No happy about the rare trading thing - as with many others I was using it as a way of making good profits (it always feels like a real success when you get over a million credits on a single run - the kind of feeling most games are designed to give you), along with a way of getting familiar trading and gaining rep in new neighbourhoods while waiting for stock to update. The guessing game of knowing the best moment to head off for a new locality when your hold is too full to allow for normal trading. Now with only 14 rare goods in my hold I would have to travel a considerable distance to make it worthwhile. No point in filling the hold with other stuff as there is no way of knowing where it can be sold for a profit over 100ly away. In that distance, anything could happen - a fuel scoop could go wrong or an attack by pirates when a bit distracted. So it seems that if 'rare goods' trading is to be like this the only choice would be to consider other ways of generating income. One thing for sure, this game is many different things to different people and that is the beauty of it. Capping the nimber of rare goods available makes it one less good thing. If many are making a big deal (and lots of credits) out of trading rares is it hurting people who want do explore, do some piracy or just 'normal' trading?
Like many other here I have found that normal trading is pretty poor - best runs so far have been worth about 800 a ton. No high demand items. I'm wondering if anyone has found that it is better further away from systems holding rare goods? Perhaps the number of people hanging about is depressing the local markets?
Those of us (myself included) who have their eyes on a bigger ship (Python, Python, Python) may find ourselves dissapointed when we get there - high running/upgrading/insurance cost couple with the fact that all the ships look fairly similar from the inside. This suggests to me that adjusting strategies and long term goals to account for changing circumstances (=nerfs) is no bad thing. However, I would rather have the choice rather than have it forced on me.