So I've got about 850+ hrs on Elite, been playing of the last couple of years, and honestly I can say that FDev shutting down money makers is one of the most realistic things about this game.
When a particular market is too good for too long there's a bubble, a few people get rich, and then it pops resulting in economic fallout. Combat missions used to share mission targets (clearly an accounting error committed by security forces whose main job isn't book keeping), Sothis / Ceos missions used to pay ridiculously high amounts, high paying skimmer missions could be completed in your ship, and Uber-like passenger missions had great surge pricing for a while but now that's gone too, which makes sense cuz everyone was doing it. Once there are enough drivers to meet the demand of passengers the ticket prices drop. What we didn't like was the abrupt end with no in game explanation.
I, however, love this mechanic. I love how it might be a couple months before someone figures something else out, you get a whiff of where the next bubble is and you just wanna get in on the ground floor. I love discovering a new mechanic that has you refitting your ship for a different purpose. I enjoyed gearing my Asp for smuggling missions while learning to engage silent running, heat sinks, and blasting through the mail slot before being scanned only to deploy my landing gear AND cargo hatch for an emergency stop. Lost a couple shipments (and ships) before i got good at it but it was super fun. But then that was gone and it's on to the next thing.
What I'm saying is make this an actual game mechanic. Don't tell anybody where it is but include these "market bubbles" as part of the game. When enough players jump in or after enough time has passed the market can make a correction. Really, it's like a community goal that we have to find instead of just picking it up at any old station and being given a waypoint. It's a reason to pay attention to the community, it's the reason I dig through reddit posts and youtube videos, and I love it. Hell, include some small audio clip in Galnet that might hint at an economic anomaly that might be a sign of the next thing.
Will everyone share my point of view? No. Do I expect this to be implemented? Nope. I just like this unofficial mechanic that seems to pop up over and over.
When a particular market is too good for too long there's a bubble, a few people get rich, and then it pops resulting in economic fallout. Combat missions used to share mission targets (clearly an accounting error committed by security forces whose main job isn't book keeping), Sothis / Ceos missions used to pay ridiculously high amounts, high paying skimmer missions could be completed in your ship, and Uber-like passenger missions had great surge pricing for a while but now that's gone too, which makes sense cuz everyone was doing it. Once there are enough drivers to meet the demand of passengers the ticket prices drop. What we didn't like was the abrupt end with no in game explanation.
I, however, love this mechanic. I love how it might be a couple months before someone figures something else out, you get a whiff of where the next bubble is and you just wanna get in on the ground floor. I love discovering a new mechanic that has you refitting your ship for a different purpose. I enjoyed gearing my Asp for smuggling missions while learning to engage silent running, heat sinks, and blasting through the mail slot before being scanned only to deploy my landing gear AND cargo hatch for an emergency stop. Lost a couple shipments (and ships) before i got good at it but it was super fun. But then that was gone and it's on to the next thing.
What I'm saying is make this an actual game mechanic. Don't tell anybody where it is but include these "market bubbles" as part of the game. When enough players jump in or after enough time has passed the market can make a correction. Really, it's like a community goal that we have to find instead of just picking it up at any old station and being given a waypoint. It's a reason to pay attention to the community, it's the reason I dig through reddit posts and youtube videos, and I love it. Hell, include some small audio clip in Galnet that might hint at an economic anomaly that might be a sign of the next thing.
Will everyone share my point of view? No. Do I expect this to be implemented? Nope. I just like this unofficial mechanic that seems to pop up over and over.