Currently we seem to have a pretty flat cargo market for stolen goods, I really hope this gets a buff soon.
here are some ideas...
Price Variation
If I turn up at Space Station x, in a High Tech Imperial system, it seems to make little difference to prices in the black market. This is odd, this is a heavily policed system. Largely locked down.
I would expect prices for stolen items to be relatively lower in lawful systems. Overheads are higher there, there is more risk. So dealers will want a bigger slice of the stolen pie.
Lets say I make a trip to an Anarchy system. Then we could expect that prices there would be better than in a legal system. After all illegal trade is easier, so its easier to realise the full price of the goods?
Anarchy systems should be dangerous, of course, but they should also offer higher rewards for goods taken there to sell.
Illegal goods still operate within a market, though its an illegal one.
Sell AND Buy illegal goods
IMHO, Black market trade should be just like the normal Commodities trade UI, except, we are buying and selling illegal goods.
We should have the same UI, but the list should be limited to only illegal goods in that system + generally illegal goods.
There may be some duplication here with the normal market. But the Black Market should be just that, a parallel market to the normal one, buy AND sell.
Any goods we have that are legal, but stolen, can only be sold on this Black Market list.
The Black Market, by its very nature, will offer a really wide range of goods for sale, including commodities that have NO supply in that system. This is stuff that people are brining in and selling.
Really busy black markets, will have a much wider range of goods. So an Anarchy may offer the widest range and volumes of stolen goods.
Some stolen goods, once sold, are never offered for sale on the Black Market i.e. Gold, Silver etc, after all Gold is Gold and cannot be traced...
Smuggling Missions
Visiting a Black Market can, on occasion lead to an invitation to visit the Bulletin Board, to receive Smuggling Missions
Smuggling Adaptations
It was traditional for smugglers to modify their ships for Smuggling, hidden compartments and all that. In ED, this could be a special class of Cargo Bay, that is hidden. It could cost 2x or 3x that of a normal bay, and be smaller i.e. a 32ton Smuggling bay would only offer 28t of space. BUT, goods in the Smugglers cargo doobs would be much less likely to be found when scanned. Making smuggling a more viable profession.
Another thing, could be a module that when fitted, makes your ship even harder to scan. ANY player, or NPC that scans your ship for cargo, with the concealed bays or scanner blockers, would tend to not see your cargo, or, even better, see another, legal low value cargo, such as Scrap.
here are some ideas...
Price Variation
If I turn up at Space Station x, in a High Tech Imperial system, it seems to make little difference to prices in the black market. This is odd, this is a heavily policed system. Largely locked down.
I would expect prices for stolen items to be relatively lower in lawful systems. Overheads are higher there, there is more risk. So dealers will want a bigger slice of the stolen pie.
Lets say I make a trip to an Anarchy system. Then we could expect that prices there would be better than in a legal system. After all illegal trade is easier, so its easier to realise the full price of the goods?
Anarchy systems should be dangerous, of course, but they should also offer higher rewards for goods taken there to sell.
Illegal goods still operate within a market, though its an illegal one.
Sell AND Buy illegal goods
IMHO, Black market trade should be just like the normal Commodities trade UI, except, we are buying and selling illegal goods.
We should have the same UI, but the list should be limited to only illegal goods in that system + generally illegal goods.
There may be some duplication here with the normal market. But the Black Market should be just that, a parallel market to the normal one, buy AND sell.
Any goods we have that are legal, but stolen, can only be sold on this Black Market list.
The Black Market, by its very nature, will offer a really wide range of goods for sale, including commodities that have NO supply in that system. This is stuff that people are brining in and selling.
Really busy black markets, will have a much wider range of goods. So an Anarchy may offer the widest range and volumes of stolen goods.
Some stolen goods, once sold, are never offered for sale on the Black Market i.e. Gold, Silver etc, after all Gold is Gold and cannot be traced...
Smuggling Missions
Visiting a Black Market can, on occasion lead to an invitation to visit the Bulletin Board, to receive Smuggling Missions
Smuggling Adaptations
It was traditional for smugglers to modify their ships for Smuggling, hidden compartments and all that. In ED, this could be a special class of Cargo Bay, that is hidden. It could cost 2x or 3x that of a normal bay, and be smaller i.e. a 32ton Smuggling bay would only offer 28t of space. BUT, goods in the Smugglers cargo doobs would be much less likely to be found when scanned. Making smuggling a more viable profession.
Another thing, could be a module that when fitted, makes your ship even harder to scan. ANY player, or NPC that scans your ship for cargo, with the concealed bays or scanner blockers, would tend to not see your cargo, or, even better, see another, legal low value cargo, such as Scrap.