Ships OK, who's the Fdev sadist

[Nadreck]

I'm not a trader. I abhor it actually.

Engineer unlocks generally require you to delve into different aspects of the game. I remember having to get into bounty-hunting for some, collecting combat bonds for others, and so on (for me, Lei Chung was easy, because I'd already met his requirement: likewise for Palin's 5,000ly trip). And mining for Selene Jean, of course.

On my main account, I now have all the Engineers except Petra Olmanova and Lori Jameson. I don't have the Combat rank for either of those, and ranking up in Combat specifically to unlock Engineers is much more of a grind than selling 1t of stuff at 50 stations would be. One day I will probably reach Expert, but I don't anticipate ever unlocking Lori Jameson.

 

[Northpin]

I've traded in almost 500 markets so far, where's the problem ?

Getting close too... but it only took me almost 22 months

 

[Sky_Tramp]

The easiest method is to buy 50 rare goods, jump at least 100 LY and then sell 1 at each station you find, they are universally acceptable (do not buy illicit cargo).
I had to do this for a second account and simply followed the route provided by Inara, omitting any stations that were over 500 Ls from the arrival point. Quick, little effort, and profitable

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Slight problem there, Mel Brandon is a 22kly detour....oops.

Well, that's the Palin/Sedesi requirements sorted too, then.

Record for Bubble->Colonia travel is 1h14m, so even there and back it's probably technically quicker than trading in 50 markets from scratch.

 

[Maymo]

I will say that even though the engineer unlocks aren't that big of a deal with a little planning, I do find them totally crushing on my role playing....

I don't want to have to rank up or become friendly with the empire if I'm a fed. I don't want to have to become a miner (even temporarily) if I'm a dedicated combat pilot. I don't want to have to deal with black markets if I'm supposed to be a lawful citizen...

Unlocking engineers feels like it forces me to role play as a generalist and morally ambiguous cmdr.

I'd happily see their unlock req's abolished, they should just be happy with all the awesome materials I've scavenged for them....

 

[Old Duck]

Just open ED's console and type "GodMode" and you'll unlock all the engineers with zero effort.

 

[Cemenotar]

That moment when OP complains about 50 markets while right next to that there is literally 5KLY trip, mining and refining 200 tonnes of stuff.....

 

[Cmdr. Numa]

Well, that's the Palin/Sedesi requirements sorted too, then.

Record for Bubble->Colonia travel is 1h14m, so even there and back it's probably technically quicker than trading in 50 markets from scratch.

Except the 50 markets is a one-time effort, while you'd otherwise have to do the Colonia trip over and over and over and over.

 

[Denneb]

Back when the game was healthy, we used to try all aspects of the economy. We fought, we traded, we explored. We even did rare trade runs and the payout was adequate for our needs. Back then every commodity had the chance to give you a nice profit, if you were smart enough with your points of purchase and sale. It was much more involving than todays economy, which consists of only one commodity.
So, as you can understand, having traded in 50 markets for an unlock, was childs-play, since it was part of our daily gameplay.
Those mechanics still exist of course, but they are completely dwarved by the incentive to mine a specific mineral and sell only to a specific market, since the profit is a zillion times higher.
Your frustration is justified, because you probably learned to play fairly recently, in a game now suffering from career path imbalance and bad design choices.

 

[Ydiss]

I feel your pain. I had no such issues. By the time gamma had ended I'd probably worked my way through 20 to 30 markets because trading was the only viable way to make credits at launch. I've still got my Excel notes from then.

There are very few games where I've actually nodded off whilst playing them. Two in fact; Everquest 2, whilst crafting and ED whilst trading.

Thankfully, things have changed a lot since then. But that does mean basic ABA trading is pretty niche now. So yeh. Feel your pain. But 50 trades is nothing compared to what I'd done by the time engineers came out.

So... Deal with it

 

[Kyle Stryker]

Are FC considered a Market? If so, then the OP should quit his bitchin’ and head to the CG and it’s rare supply systems. There has to be 20-30 FC in those and their neighboring systems.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Except the 50 markets is a one-time effort, while you'd otherwise have to do the Colonia trip over and over and over and over.

Such is the price of not having to trade anything. I'm not saying it's a good alternative for someone based in the bubble, but there is at least now an alternative.

(Or you could stay in Colonia, have four engineers with trivial unlock requirements and a full blueprint set on your doorstep, and not have to worry about hauling inconvenient quantities of rares, finding 50 sensor fragments, etc.)