My SOTHIS report - Updated every hour (or not)

[Iskariot]

Well, I guess the bombers are still attempting to bring down Sothis, then? Ceos will probably be back up by time they bring it down, and all they've accomplished is encouraging more people to take alloys out there and head back with millions worth of missions.

Actually, it was this very thread and the guy that I now have blocked in this thread that made me finally decide to see what these long distance trade runs are about.

It is not the money that is what is most important to me, but it is the hauling mechanic that has an entirely different rhythm to it compared to short distance hauling.
I discovered I enjoy these long distance delivery runs immensely.

But.. of course the pay is good too. Especially in my 720 ton cutter.
I have done 3 runs now and on the second and third run I made between 40 and 45 million per run!!! (The first one I made close to 30 million).
That seems a huge amount, and it is, but I also had to invest a lot of time to collect the missions at different stations and then delivering all the goods to their destinations.
But it really is a blast to do and I enjoy it very much.

So to the UA griefer/bomber I say: Thank you very much.

 

[woodbane]

Set a new personal best from Sothis last night in my 400t Conda - 62 million!

Then shot back to Arque to collect my 10.5 mill from the CG event that I participated in.

See, I can do other things in the game AND make mega millions. What's so wrong about it?

Loving it!

 

[Shed Some Skin]

Actually, it was this very thread and the guy that I now have blocked in this thread that made me finally decide to see what these long distance trade runs are about.

It is not the money that is what is most important to me, but it is the hauling mechanic that has an entirely different rhythm to it compared to short distance hauling.
I discovered I enjoy these long distance delivery runs immensely.

But.. of course the pay is good too. Especially in my 720 ton cutter.
I have done 3 runs now and on the second and third run I made between 40 and 45 million per run!!! (The first one I made close to 30 million).
That seems a huge amount, and it is, but I also had to invest a lot of time to collect the missions at different stations and then delivering all the goods to their destinations.
But it really is a blast to do and I enjoy it very much.

So to the UA griefer/bomber I say: Thank you very much.

Honestly, if you're willing to hang around until the right missions spawn, you can do way better than that. Generally, anything over 50 tons will pay 60-100k per ton, but below that things start to get a bit crazy. I've had standard cargo missions spawn with 2-4 ton loads paying 400k+ per ton, and today I got a smuggling mission paying over 7 mil for 8 tons of tobacco, which is flat out mental.

I used to be very picky when I was in the python. It was a lot more jumps (I think I only got about 16ly fully laden) so my target was 200k/ton for a worthwhile trip. Now I'm in the 'Conda and I can jump so much faster it's likely more time efficient to accept a lower ratio and make less drops. Once I came back in my Python and had to make 24 stops for a 40 mil return. That was... Tiring

Still, I do recommend keeping an eye open for the low tonnage ones. With a big hold like that it's easy to cram a few in and add a lot to your total with minimal effort. Since you've only just got out there, bear in mind you can still deliver the data transfer missions to Ceos even though you can't take missions from there. Get your local rank up and you'll have access to more.

 

[mosteen]

My Python has a 294t cap and a lvl5 30ly jump, I normally accept missions from 150k/t and up. Quite a few times I've filled her to the brim just inside of the 20 mission cap, very rewarding to net 30-60mcr on a four hour stint. Can't wait to be back, on my way home from a 40-50kly xplore roundtrip now. Want to get back some of that Ceos/Sothis goodness. The UA bombers have really inspired me to get back to hauling down there again. I'm allied with all factions allready, so I don't have to worry about the rep up.

 

[Iskariot]

Honestly, if you're willing to hang around until the right missions spawn, you can do way better than that. Generally, anything over 50 tons will pay 60-100k per ton, but below that things start to get a bit crazy. I've had standard cargo missions spawn with 2-4 ton loads paying 400k+ per ton, and today I got a smuggling mission paying over 7 mil for 8 tons of tobacco, which is flat out mental.

I used to be very picky when I was in the python. It was a lot more jumps (I think I only got about 16ly fully laden) so my target was 200k/ton for a worthwhile trip. Now I'm in the 'Conda and I can jump so much faster it's likely more time efficient to accept a lower ratio and make less drops. Once I came back in my Python and had to make 24 stops for a 40 mil return. That was... Tiring

Still, I do recommend keeping an eye open for the low tonnage ones. With a big hold like that it's easy to cram a few in and add a lot to your total with minimal effort. Since you've only just got out there, bear in mind you can still deliver the data transfer missions to Ceos even though you can't take missions from there. Get your local rank up and you'll have access to more.

I'm still learning.
I just started doing these things.
But I like the fact that it were all normal cargo missions.
I did take two smuggling missions, but I do not like the risk attached to them.
In a cutter it is neigh impossible to escape authority scans down on a planet .

If I take more low tonnage missions I will have a lot more addresses to deliver the cargo to.
I try to avoid too many, because these long distance runs are quite time consuming as they are.
Also: 20 missions is the max. you can take.
So I generally pick those that pay best. It does not matter to me whether they are 50 ton or 10 ton missions.
I have approximately 700 tons to fill (I fitted a large scoop and have some engineer related commodities sitting in my hold).
The last two times my hold was full around 16 to 18 missions.

 

[chagnampra]

Just got back from a Sothis run in my Cutter - 75 million richer. Ceos may be offline but data transfers still work from Sothis to Ceos. (I mainly did missions that way anyway due to having a large ship that can't take missions to the Sothis mining outpost, reducing the number of missions available from Ceos to Sothis). So, UA bombers are currently having ZERO effect on player profits, despite their best efforts. Better try a bit harder next time, guys.

 

[fuub]

is the sothis unbalanced rewards still in the game? Jesus does FD have a lead designer    

 

[Iskariot]

is the sothis unbalanced rewards still in the game? Jesus does FD have a lead designer    

Yes, fuub it's all bad.
Dooooom, terrible, aweful. drama etc. etc. etc.


If FD wants to remove this they will eventually.
Perhaps they do not mind, perhaps they just have not gotten around to it yet..

 

[Shed Some Skin]

is the sothis unbalanced rewards still in the game? Jesus does FD have a lead designer    

Yes, because it's way better game design to make people spend days hauling back and forth on short hop loop routes than to be able to get your money relatively quickly so you can go do other stuff.

If Frontier decides they want to rebalance the rewards a bit then so be it. But there's at least half a dozen other well known stations offering similarly scaled missions and they don't seem unduly concerned thus far. They'd only be adding more grind to the game. If you believe that would be to the overall benefit of Elite then you're welcome to that opinion, but it's not something I agree with personally.

 

[Devari]

Just got back from a Sothis run in my Cutter - 75 million richer.

I can see how statements like this.

is the sothis unbalanced rewards still in the game? Jesus does FD have a lead designer

Might make you think the income from Sothis is "unbalanced". Actually it isn't, for several reasons. First, he's using a Cutter than can probably carry upwards of 600-700 tons, that is around 50% more than a T9 which carries 480-500 tons. Second, the Cutter is also capable of carrying that cargo MUCH faster than a T9 when docking/undocking. Third, that is several hours of work. Although I might fit 20-24 million worth of long-haul cargo missions in my Python with 192 tons of cargo it actually takes 2-3 hours to do that run. This works out to $8 million/hr due to the time spent jumping (you only make money one-way carrying cargo from Sothis to the bubble) and waiting for the mission boards to refresh to fill your cargo hold. With the interdictions in 2.1 an income of 8 million/hr in a Python is reasonable given that is around the same as the rebuy if your ship is destroyed. Looking at the insane Cutter profits are not representative of the vast majority of Sothis runs. Robigo, which allowed you to earn 20-25 million/hr in an Asp, was definitely unbalanced. Earning 8 million/hr in a Python from Sothis however is not and the massive profits you hear Cutters making from Sothis runs are simply an example of top-tier endgame trading profits in an extremely expensive, rank-locked ship.

 

[AndiBcool]

Yeah dont know, to make a lot money from sothis you need the ranks, be friendly or allyed with the fractions and have a big ship like the cutter. I have it and i can earn 70-90 mil in about 4-5 hours because i dont have engineered FS drive and i need to ship in different systems. On a good trading route i can make 12-15 mil with the cutter per hour, but its boring. I used to have fun back then doin bulk trading but now interdictions and prices drop down after 1 day the Sothis missions are great to earn some money when u need some.
So basicly the rewards are not to high and the missions are mostly only woth doin ( aside from material reward ones).

Im double Elite and i only earned about 300 Mil from Sothis so far. Most money came from bulk trading, bounty hunting and community goals.

 

[nathdixon92]

Just got back from a Sothis run in my Cutter - 75 million richer. Ceos may be offline but data transfers still work from Sothis to Ceos. (I mainly did missions that way anyway due to having a large ship that can't take missions to the Sothis mining outpost, reducing the number of missions available from Ceos to Sothis). So, UA bombers are currently having ZERO effect on player profits, despite their best efforts. Better try a bit harder next time, guys.

We'd like to see you try and gather 614 UAs and then we'll tell you to try harder.

 

[Shed Some Skin]

We'd like to see you try and gather 614 UAs and then we'll tell you to try harder.

Did you... Did you seriously just berate someone for not being appreciative enough of your hard work?

...

You're a very strange person.

Also are you an official spokesman for the bombers or are you using the Royal we there?

 

[nathdixon92]

Did you... Did you seriously just berate someone for not being appreciative enough of your hard work?

...

You're a very strange person.

Also are you an official spokesman for the bombers or are you using the Royal we there?

We're giving it a wide berth for the time being. It's began to take its toll gathering those UAs. Hopefully someone else will pick up the mantle while we pursue our own endeavours. We must maintain our sanity somehow.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

Also are you an official spokesman for the bombers or are you using the Royal we there?

 

[InlineSix]

is the sothis unbalanced rewards still in the game? Jesus does FD have a lead designer

Wait for 2.2. - we'll all be taxi drivers then.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

We must maintain our sanity somehow.

What sanity?

 

[Shed Some Skin]

We're giving it a wide berth for the time being. It's began to take its toll gathering those UAs. Hopefully someone else will pick up the mantle while we pursue our own endeavours. We must maintain our sanity somehow.

So in other words "we got bored and gave up"

I think you're in the wrong line of work. You're clearly made for politics.

 

[ForeverN00b]

We're giving it a wide berth for the time being. It's began to take its toll gathering those UAs. Hopefully someone else will pick up the mantle while we pursue our own endeavours. We must maintain our sanity somehow.

Wouldn't it be more fun to put the station in lockdown by killing cops? That sounds like a lot more fun than farming UAs.

 

[nathdixon92]

So in other words "we got bored and gave up"

I think you're in the wrong line of work. You're clearly made for politics.

I wouldn't call it giving it up. We've done as much as what we can. We took Ceos out and delivered a substantial amount of UAs to Sothis. But after a solid week of doing nothing but floating around space looking for signal sources, we need to unwind and let off a bit of multicannon goodness

 

[Shed Some Skin]

I wouldn't call it giving it up. We've done as much as what we can. We took Ceos out and delivered a substantial amount of UAs to Sothis. But after a solid week of doing nothing but floating around space looking for signal sources, we need to unwind and let off a bit of multicannon goodness

Well no, of course you wouldn't call it that. But then again, you'd call the bombing campaign "game balancing" and "hard work" whilst most people would call it "pointless" and "a waste of time". Terminology does tend to get a little slippery around you. I reiterate my recommendation of a career in politics. Or maybe PR.