Rares... Is it time these got some love?

Susanna

Susanna
This may all be a mute subject... After all FDev nerfed the hell out of Rares a good long while ago and they are not known for un-nerfing something that has received the Royal Bat Treatment.

However, isn't it about time these got some love and brought back into the game as something worthwhile trading in?

The trading system within ED has had some love in 3.0 and improved considerably. Now might be a good time to make rares a valuable part of the game again. Lordy knows, most other cash earners have been nerfed of late.
 

WR3ND

WR3ND
Trading rares in my Cobra Mk. III with the Red Ignition paint job back in 3301 was a bit of fun.

Wouln't mind doing some more of that now and then.

Not really much need for it in PVE though, and I'm not sure it's viable in the PVP meta since Engineers.

Shame.
 

WR3ND

WR3ND
Susanna said:
What do you mean, not really much need for it in PvE??? Totally lost me there...
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Oh, sorry. It was fun being a bit of a rum runner. Profits were a nice bonus to the fun of playing as a rum runner. Only the best of pirates had a chance of stopping me.

They account for 2 of my total of 5 ship losses in the game so far.
 
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Adhock

A
Susanna said:
What do you mean, not really much need for it in PvE??? Totally lost me there...
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The point of rares trading was that back in the earliest days of elite, it was the cash cow at the time. You could buy a certain amount of rares. Wait for the supply to restock, fly to the other end of the bubble until the diminishing returns kicked in and make dozens of millions unloading them.

Then they nerfed the "distance from port" mechanic that made rare trading so rich.

And that was the end of that.

This was also pre-engineers where credits was the only gateway to both PvE and PvP enjoyment.

Now PvE keeps coming up with a new hyper cash cow even bigger then rare trading making it paying for next to nothing. So there's not much need for it since you can make credits hand over fist in other ways and make just as much if not more money. In fact due to the low supply rating, even if they rolled back the nerf, you'd still make more money doing normal activities that didn't pay as much back then.

Since credits is no longer the gatekeeper to PvP anymore thanks to Engineers, rares trading isn't going to help you there ether.
 

Lightspeed

Lightspeed
Good point Susanna .... yes, these can be fun. We had a CG not so long ago that required running rares. Was fun against a blockade of players providing "emergent content."

It would help if FD provided markers (colored bookmarkers again, FD !) that identifies where each of them is. Maybe the new remote commodities trading system might help a bit? Not sure about that one.

But yes, just a touch of love for rares would go a long way to improving trading and even running with illicit cargo occasionally :)
 

Sweet&Dandy

Sweet&Dandy
Managed to buy 42 tonnes of Altarian skin yesterday which bagged a profit of over 600k. I think that allowance in general, although it should fluctuate, needs looking at. I'd prefer some higher numbers like this more often - that way you could plan your routes accordingly. Waiting for them to drop after x mins is also an anti-fun mechanic that needs looking at IMO.

I think that trading rares is one of the most enjoyable activities in Elite and my first few commanders were all onion head smugglers! I am now of course an upstanding member of Galactic society :)

"I used to do drugs - I still do do but I used to!" - Mitch Hedberg
 

Susanna

Susanna
Adhock said:
The point of rares trading was that back in the earliest days of elite, it was the cash cow at the time. You could buy a certain amount of rares. Wait for the supply to restock, fly to the other end of the bubble until the diminishing returns kicked in and make dozens of millions unloading them.

Then they nerfed the "distance from port" mechanic that made rare trading so rich.

And that was the end of that.

This was also pre-engineers where credits was the only gateway to both PvE and PvP enjoyment.

Now PvE keeps coming up with a new hyper cash cow even bigger then rare trading making it paying for next to nothing. So there's not much need for it since you can make credits hand over fist in other ways and make just as much if not more money. In fact due to the low supply rating, even if they rolled back the nerf, you'd still make more money doing normal activities that didn't pay as much back then.

Since credits is no longer the gatekeeper to PvP anymore thanks to Engineers, rares trading isn't going to help you there ether.
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The purpose of the post was to highlight just how useless these rare items currently are. They would need a significant value buff to even be worth considering... I was seeing it as another possible element that would enhance the new trading features in 3.0. As rares stand, you are right, why would anyone bother with them?
 
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Susanna

Susanna
Sweet&Dandy said:
Managed to buy 42 tonnes of Altarian skin yesterday which bagged a profit of over 600k. I think that allowance in general, although it should fluctuate, needs looking at. I'd prefer some higher numbers like this more often - that way you could plan your routes accordingly. Waiting for them to drop after x mins is also an anti-fun mechanic that needs looking at IMO.

I think that trading rares is one of the most enjoyable activities in Elite and my first few commanders were all onion head smugglers! I am now of course an upstanding member of Galactic society :)

"I used to do drugs - I still do do but I used to!" - Mitch Hedberg
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600k for 42t... I guess that's good money if you are in a starter ship. But that is an exceptional payout for rares; they are rarely that good [haha]

Given the distance you need to take these (circa 150-200ly, about 6 jumps) to max their value, 600k really isn't going to cut it. If it was 3x that, possibly. 4x and you may get a few takers. Personally, I don't get out of bed for less than 10mil (I liked the Palin missions, pity they have ended). :O
 

WR3ND

WR3ND
Profits for the sake of profits doesn't really motivate me much. I prefer it be a part of some other sort of compelling gameplay. The long and the short of it is that I don't particularly need credits in the game and don't want to bother with the larger ships.

I may be more of a lower demographic sort of player in the game though. Not sure.
 

Susanna

Susanna
WR3ND said:
Profits for the sake of profits doesn't really motivate me much. I prefer it be a part of some other sort of compelling gameplay. The long and the short of it is that I don't particularly need credits in the game and don't want to bother with the larger ships.

I may be more of a lower demographic sort of player in the game though. Not sure.
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No. I totally get where you are coming from. If you don't want the credits for the larger ships, what other use is there for them? I've amassed more credits than I can spend already (I'm actually giving them away). Hence my getting out of bed comment.

So it's not for me, but others do like trading and this is one of those wheels that has fallen off...
 

ForeverN00b

ForeverN00b
I think rares trading could use a buff to make it relevant again. I used to have a loop of trade stops I would run, and that was more varied than the A-B-A bulk trading variety. Hardly anybody thinks of it as a revenue source anymore.

What they should do is make rares more valuable based on distance from origin in LYs plus distance that the destination station is from the main system star. [haha]
 

MadDogMurdock

MadDogMurdock
No. It's a reasonable starter activity for smaller ships that will get people around the bubble.
It serves it's purpose, and doesn't need to rival whatever credit grind is winning this month.

What could be looked at is the impact of negative states on the quantities - that's just annoying.
 

kofeyh

kofeyh
Susanna said:
The purpose of the post was to highlight just how useless these rare items currently are. They would need a significant value buff to even be worth considering... I was seeing it as another possible element that would enhance the new trading features in 3.0. As rares stand, you are right, why would anyone bother with them?
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This is all part of Frontier's methodology of obsoleting content; and the consequences when people demand things to be hit with the bat. They get hit once, and that's it. Dead. Which is why the "be careful what you ask for" cautionary reminder, is still very true, and still very ignored.

The greater problem, is the inherent lack of a consistent approach to rares, missions and a really anything at all by Frontier; the 'flavour of the month' addition of content is matched to an excessive result to, essentially, compel players to engage with it. Frontier introduces a thing, it has a hysterically distorted payout; which is then obsoleted when it's suddenly not intended (despite being intentionally added, with an intentional payout range).

All of this; missions, rares, really anything at all, is the consequence of Frontier, even 3 years on, still being fundamentally disconnected from the player experience.

edit: that about covers it; none of this should be a surprise at this point. I try to be constructive with dialog w/r to frontier, but it's becoming clear there is a real pattern of disconnect and the same thing happens over and over again.
 
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kofeyh

kofeyh
Limoncello Lizard said:
FD don't care about rare goods at all. Otherwise they wouldn't have given away 4 rare goods systems to player factions that block the rare goods.
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Working as intended.

Apparently, this is "working as intended".
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Yes. Until it isn't. Suddenly a thing that was, isn't. This from the same people responsible for the was, that then isn't. So something is, isn't, and when it isn't, suddenly it is.

Schrodinger's Rares. At the moment of any observation, they are seemingly both working, and not working as intended, simultaneously. It's sort of funny, really. It's just endless examples of the same "whoops, how'd that happen? totally not intended! LOL!!!1" from Frontier. You have to laugh (the alternative is a bit dark).
 
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Limoncello Lizard

Limoncello Lizard
Rares are certainly near the top of neglected gameplay that needs improvement.

Purchasing from blackmarkets
Missions to deliver and purchase rare goods
Reputation making a difference
Negotiation for larger allocations
Rewrite of allocation mechanics
Rewrite of distance mechanics
 
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