Taking advantage of Seeking luxuries? Why?

[Vincent Starson]

~600k per run in Anaconda.
~5 minutes to launch to launch on average, sometimes 4 minutes if docking is smooth and flying good.
60 / 5 = 12 trips per hour
12 x 600k = 7,200,000 pure profit per hour. I think the high end would be 9 million credits per hour if I was able to do 4 minutes per run but that's really pushing it.
Fuel costs are non-existent, no need for fuel scoop. Ship integrity stays high because it's a short trip.

 

[Nauht]

Seeking Luxury is a decent option for a one way trip. However, it is much more profitable to just take your time and find a good trade route where you can make cr both ways.

Eh? You've not done SL's then. On my Clipper; a mid tier trader, I get over 250,000cr every run, that's every 3 mins or so. So you're saying you found a better paying trade route with a 200T cargo capacity ship? I highly doubt that.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I don't really spending 8 hours a day data mining in SAP, but I do it because it pays the bills.

 

[Jetset]

Personally I haven't found the Seeking Luxuries thing that profitable, couldn't get any more than 500 credits per tonne profit, my Lakon 6 can carry 54 tonnes, can make more than that an half the time hanging around an anarchy nav point in the Viper.

A type 6 carries 100T so NFI how you can only carry 54T......just upgrade the cargo racks. As for only making 500cr pt again you must have been doing something VERY wrong. I've found a seeking luxuries in a system off the beaten track (56 ships in last 24hrs) & I made 115k cr per trip which equates to 1M per hour. I can also now dock on a platform in roughly 20 to 25 seconds after leaving SC & hit the pad doing around 100

 

[mongo2006]

Man I'm so happy some of the so-called PVP crowd is finally getting around to making some money.. maybe more of them will be able to afford Python's and Anaconda's. With only 4% owning a ship that cost more that 20m, NERF this and NERF that got out of hand. Funny how it took a glitched system to get people to actually make some cash.


By the way is way is Beta Sculptoris still up I have a new guy I want to send there...

 

[clivewil]

By the way is way is Beta Sculptoris still up I have a new guy I want to send there...

it wasn't last night, the traders had moved out of the conflict zone

 

[kurush]

On the other hand you do get lots of docking practice, and a lot of money.

"Docking practice" As if we need more of this. Docking computer is the only piece of equipment I didn't strip from my Asp currently in Blaauw Hub

 

[Grundfuttock]

The pewpew crowd see this game as being the same as every other MMO, ie: all about shooting people and that's how you make your money, and they guy who has the biggest ship also has the biggest <censored> and is the best killer of other players. Then they see a bunch of people making more money by NOT shooting people and owning BIGGER ships (which they haven't worked out yet are lousy for shooting people) and they get all upset and consider traders to be "cheating"... without considering that elite has always been a trading game first and foremost.

I suppose one could argue that everyone who plays is a trader of some sort. A pirate trades in terror and other peoples cargo, a bounty hunter trades in kills, an explorer in cartographic data and so on.
But the difference seems to be in profitability. Some folks have said that they do enjoy trading for its own sake, some just because of the yield. Does an explorer or a hunter put less effort in while 'working' in their chosen field?

I can only argue from my perspective, so I can only say that it's not a question of feeling as though the other guy is 'cheating'. Just that it seems odd that I can put as much effort in, risk a degree of financial loss and likely get a smaller return.

Now you make a good point in saying that the bigger car syndrome is perhaps less valid for a pewpewer than for a trader. The bigger ships in some situations are less than optimal in a firefight, then again I saw a guy in his python chew his way through conflict zone bogies like pacman through... whatever it is he eats. So it's not universal, python nerfs notwithstanding.
We also don't know the cost vs role of upcoming ships, it may soon be very advisable to have a sum that takes substantially longer to earn via combat.

 

[Drakkir]

i managed to make about a mil yesterday in the Beta Sculptoris 'scandal' which seemed to get many people up in arms.

i figure it was like a guy who managed to find himself a reasonably paying executive position, who then locates an apartment two doors down... yay! and then gets spewed at by all the commuters in gridlock on the freeway - "that's not right! something should be done about that guy!"

it was over very quickly and only a handful of players benefited from it. an opportunity? yes. a game-breaking evil leeching its way through the galaxy, poisoning all it touches? hardly.

Way more than a few players and it lasted at least 4 days.... Dunno what you are referring too

 

[Daffan]

Way more than a few players and it lasted at least 4 days.... Dunno what you are referring too

It actually lasted weeks. Oh and by the way. Beta scul ended, a new one started. There is hundreds of these easy ones . Stupid design really.

 

[clivewil]

Dunno what you are referring too

the scandal part of it. there was a forum thread here, a sudden rush of players, and then nothing. it was over in a matter of hours.

 

[Drakkir]

the scandal part of it. there was a forum thread, a sudden rush of players, and then nothing

You got the part where another one has opened right? And they last weeks? Sorry, maybe we are talking bout 2 different things...

 

[Yank31]

My question is this : is the seeking luxury popularity endemic of the lacklustre financial rewards elsewhere, or a perceived dullness in 'legit' trading?

I'd say both.

Mining could prob use a boost in the money/hour department. The rest I'm not too sure, but I like to see it like that : there's money, dream, and fun.

Trade = money > dream >= fun
Exploration = dream > fun >= money
Combat = fun > dream >= money

Regarding dullness in "legit" trading, I had the same opinion, that is to say that SL was not legit. It sure is. It works just like any trade does, simply much less travel time. Rest is 100% the same. Legit as can be. And dullness... well. Bit of music, bit of alt-tab, bit of sparkling eyes looking at your account balance... but yeah, trading ferrying the same commodities between A and B for hours is, indeed, a bit dull. Thank god (and FD) for letterboxes and docking procedures though, they are the saving parts.

Do the above make it less respectable or a sign that either of the above need/could use enhancing?

Less respectable to use one of the best money maker, when you're already looking after money? Nonsense.

Enhancing the rest, I... don't know. I suppose you mean in the money department, and not their "main" department (which would be fun or dream). Maybe. But then who would trade?

There is a third option : you can do a bit of everything. And use trade for what it is : a money maker. Then go do the rest for they are : dream / fun factory.

I wish we had a simpler way to switch ships though. Or transfer owned ships between stations, would make switching "activities" much easier. Also... exploration it's a another story, won't be able to switch out of that one that easily... and probably shouldn't be able to (aka teleport or w/e), would defeat the purpose me thinks.

 

[Andi]

SLs are a crotch. The current content is very, very unsatisfying in many ways, but the SLs help at least with the money side.
Also, they're not a feature supposed to last forever, so use them now.

Even I switched to all-cargo in my Asp (and hopefully soon a T7), even tho I hate trading.

If this game didn't have bounty hunting, I'd have uninstalled it long ago.
And even WITH the BHing, it's just "better than nothing".
The SLs are not really fun, but when you're a bounty hunter, money is nothing to write home about, so SLs provide a chance to earn a bit as long as it lasts.

This game has 999 problems, SLs are not one of them at this current point in time.
SLs are actually a saving grace for this half-developed piece of alpha software.

Edit: To clarify, I'm currently only sticking with the game because I still believe it's 100% placeholders and it will ALL get overhauled. Currently curious what the new mission system will look like. If the "overhauled version" is as bad as the current one, I'll take it as a sign that whatever they plan to improve will end similarly to that - and act accordingly.
And I'm sure there are many like me, they just don't post on the forums.

 

[Grundfuttock]

Enhancing the rest, I... don't know. I suppose you mean in the money department, and not their "main" department (which would be fun or dream). Maybe. But then who would trade?

Sorry, by enhancing the above I meant combatting the perceived dullness of trading and/or increasing the comparatively small financial rewards outside of the 'trading' career.

And by asking "then who would trade?" you highlight my underlying point. Folks have come forward and said they enjoy trading for its own sake and I wish em luck, but if there is a not uncommon perception that 'no-one would do it if you could get competitive rewards elsewhere', does that not indicate that as a gameplay mechanic it's underperforming quite a bit?

 

[-SOVEREIGN-]

[...]

My question is this, the TLDR fits here: is the seeking luxury popularity endemic of the lacklustre financial rewards elsewhere, or a perceived dullness in 'legit' trading? Do the above make it less respectable or a sign that either of the above need/could use enhancing?

For me? Yes, it's a mixture of no other option but also dullness. But I can grind if needed, and such overwhelming income motivates me to do it while it lasts. I'm greedy and comparing 300k/hr to 10m/hr...I cannot resist - at least when I still have monetary goals. I love big ships and i.e. a Viper is too small for me, although I love combat. I wanted a fully upgraded Python ready for combat, but with the upcoming nerfs I'll think twice about it. I could afford by this weekend, but then I get the nerfs smacked into my face. If I try it out after the patch, I never knew the old Python. But maybe the Fer de Lance will usable as a combat ships, the upcoming Vulture would it be then. And here the circle closes: The big ships cost a lot of money and I use the fastest way possible to get it, instead of bounty hunting 500 hours to finally buy some big ship. In the end I want to have the biggest, most powerful (and most likely most expensive) ship that I can get. I'm just get ready from credit-side when it's finally released

 

[Yank31]

@Grundfuttock

Yeah it is. But what's not underperforming in this game I mean come on. I feel like I'm playing an early beta every day.

So yeah. It could use a lot of improvement on a LOT of things. And yeah, I believe people make themselves like the "carrying commodities gameplay". You need to, otherwise your brains will melt. It's like anything a bit dull and boring in life, you find excuses.

But I see where you coming from. I... will not try and find nice ways to make professions better. This is only a forum, we are mere players, and I really don't think our brilliant ideas will have any impact, at all.

Look at my signature. Very simple stuff. A Poll. 7 questions. 10 seconds of your time. A hot topic. A noble goal (to give an objective reaction to devs). Nobody cares. We're speaking into... emptyness.

So, yeah I agree with you. But I won't even try to think about ways to enhance the whole stuff.

Cheers, though.

 

[Andi]

But the point is this:

Why would you purposefully MAKE people do something they do NOT like, in a GAME?

If some people enjoy trading, fine. But why should that group earn more than people who enjoy, say, hunting?
People who enjoy trading will most likely stick with it even tho other options offer similar rewards.
For them, trading (the activity as such) has equal value as hunting for hunters.

So, make all other activities worth a similar amount of cash to normal trading, normalize upkeep, deepen several aspects of the game (throw out the placeholders and add REAL meat to this skeleton of a game) , then delete the SLs.

 

[Lanatir]

I also take advantage of the luxury trading. Why? Well, i used to be a trader (and then i took an arrow to my cargo), but after i traded 50 million credits the normal way and looked at the price of the Anaconda, i couldnt push myself to do it by normal trading anymore. Especially flying the Type 9 over longer distances is such a pain with its non existant maneuverabilty and its jump range of from here to my bathroom, i just wanna get out of this cow as quickly as possible. When i am in the Anaconda i will stop using the Luxury traders.

 

[Firebeard]

I'd never bothered with these and have had fun since 20th Dec. All careers are not equal - and should not be.

In a true MMO there was inequality in that a tradeskiller could make a lot of money but needed "fighters" to help them gather parts.

In Elite you don't NEED a L9 to be a bounty hunter. In fact you are better off sticking to a smaller boat as your outlay for fuel and repair is less.

I'm working minimal trade - I have a lucrative rare route I use when I have about 100k of bounty to claim in empire space at which time I park the A grade Viper and drag out the trader to maximise the long trip.

Will folk get past the concept that Python/Anaconda is the purpose of everyone's game!