Hey, can we get these numbers adjusted, please?

[Sneake Llama]

Let's talk trading.

Bought Semiconductors for 645pr unit. 788 tons = 508,260 credit cost

Sold Semiconductors for 1,445pr unit. 788 tons = 1,137,872 credits sold

Profit = 629,612 credits. Profit margin = more than 55.33%

Total merits = 164 merits.

164 merits divided by 4 is 41 Control Points.

120,000 control points for Acquisition = 2,926 trade transactions needed.
333,000 control points for Fortified from Exploited = 8,121 trade transactions needed.
667,000 control points for Stronghold from Fortified = 16,268 trade transactions needed.
1,000,000 control points for Minimum Stronghold to Maximum Stronghold = 24,390 trade transaction needed.

So, lets say you have a small group you play with. Lets give it a generous 12 active players. Assume you each share the workload, you would need to do about 2,032 trade runs EACH to get the system from Exploited to Stronghold status. And that's assuming no one is there undermining you along the way.

Fdev. Sweet, sweet, Fdev. How can you look at these numbers and go "Yup, working as intended. Good job everyone, we saved the game"!

 

[DemiserofD]

Let's talk trading.

Bought Semiconductors for 645pr unit. 788 tons = 508,260 credit cost

Sold Semiconductors for 1,445pr unit. 788 tons = 1,137,872 credits sold

Profit = 629,612 credits. Profit margin = more than 55.33%

Total merits = 164 merits.

164 merits divided by 4 is 41 Control Points.

120,000 control points for Acquisition = 2,926 trade transactions needed.
333,000 control points for Fortified from Exploited = 8,121 trade transactions needed.
667,000 control points for Stronghold from Fortified = 16,268 trade transactions needed.
1,000,000 control points for Minimum Stronghold to Maximum Stronghold = 24,390 trade transaction needed.

So, lets say you have a small group you play with. Lets give it a generous 12 active players. Assume you each share the workload, you would need to do about 2,032 trade runs EACH to get the system from Exploited to Stronghold status. And that's assuming no one is there undermining you along the way.

Fdev. Sweet, sweet, Fdev. How can you look at these numbers and go "Yup, working as intended. Good job everyone, we saved the game"!

Based on what we see, it seems to be the case that they want people to do a bunch of different activities rather than grind one in particular. In this case, you get nearly as many merits for hauling a handful of commodities as you do for many. Using your example, you would likely get something like 41 merits for hauling 10 tons. Notably, donation missions reward significantly better than raw trade does, so you could, for example, get donation missions for a few hundred tons of various commodities, fill up the extra space with trade cargo, and get far more merits overall.

Not that I necessarily agree with this approach, or at least the implementation, but I sorta understand the logic behind it. They don't want people feeling compelled to grind just one activity to win.

 

[serakfalcon]

Based on what we see, it seems to be the case that they want people to do a bunch of different activities rather than grind one in particular. In this case, you get nearly as many merits for hauling a handful of commodities as you do for many. Using your example, you would likely get something like 41 merits for hauling 10 tons. Notably, donation missions reward significantly better than raw trade does, so you could, for example, get donation missions for a few hundred tons of various commodities, fill up the extra space with trade cargo, and get far more merits overall.

Not that I necessarily agree with this approach, or at least the implementation, but I sorta understand the logic behind it. They don't want people feeling compelled to grind just one activity to win.

Oh, but you so have to grind one activity to win. Selling 1 ton at a time gives 30x as many merits, when adjusted for the time spent button mashing it pays 10x better.
Or, do wing bounty hunting which gives over 100 merits per kill per person, allowing organized groups to make 400 merits per kill and kill within seconds, leading to 30-40k merits per hour per wing. Oh, but if your power's not a combat power sorry all the other levers are nerfed so enjoy the 50% penalty fighting a combat power. But never mind "powerplay is in a good place"