FD - Isn't it about time that black markets sold illegal goods?

[Limoncello Lizard]

Blackmarkets are a sadly neglected part of the game.

They could easily be improved by allowing them to sell goods that are illegal in the jurisdiction.

Here is an example:

Imperial Slaves and Personal Weapons could easily have been on sale in this blackmarket. The code is all there, since blackmarkets are clearly mostly just a copy-paste of commodity markets.

Whenever a commodity that would normally be on sale in a station is made illegal by a faction, it should be available for sale on the blackmarket. In particular, this should apply to rare goods.

This would allow some of the rare goods that have effectively been deleted from the game to exist again. These are Wolf Fesh and Gilya Signature Weapons, which were removed by FD injecting incompatible player factions into their systems, also Terra Mater Blod Bores is likely to suffer the same fate. Also Motrona Experience Jelly and Aganippe Rush are virtually impossible to retrieve as their systems have been claimed by powerplay factions who aren't interested in these rare goods. When a rare good is blocked by a faction, a blackmarket should be opened - one that can't be disabled by faction or powerplay effects.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

Sandro hinted that smuggling might get turnover during Beyond. What it means though we know very little. I want 'web of contacts' way of smuggling, and it is actually doable, as all mechanics are already in game for that. Wait and we shall see.

 

[Vasco Sapien]

Sandro hinted that smuggling might get turnover during Beyond. What it means though we know very little. I want 'web of contacts' way of smuggling, and it is actually doable, as all mechanics are already in game for that. Wait and we shall see.

A mechanic like unlocking engineers, except with crime lords and black market networks.
The underworld becoming a full career path with ranks, (maybe even ship unlocks and special modules).

Associate---------Bosozoku---------Blue Lanterns
Soldier------------Kyoudai ----------Straw Sandal
Caporegime -------Junkosei ---------White Paper Fan
Consigliere --------Wakagashira -----Red Pole
Underboss --------Kanbu -----------Incense Master
Boss -------------Oyabun ----------Deputy Mountain Master
Godfather --------------------------Dragon Head

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

I want 'web of contacts' way of smuggling, and it is actually doable, as all mechanics are already in game for that.

I would also like both the blackmarket network and market network to mean something. It could be tricky to develop though, as at least 200 of the blackmarkets in my CMDR's network are now disabled.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

I would also like both the blackmarket network and market network to mean something. It could be tricky to develop though, as at least 200 of the blackmarkets in my CMDR's network are now disabled.

We already have contacts with rep mechanic - Engineers. We have NPC avatars and contacts in station. Way DDF smuggling was designed was via mission system which made you to do smuggler bidding until they started to trusted you.

Sounds familiar?

 

[fruitbat]

A mechanic like unlocking engineers, except with crime lords and black market networks.
The underworld becoming a full career path.

This I want!

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

A mechanic like unlocking engineers, except with crime lords and black market networks.
The underworld becoming a full career path.

I am 100% sure that's how it's gonna be. Fingers crossed.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

The existing implementation of blackmarkets is ridiculous.

Why do blackmarkets open in anarchy systems? - nothing is illegal, even stolen goods. So anarchy stations should just have everything available and saleable on the normal market.

Why do dictatorships close blackmarkets? - a blackmarket is far more likely to exist in a dictatorship than anywhere else. The more the government tries to clamp down on illicit trade, the more likely that blackmarkets would thrive. Granted it's a moot point, as not much is illegal in dictatorships.

The closing of blackmarkets by certain powerplay powers is pretty ridiculous as well. It certainly gives these factions a huge advantage against the other powers - far too much of one IMO.

 

[Iskariot]

A mechanic like unlocking engineers, except with crime lords and black market networks.
The underworld becoming a full career path with ranks, (maybe even ship unlocks and special modules).

That would be awesome.

 

[VR jefranklin18]

Black markets as they stand are very basic. I much preferred the FE2 and FFE system where you found them on the bulletin board, and there was a risk that they could be police stings.

It made for a much more interesting mechanic: I remember smuggling luxury goods into Van Maanen's only to find my regular contact was missing. I was left with the decision of selling to one of the others or leaving the system. I tried selling, only to discover it was a sting. Fortunately, a bit of bribery got rid of the fine and there was no damage to my criminal record.

 

[GJ51]

Yes!

It's long past time

Make Black Markets Matter

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

A mechanic like unlocking engineers, except with crime lords and black market networks.
The underworld becoming a full career path with ranks, (maybe even ship unlocks and special modules).

Associate---------Bosozoku---------Blue Lanterns
Soldier------------Kyoudai ----------Straw Sandal
Caporegime -------Junkosei ---------White Paper Fan
Consigliere --------Wakagashira -----Red Pole
Underboss --------Kanbu -----------Incense Master
Boss -------------Oyabun ----------Deputy Mountain Master
Godfather --------------------------Dragon Head

This is indeed a great idea. A full criminal career path, plus I'd like to have a whole extra layer of contacts and reputation. So you need to be allied with a criminal faction to unlock a disabled blackmarket, some of them would also require levels of the criminal career path to unlock. Then you get the opportunity to gain reputation with the blackmarket contact. As this reputation improves, so does the opportunities it offers.

 

[Manticore]

This is indeed a great idea. A full criminal career path, plus I'd like to have a whole extra layer of contacts and reputation. So you need to be allied with a criminal faction to unlock a disabled blackmarket, some of them would also require levels of the criminal career path to unlock. Then you get the opportunity to gain reputation with the blackmarket contact. As this reputation improves, so does the opportunities it offers.

I agree! Also a materials trading network with engineers would be nice so we can rid our inventory of unused mats.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

Someone just raised a good point in another thread:

A life in elite is worth as much as I can get from them in the black market, since I can't sell escape pods to the BM I find it more fun to feed them to the aliens
In short its worthless

Escape pods should always be able to be sold on the blackmarket, even if they were legal cargo. They should pay exactly the same as slaves, as this would be what you are selling them as. The fate of the occupant should be clear, just to avoid any confusion.

 

[nanite2000]

I would also like both the blackmarket network and market network to mean something. It could be tricky to develop though, as at least 200 of the blackmarkets in my CMDR's network are now disabled.

This could actually work in the game's favour. If any black markets are closed, this could increase value (and risk!) in the remaining black markets.

Players could compete and manipulate the BGS by forcing some black markets to close and drive business to their preferred market contacts instead (where your reputation with the black market contact allows for a higher percentage of profits).

i.e. Turf wars.

 

[nexxo]

A mechanic like unlocking engineers, except with crime lords and black market networks.
The underworld becoming a full career path with ranks, (maybe even ship unlocks and special modules).

Associate---------Bosozoku---------Blue Lanterns
Soldier------------Kyoudai ----------Straw Sandal
Caporegime -------Junkosei ---------White Paper Fan
Consigliere --------Wakagashira -----Red Pole
Underboss --------Kanbu -----------Incense Master
Boss -------------Oyabun ----------Deputy Mountain Master
Godfather --------------------------Dragon Head

Although I love the ranking, it feels a bit too explicit for an illegal role. I would go with invisible reputation rankings which influence which black markets you get tipped off on, can access and what deals are offered on them.

 

[Aussiedroid]

I'd be all for this! I would assume though that the buy prices would be pretty high given the legality, so wonder how useful it may be in gameplay terms. Would still be great at any rate to see the prices etc in a market listing.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

I'd be all for this! I would assume though that the buy prices would be pretty high given the legality, so wonder how useful it may be in gameplay terms. Would still be great at any rate to see the prices etc in a market listing.

Provided you could hand them in to complete a mission, the cost doesn't matter so much. I think the major benefit would be for blocked rare goods, and for these a small increase in purchase price won't hurt.

 

[Jmanis]

The existing implementation of blackmarkets is ridiculous.

Why do blackmarkets open in anarchy systems? - nothing is illegal, even stolen goods. So anarchy stations should just have everything available and saleable on the normal market.

Why do dictatorships close blackmarkets? - a blackmarket is far more likely to exist in a dictatorship than anywhere else. The more the government tries to clamp down on illicit trade, the more likely that blackmarkets would thrive. Granted it's a moot point, as not much is illegal in dictatorships.

The closing of blackmarkets by certain powerplay powers is pretty ridiculous as well. It certainly gives these factions a huge advantage against the other powers - far too much of one IMO.

This. Can't rep your posts unfortunately. I disagree with the dictatorship comment, but that's because I support a dictatorship But I do agree.

A while back I mentioned in some thread that Black Markets should not exist in Anarchy-controlled stations; stolen and illegal goods should be freely tradeable in Anarchy systems, at the full market rate (as opposed to the reduced stolen rate). This makes a clear reason to go pirate in a lucrative but secure system, and return the goods to a nearby anarchy, rather than just selling in-system.

This also gets around the problem of stolen goods causing inf drops to anarchy factions. There's a possibility that a loophole of abandoning delivery missions and selling to the market may occur (thus, infinite rep and influence gains)... however FD would just need to implement the same "cant sell to the same station you stole from" mechanic they put in place for black market sales.

 

[Tel Prydain]

Black Markets and smuggling would be a great focus to add some fun activities to the game.