends on 3 things. a) transport cost b) profit margin c) bankroll available.
    The first one needs to get lower or the other two would need to be quite high to make it worth our time. As long as we have no further information about transportation between planets it's bad timing to discuss this IMHO ofc. However I read FPC wants to bring the first part of hangar system in their first release this year. Maybe they (MA then) will be sooo kind to share some more information at that time.
     
  12. lokiscamaro

    lokiscamaro Member

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    what id really like to see is some NON calypso things. armor, weapons, different mining equipment. how about some clothes that werent made in 2004? every planet should have lots of looted and crafted items that are planet specific. so far ive seen some low level arms, and a full range of weird axes, i cant wait to see more stuff. an Arkadian in full Arkadian armor with some weird weapon, standing in a herd of trox at Ithica. that is the kind of thing i hope to see in the near future, after all im going to be in full Calypsian armor wielding my VAT killing Arkadian mobs.
     
  13. David | Arkadia

    David | Arkadia Administrator Staff Member PAF Administrator Planet Arkadia Official

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    I think the first thing to say is that without any transport fee then there is no need for interplanetary trading. It will be interesting to see what happens when hangars come back, trade will become a much greater part of the hangars role than it ever was before. Bankroll will always play a part in trade, but may require a bigger bankroll for interplanetary trade. It's all about their being opportunities for everyone at every level.

    It's safe to say there will be plenty of new gear to be had on Arkadia (you'll be seeing more and more kit from the military before launch - but who knows what might be hidden away on the planet, those Arkadians sound like they were quite advanced), and plenty more will come in time. I think it's crucial for planets to develop their own identity and the tools, weapons, vehicles, clothing and armour are all an important part of that.
    It is a big part of our design philosphy that items we produce look and feel like they belong on Arkadia.
     
  14. harmony

    harmony Active Member Pro Users

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    I would still prefer to sweat a daspletor dry then to stand in twin peaks for 10 minutes trying to sell something, but i'll try to be constructive in this post.

    I assume you have no say over what minerals drop on arkadia, except for your own (so no fields with 100% Adomasite i suppose), so pure resources won't spark a lot of trading, as i expect there will be enough crafters on arkadia. Same goes for looted gear, no mobs that drop robot flare filters in abundance. So the best bet for big volume trade is in finished end products. The easiest way to stimulate trade is to have a lot of items that are missing on calypso (i'll post a bunch of ideas later). The problem is that those are probably monitored by mindark as well so you will be hard pressed to make stuff that is better. But you could try to make the a bit different in one aspect (bit faster/more eco/more range/ more etc). Also i would think that limited gear (and blueprints) is your best bet since there will continue to be a demand for it. Unlimited stuff like paintings/armor/guns you can only trade once.

    Some niches you could create items for:

    • Trade terminal items
    Several things you might do here. for example:
    1. A fap that heals a bit faster, but gives less heal then the t1, at the same eco as the t1. So basically it's the same but some people might prefer the speed.
    2. A longblade (if it fits the theme) with a decent reload time
    3. A standard minforce attack chip (again theme) that does 2 damage or so for starters
    4. Guns equal to the ones on calypso but then with either BLP/gaus.plasma or even particale beamer technology
    5. basic arkadian clothes, they were removed from calypso to 'help' the tailors, but let's face it except for some high end fashion, tailoring is a dead profession
    6. Basic Arkadian armor (only for the looks)
    7. mining finders that have a bit better range and worse depth or vice versa with the calypso finders
    8. oreminders/matterdrillers that drill faster (thus less boring) but pull up less ores/enmatters per time (same eco per ore pulled)
    I think those are possibilities that mindark can't object to too much.

    • First Aid Packs
    There are also a couple of things you can do here, you can alter them a bit (make them faster, but heal a bit less (same eco)) so they are essentially the same only some people prefer the speed, or do it vice versa since some people might like the big heal. You can also jump in the gaps that are in the current FAP-business. For example the sk-50 prices will rise again since there are no more steelbird, and a lot of people have the skills to use it and not the skills for the next one. Create a limited fap that is comparable and there is a market for it. Or have some that have SIB at different levels then the calyspo ones.

    • Oreamps/enmatter amps
    Quite simple, make your own version that decay more/less then the ones we have now, so for example we have OA-101 through oa-104 that decay 0,5/1/2/3 we could have A(rkadian)A(mps)-101/104 that decay 0,25/0,75/1,5/2,5 or that decay 1/2/3/4, as long as it is different.


    • Weapons
    Basically very simple too, you either look at the auction and see missing items:
    1. crush melee weapons
    2. ranged BLP cannons
    3. Range BLP carbines
    4. mounted weapons(?)
    5. Plasma pistols (with some kind of speed)
    6. Gauss everything
    7. NON-BLP rifles
    or you look at specif levels of items where there is no SIB variant for at certain levels:

    1. whips
    2. powerfists
    3. Gauss weapons
    4. Plasma weapons
    or you have items that do more damage then the popupular apis&dante combo (although i suppose MA might object to that).

    • Armors
    Well the key to trade is speciality armors that protect very well against certain types of damage (off course this also means that there have to be a lot of monstors that do those kinds of damage as well off course).



    Well i guess you get the idea, find and fill the niches. No need for an alternative to the breer p5a. If you do that not only the trade will be flourishing but it will also attract a lot of existing players to your planet.


    edit: oh and before i forget, make some of the blueprints use gold, it just doesn't feel right throwing that stuff into the tt :)
     
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  15. remontoire

    remontoire Member

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    Something that is going to be demand on any new planet for a while will probably be Geotrek Apis(L).

    I think Harmony has presented a good list of things that could set Arkadia apart and be desirable and tradable elsewhere. Not that all of these are good, IMHO it makes no sense to have new lines of attachments, amplifiers or otherwise, for example. Its a reasonably well-covered field.

    I don't think more of differently-tuned same will be very interesting or worth trading. Guitar axes from RT are quite interesting because there aren't longblades of similar level and max TT.
     
  16. krm398

    krm398 Member

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    The only things worth trading will be things that are unique to Arkadia, and that's going to be tough. MA has used virtually every known type of object for their world, so you'd need to invent...literally....things we've never had yet, like maybe a personal shield I mentioned before. New technology that replaces something we use now (armor). This is one example of something we can't get now, no matter how 'uber' you are or claim to be .

    Also,another example might be a jet pack design, basically something you wear that allows you to fly or jump, short distances, like off major cliffs without being hurt. This could be a new design for a vehicle since it could be used for short distance, but high speed travel.Helping to avoid those animals that sometimes surround you at rebirth stations, giving you the ability to fly over them for say...2km then have to land for a set time for the pack to refuel..or cool, whatever.

    Something else might be a new 'ground radar' that miners could use, when the charge is set off, you'll see a radar image with a map of the ground under you. On it, there could be small 'puddles' of color, so you literally have to chose which to mine, and it would generate a mining claim and tower, or whatever, for you to with draw from.It would make it seem there is more there than you can get in one action, and make mining use more time and skill, reading the new radar would take time to learn, but you'd actually see colored patterns of what is underground, with a list saying what is there and you'd have to chose from that.

    There's just a few ideas for totally new equipment and objects that Arkadia could have that Calypso doesn't and it didn't even take an hour to think of that many, so your professionals should have a good list pretty easily, or just ask me, I'm disabled with not much to do..lol.
     
  17. Wistrel

    Wistrel Member

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    Frontiers

    is what it is all about really. There has always been a lack of them on Calypso and I'm not talking about financial ones (theres a F**k ton of those). Geographical frontiers have always been missing. When I first got interested in Project Entropia the thing that gripped me most was the stories of Coat Killers setting up "camp" in PVP and declaring it "theirs". They had the best gear and the best skills and no one could touch them. "Want to pass through? Sure but you need to pay the highway man first buddy". That kind of stuff.

    So I think the point of camping PVP probably went long ago but I still like the idea of places that are hard to get to. We have the oil at the rig which is cool (especially with all the places to hide now and day and night cycles and no radar! --thank lootius for THAT one---) but I always liked the idea of resources being associated with a particular location that is "hard" (in some way or another) to get to.

    To a degree with have this with mob loot associations. Eg midastree comes off atrox (why? oh and sorry if there are other mobs that loot it too, you get the idea though). What I'd like to see though is areas that are hard to get to but are the ONLY place you can get "unobtainium" (sorry Mr Cameron)

    ooghhh (aside, this just in!) http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jan/25/james-cameron-avatar-2-3

    This is actually getting easier to accomplish now we have fall damage (do we have environmental damage?) vehicles would need to be "disallowed" (possibly) by way of "electromagnetic interferance" meaning they may simply fail to go forward in certain areas. I was watching Avatar the other day, the cartoon, and they went over this mega long sharp ridge. Create something like this on Arcadia in a no fly zone. Maybe infest the water with "sharks" or simply make it very narrow that if you fall you die on the rocks. Or make it a high mountain (again no fly zone) that you need to take a car to (no TP zone). The main point being it takes a long time to get there. Too long for player A B and C to be bothered to go there? Fine but player D, E and F will go there cause they want the challenge.

    When you get to this place (which may also have some really tough mobs on the "short" route but less on the "long" route), wayhay! Its the only place you can mine "unobtainium" or can find a rare fruit/plant on the ground (for newbies), or kill the dreaded Trall Beast and loot its spinal fluid (wow a realistic loot =P).

    If you die well, I'm afraid the nearest revival is miles away, but ths is supposed to be hard folks so tough cookies!

    A player who surives a run to the "badlands" revives back with a loot/mineral/collectible that is unavailable anywhere else in the universe (or at least the planet).

    One can of course sell it on Arkadia but thats nothing to its value when transported to Calypso. MA usefull made it so the only way to transport goods between worlds is via freighters (of which there are many types with different capacities) People cannot take atomic compression units onto spaceships cause they don't work in sub space so carriage has to be done the old fashioned way.

    Of course space ships need to be well kitted out and have experienced pilots cause Neverdie's space pirates are on the loose. These are NPC's or other players in near orbit around the planets. Some freighters pay for protection by CDF or the arkadian equivalent but this comes at a price and is not guaranteed. Protected ships are often targetted by pirates for the challenge or cause they are believed to be more valuable. There are of course "safe routes" that can taken for interplanetary travel. But these always cost a lot more in fuel. Is it worth risking it by flying your cargo through the lootable pvp region of space?

    Ok ok so I've gone off on a tangent but yes its such a big thing I see it as vital to the continued development of the platform. Entropia needs to compete with EVE online as they are getting forever closer to having no only Elite style space ship trading but also planets and what not that you can walk about on.

    As soon as EVE make it so that all that space trading is used by real manufacturers and end users on the planets Entropia becomes sorta a poor relation. I see the two games as something rocketing towards each other... the question is who will get there first. I'd REALLY like to see Entropia be the one....

    ok sorry for all the bad writing there and going off topic sort of but I really hope we will see some of these ideas about blue prints that need resources from more than one planet coming about. How about blue prints than can only be manufactured on a specific planet (due to atmosphere, gravity etc? - alternatively an environment machine can be used at a higher cost). Be interesting to see a particle cannon that can only be made on Calypso but requires 90% of its resources come from Arkadia...

    Anyhow I'll shut up now ;)

    Wistrel
     
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  18. Iulrorck Bark

    Iulrorck Bark Member

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    i think planet trade is great , it a part of the essence of this universe. and it will give to pilot some good oportunity , better than shout and wait ... specially is there is no tp :) will make vehicule usefull for transport beetween different zone and ship could go in all zone ( if space port). like uncommon blood moss on next island, rare on calypso.
     
  19. Jenny ferr

    Jenny ferr Well-Known Member Pro Users

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    Please more brawler weapons, the highest one we do have now are the cleaver (lvl33 sib) and for those of you who say we do have Mk.I-VI series sure we do but when did you ever see a good supply of any of these? (BPs too rare) and the highest one still only have lvl42 or 44 sib... (compared to 60+ on short/long blades)

    No matter the civilization I think there will be boxers who perhaps made some enhancements to their fists thrue the ages...
     
  20. calemus

    calemus Member

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    the only opportunity i see at my lvl ( lvl 23 combat, highest lvl 48 laser dmg) is to ither deposit 80 dollars a week to play, or cash out cut my losses & find another game. i have truly become of the stance to discourage as many people from playing this game as possible.
    i'm not crying, complaining, or asking for a change. Those are disgraceful and spitefully ignored at best.

    what i am saying is that i DO wish there were more opportunities for a low lvl player of 1 or two years like my self.