Hi folks. I know that some who play Elite view the trading aspects of the game to not be much fun, put personally, I find it enormously enjoyable. I thought I might tell you all how I go about having a good time trading, and perhaps some of you might find my style of trading will appeal to you as well.
First of all, I make extensive use of two trading tools. Here are links to the tools I use:
Slopey's Trading Tool
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=76081&highlight=SLOPEY'S
Cmdr's Log
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=96350&highlight=CMDRs+Log
I don't consider using trading tool to be 'cheating' Far from it. Just as in the day-to-day world, commodity and stock traders take into consideration the recommendations of analysts, so I figure these tools function as my trade analysts in the game...
Second, I don't make obtaining maximum profits and the buying the most expensive ships my ultimate goals. Making the most money is not the be-all and end-all of the way I play. I'm here to have a good time, nothing more, nothing less. I like exploring and seeing new places in Elite as the visuals and sense of the enormity of the galaxy are two of the features I like the most about the game. When I get tired of trading in one location, I'll call up either the galaxy map or the trading tool, and pick someplace at random around 100ly away, fly over to it and take a look around. If it turns out to be in the trading tool, I look for the most profitable route out of that system and then decide if I'll stay awhile and do some runs A to B for a bit. Or, I find out what kind of stations are in the system, and look on the galaxy map for systems nearby that might be good trading partners. Either method works fine. Also, I'm partial to the Alliance, so if I fly into an Alliance system and they have a few rep missions, I might decide to run a few of them
Alternately, I'll call up the trading tool, key in my current system and fly to whatever the most lucrative system is within 65ly of it. When I get to the new system, I find the most lucrative route out of it, buy some more goods and out into the black it is for me once again. If I come across a pair or triplet of really good trade routes, I'll stay around for a bit, but after a time the itch to drift on hits me an off I go. In this way, I hop all around inhabited space, seeing new areas all the time. Nothing much becomes monotonous because I'm not just going back and forth all the time between the same two systems. Right now I'm flying a Type-7 but I think I'll go back to an Asp soon as it facilitates longer trips more easily and the kind of light exploring I like to do, although I must say there is a certain appeal to flying a ship that feels like it has a considerable amount of girth to it.
First of all, I make extensive use of two trading tools. Here are links to the tools I use:
Slopey's Trading Tool
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=76081&highlight=SLOPEY'S
Cmdr's Log
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=96350&highlight=CMDRs+Log
I don't consider using trading tool to be 'cheating' Far from it. Just as in the day-to-day world, commodity and stock traders take into consideration the recommendations of analysts, so I figure these tools function as my trade analysts in the game...
Second, I don't make obtaining maximum profits and the buying the most expensive ships my ultimate goals. Making the most money is not the be-all and end-all of the way I play. I'm here to have a good time, nothing more, nothing less. I like exploring and seeing new places in Elite as the visuals and sense of the enormity of the galaxy are two of the features I like the most about the game. When I get tired of trading in one location, I'll call up either the galaxy map or the trading tool, and pick someplace at random around 100ly away, fly over to it and take a look around. If it turns out to be in the trading tool, I look for the most profitable route out of that system and then decide if I'll stay awhile and do some runs A to B for a bit. Or, I find out what kind of stations are in the system, and look on the galaxy map for systems nearby that might be good trading partners. Either method works fine. Also, I'm partial to the Alliance, so if I fly into an Alliance system and they have a few rep missions, I might decide to run a few of them
Alternately, I'll call up the trading tool, key in my current system and fly to whatever the most lucrative system is within 65ly of it. When I get to the new system, I find the most lucrative route out of it, buy some more goods and out into the black it is for me once again. If I come across a pair or triplet of really good trade routes, I'll stay around for a bit, but after a time the itch to drift on hits me an off I go. In this way, I hop all around inhabited space, seeing new areas all the time. Nothing much becomes monotonous because I'm not just going back and forth all the time between the same two systems. Right now I'm flying a Type-7 but I think I'll go back to an Asp soon as it facilitates longer trips more easily and the kind of light exploring I like to do, although I must say there is a certain appeal to flying a ship that feels like it has a considerable amount of girth to it.
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