Trading in Elite Dangerous - What do you see and use when playing? Do you use this?

[Ben Ryder]

Just wondering how others see trading in Elite Dangeours while they are play do.

Do you experience something like this

[video=youtube;jez2P7Rthc0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jez2P7Rthc0[/video]

With a bit of import and export, supply demand and information from this

or do you experience something that looks more like this



and would what would make you swap to the other method?

 

[Sevenperry]

I tend to use Thrudds, but I like the pretty colours.......look at the pretty colours.......colours.

 

[Muetdhiver]

My experience is a Windows powershell running the python program tradedangerous from kfsone and piping the output.
It much better than eddb in the sense that the search possibilities inculde triangle routes and larger ranges (i.e. more than 30lyr).

IMO ingame trade Tools are useless, when not missleading.

And to be honest, the 3rd party trade tool hate of some is ridiculous. Who in his sane mind would use pen and paper instead of analysis scripts and
trade data sharing in yr 3K ? For me, pen and paper and in-game tool is actually immersion breaking. It would be way better if said 3rd party tools
where inculded in game and if trade data from station you visit could be sold akin to exploration data (and then bought by others).

 

[Lunchmoney]

Trading is not really my thing, but when I am moving from one warzone to another I do like to fill up my cargo hold and I use Slopey's to get a recommendation.
So I dont see any of that.

 

[Fyrd Judge]

I used most the Trading tools that CMDRS were kind to share over many months, but i am now using only one as it offers much, much more than just a market.

http://inara.cz/market

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

I can't make sense of the trading and gave up on it. Cargo space and modules are too limited anyway unless you get a Python.

 

[goemon]

i mainly see this:


if i have set up a trade route it looks like this:



google forms + google spreadsheet (with some formulars) fanboy.

i'd like to have a txt/json/csv export from the commoditie market, and a market history.

the ingame galaxy map trade routes are worthless, because you don't know whether you will do any profit; same goes for the "exported to ... imported from" info.

 

[VR jefranklin18]

I rarely drop out to a 3rd party app - although I do have Thrudds running on my tablet docked in front of my main monitor. My preference is to either have a sequence of trade routes stored mentally, or work one out on the fly - depending on what I am doing in game.

 

[Deleted member 38366]

I'd prefer to use the In-Game methods... if only they worked in the sense that a Trader needs.

The 3rd party tools essentially have done what would have needed to occur in-game since Release.
Travel from place to place and collect Trade Data, stored locally in your Ship's Computer.
Then use the Trade Computer you purchased (i.e. a Software upgrade from Outfitting) to make meaningful decisions and manually mark your favorite spots and Trade Routes on the Galaxy Map.

Done, trading suddenly works while requiring you to build up your personal Trade network (of profitable Trades - not the rather uninteresting "System X trades stuff with System Y" generic Trade Data we got now, which is still often wrong or misleading on some Commodities, as it doesn't change along with System Controlling Faction/Government changes nor any changes brought by PowerPlay affecting Systems).

----------------------
IMHO that's true in some form for most 3rd party Websites.
They capitalize on stuff that's plain missing from the Game itself and fill that void - the crowdsourced Data making it obviously a tad too easy.

But that's another Detail.
Outside of manually contacting another Player - the Player-to-Player exchange of valuable Information technically doesn't exist in ELITE. That whole concept lacks from the Game.

How about offering your aquired Trade Data at various Stations for Player-to-Player sale?
How about offering some of your complete System Maps for other Players to purchase?
Know some Pristine Metallic Ring Belt Planets? Surely someone would happily buy from you what UC categorically denies ever selling.

ELITE essentially hasn't reached the "Information age" in its 3301a.d. world.
Players operating in the year 2015 can happily exchange all that Information right now - but our future civilization despite FTL travel somehow utterly fails at that task (?).

I think that's the key issue there, as this produces those awkward conditions we see.
Game often stops after a Player has completed the 1-Dimensional tasks, then offers no alternative and deeper Options with the produced Results. Do something at B, return to A and cash in. Credits granted, end of story.
Some big gameplay opportunities lost there, as there's plenty of stuff that could be done with alot of the collected Information in a Multiplayer environment.

 

[Andromalius]

I gave up using the ingame tools a long time ago.
I don't need the external tools, I used them for some time but once you get that nothing beats imperial slaves->Palladium/pro cells etc and you learned what is a good and bad price it's pretty easy to settle.

 

[Hadron-Higgs-Boson]

Remember ED is '84 game logic with '15 graphics - maybe overly simplifying it, but essentially that's it. This becomes very visible and often undesirable when you play and try to get a little deeper into any part of the game, you soon realise that under the superficially pretty surface there isn't really very much to it. Despite that I think most of us can agree that it's still an absolute blast to play

I've not done any trading since January, I was using a 3rd party web site a bit which helped identify routes but it was pretty hit and miss (more hit than miss though) and though the early stages of game play it certainly helped given that the in built systems back then were even worse than they are now. I would much prefer built in solutions, including the ability to log and record my data than an external system.

Is it true that the galactic trade map does not update trade information based on changes brought about by faction/government/powerplay? If so that's a pretty depressing indicator of how things are being built on top of the 'solid' foundations!

I'm thinking of giving trading another go or maybe setting course for the second start to the right and heading out exploring next, so I'm quite interested in how trading has developed and what tools there are now

 

[Wasp0]

For me this works:

http://etn.io/

 

[Marra Morgan]

I use this piece of highly advanced equipment to store and calculate the best trade and smuggling routes:

 

[goemon]

Is it true that the galactic trade map does not update trade information based on changes brought about by faction/government/powerplay? If so that's a pretty depressing indicator of how things are being built on top of the 'solid' foundations!

it is true. i was searching for narcotics some days ago, and did the good old "imported from" trick. well - no, that system where they say narcotics are imported from, don't even sell narcotics anymore.

so i changed for the galaxy map, highlighting anarchies and dictatorships only. and than searching for a match with agricultural or hightech systems (would be nice, if you could match criterias from both - like dictatorship + agricultural, but hey!).

well, goverment info via galmap is outdated...

so i clicked through the galaxy map, agricultural and hightech systems, opened every system map, till i found a station, where narcotics weren't illegal. went there. well, narcotics were not on sale... but i could have sold them there.

___

to the OP: that's why nearly nobody uses the ingame TOOLS. taking tradesamples, and a list of things "what sells where", and pen and paper or spreadsheets do work. 3rd party tools do work. the tools ingame for trade don't work.

 

[Bomba Luigi]

I haven't seen those Import/Export lines on the Galaxy Map in ages, turned it off and never back on. Also don't use any external tools, I am a simple Man: Go to station, see what its got, buy something, pick a system that locks fitting, fly there, sell it and keep on going.

Note: Yes, my profits are not maximized and all that, but once I gotten to a T9/Anaconda I switched to this more casual approche. Even when the profit per ton is not best of the Galaxy these ships still make a lot of money regardless. And since I plan to play this Game for quite a while I will reach the point of having more money then I need sooner or later. I would prefer later.

 

[PhanttoM]

Frankly, Elite could have all the advanced search functions of every single 3rd party tool out there, and it would make no difference on gameplay - People will still only trade the top 5 items.

 

[Pinkie]

I tried to use the trade lanes feature to find lithium to pirate for a huge payout. Never found a single unit in four hours of play even though I stopped every transport I could find.

 

[Ben Ryder]

I use this piece of highly advanced equipment to store and calculate the best trade and smuggling routes:

http://www.rainbowdoorways.com/images/BBBCPOES.jpg

o7 Me too I have a stack of black books going back to alaph a testing Even some hand drawn maps

 

[cygnusa]

I prefer to stay in-game as hopping off to some third party tool just kills the immersion of the game. Yes, occasionally I do use Thrudds or other tools when trading.. as the in-game tools are ineffective, which is odd considering the game supposedly takes place in a rather technological time. You'd think market tools in ED would be better than it is. Heck apps on my cell phone are better in 2015 than what is available in the year 3000. ;P

We may see improvements eventually... maybe one of the 'seasons' will be a market/trade overhaul combined with some sort of resource/crafting mechanic(?) We'll see.