Making Money midgame.
- Thread starter Sunleader
- Start date
Midgame? The game's been live for NINE days (or maybe a month for those who started in Gamma). Check back in a few years.
Yesterday I bought my first Lakon 6 (and kept my Cobra, which I'd invested quite a bit in already). Trading seems to have recovered from the NPC hammering it got a while back. Increasingly I'm seeing more "High Demand" commodities, and can get 1000+ Crs per ton on some runs and 500+ on virtually all runs. More commanders are showing up in my neighbourhood (around 40Ly from Lave). I've got a nice cluster of local trade routes (around 20 systems charted), and the L6 will be getting some bigger cargo pods, to support a five-system round trip route I've just been plotting (Agri to Extraction to Refinery to Industrial to High Tech, and repeat). My plan being do trading 'laps' in the L6, pick up missions along the way, and jump back in the Cobra at my home station when I want to go bounty hunting or exploring.
My 'mid term' aims will be to:
1) fit out the L6 with bigger cargo pods,
2) fit out the Cobra with A Grade gear,
3) save up for the next ship - Asp?, L7? beyond,
4) Keep earning Federation Ranks,
5) Build Reputation and earn more Allied status in my neighbourhood,
6) start to nudge Influence in my neighbourhood,
7) equip an Asp or Cobra for long-distance exploring and go looking for nebulae and black holes
Yesterday I bought my first Lakon 6 (and kept my Cobra, which I'd invested quite a bit in already). Trading seems to have recovered from the NPC hammering it got a while back. Increasingly I'm seeing more "High Demand" commodities, and can get 1000+ Crs per ton on some runs and 500+ on virtually all runs. More commanders are showing up in my neighbourhood (around 40Ly from Lave). I've got a nice cluster of local trade routes (around 20 systems charted), and the L6 will be getting some bigger cargo pods, to support a five-system round trip route I've just been plotting (Agri to Extraction to Refinery to Industrial to High Tech, and repeat). My plan being do trading 'laps' in the L6, pick up missions along the way, and jump back in the Cobra at my home station when I want to go bounty hunting or exploring.
My 'mid term' aims will be to:
1) fit out the L6 with bigger cargo pods,
2) fit out the Cobra with A Grade gear,
3) save up for the next ship - Asp?, L7? beyond,
4) Keep earning Federation Ranks,
5) Build Reputation and earn more Allied status in my neighbourhood,
6) start to nudge Influence in my neighbourhood,
7) equip an Asp or Cobra for long-distance exploring and go looking for nebulae and black holes
You won't escape repetitive commercial routes to buy the big ships. The "magic" is always the same: progenitor cells, gold, and that tech thing whose name escapes me.
Note that two-way routes exist but they will often be multiple jumps, which isn't really a problem now with the planner.
Note that two-way routes exist but they will often be multiple jumps, which isn't really a problem now with the planner.
My midgame consists of doing whatever the hell I feel like doing, supplemented by raking in the cash on rare grand tours, heading out to all the rare stations that are known, especially the ones where there are known unknowns so I can meta-explore (Here's some valuable data I found exploring a game where you can get valuable data by exploring) and help out future players by so doing.
I'm cheerfully flying around in an Asp, cargo bay slightly smaller than a Type 6, weapons and shields substantially better than a Cobra, presently saving up for an exploration kit of an a-rated Fsd and a couple of top end scanners so I can go out wandering as well. Sure, I chase after the almighty credit: that Python I've got my eye on as a goal won't buy itself, but it isn't my be all and end all. For me, a ship where I can grind a million or so in rares and then kick back and go pirate hunting on a whim is ideal for the time being.
I'm cheerfully flying around in an Asp, cargo bay slightly smaller than a Type 6, weapons and shields substantially better than a Cobra, presently saving up for an exploration kit of an a-rated Fsd and a couple of top end scanners so I can go out wandering as well. Sure, I chase after the almighty credit: that Python I've got my eye on as a goal won't buy itself, but it isn't my be all and end all. For me, a ship where I can grind a million or so in rares and then kick back and go pirate hunting on a whim is ideal for the time being.
My midgame does not exist! I am still with a Cobra and i do 100k profit in 1 hour of bounty hunting or 20k per trading trip 
Ding! Empire Master rank reached...?
Frankly, we are here for the long haul. This game will take years to flesh out. Smaller ships is apparently where the content is for now (maintainance costs scale too fast and rewards not enough), So for me the "game" is playing with adder/cobras/t6 once you are past the "tutorial" phase of getting enough credits to get there.
Grinding to get a bigger ship now will be a double-edged bane: the bore of the grind + the empty contents.
Just enjoy what is present in the game now to avoid burnouts. play with the game, dont game it. Let time for the game to evolve. That's the beauty of online (even if solo) games: FD can tweak the game at will, but most importantly have stats of all what we are doing to monitor things to detect gameplay issues and try to correct them.
Grinding to get a bigger ship now will be a double-edged bane: the bore of the grind + the empty contents.
Just enjoy what is present in the game now to avoid burnouts. play with the game, dont game it. Let time for the game to evolve. That's the beauty of online (even if solo) games: FD can tweak the game at will, but most importantly have stats of all what we are doing to monitor things to detect gameplay issues and try to correct them.
Midgame means neither at Start nor at the End of the Game lol
I am not just starting nor am I finished.
Thus I am midgame
End of Story.
Also for the other guy.
Once more mate
I wont quit when I get the Anaconda.
When I get the Anaconda I.ll be starting the Game for real and Start taking over Federation Systems
I am not just starting nor am I finished.
Thus I am midgame
End of Story.
Also for the other guy.
Once more mate
I wont quit when I get the Anaconda.
When I get the Anaconda I.ll be starting the Game for real and Start taking over Federation Systems
Not worth bickering over the semantics of "midgame"
The OP used a term that sums up the often natural player progression from very cheap ships to very expensive ships, and I understood what it meant from reading it so it served its purpose for me!
Thank you for the trading insights in this thread, they're very useful!
The OP used a term that sums up the often natural player progression from very cheap ships to very expensive ships, and I understood what it meant from reading it so it served its purpose for me!
Thank you for the trading insights in this thread, they're very useful!
i feel sorry for people who set their game goal to own best ship. Taking fun out of the game.
the game right now does not have much in the way of making millions easily. For a game where a ship loss can cost millions, that sucks.
I am using Cobra with 40 cargo slots.
I spend 10 - 15 mins cruising between several stations, then I jump just over 220Ly. I arrive at the destination, sell, drive around a few more local stations, jump back and sell again. After one round trip I have earned over 1 million credits.
How much easier do you think it needs to be?
Yup, I know--that's why this is still in development. With a bit of tweaking, I'll be at 1M/hr. I have zero doubt there are others out there with better (perhaps way better) profits, but I built out this data analysis myself, dangnabit!
They won't keep them anyway, the view is horrid. I kept mine for less than one hour in beta 1. Watching an immobile foredeck for hours isn't what I want.
It's a matter of rationalising time when you don't have infinite playtime. Like, you know, work etc. I'm setting up my financial cash machine, then buy the ships, and then go screwing around with them when I can pay insurance. People would maybe be less crazy about money if insurance was less expensive. As it is now, I'm trading in my T7 (500K per return trip, 4 jumps, 10 mn all included)to buy a T9 to buy everything else and put millions on the side for insurance. If I'm not elite trader by then I'll continue on until I am and then will switch to something else. It's better to make your casj at the bginning, once it's done, it's done and you have all the ships to call on for task X or task Y.
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I been exploring and trading for almost a week. Not found a single rare commodity on sale or in demand (I refuse to look at on-line listings). I currently have a fairly decent Cobra and can make maybe 100K / hr if I try. Will be a while before I get to try an Asp but I'm enjoying the ride
I hava a job and a family. This has nothing to do with free time I think. Time only divide people for those who don't mind grind and to those that do, but this does not change both groups attitude to the game, which is get BIG and MORE.
They are not enjoying missions, combat, exploring whatever, they simply FARM credits. (this not changes fact that we still need more content and features).
Sounds suspiciously similar to my plans.
Just about to embark on Stage 0, which is using my C grade Cobra to go exploring and find some nice trade routes to run on the way up to my Type 6.You can forget the Federation ranks though. I'll be freeing some minds in chains personally.