Black Market

[Bragan Benigaris]

Recently thinking about neglected aspects of NA, I suddenly realized that one of my dearest activities is completely missing in the poll: Smuggling

Maybe it's a spleen only of me, maybe it's because a smuggler is severly hampered in game: He can't set contracts in enemy ports.

For myself i tried to circumvent this problem by making deals with players from other nations or using alts. The latter one is cumbersome and the first one more difficult since we can't open a private chat with enemy players in ow any more and you always have the risk of loosing your trading partner.

But I don't want to open the regular market for enemy smugglers, some ports like Esteros or Cartagena would immediately loose their status and attractivity for conquer.

Instead of this i would suggest the implementation of a second market with special rules: The Black Market.

Rules:
- accessible only with smuggler flag or for "indigenous" nationals
- instead of 10% tax a 20% gang fee /clan fee as base
- no automatic dropping of goods, purely player driven

The last point would lead to the mechanic that the smuggler would set for example a contract for buying teak logs and has to wait for a player to sell him some. If the price is high enough, that's a good deal for the selling national player who could buy directly on the regular market and the smuggler gets access to rare goods - for a price, of course. But with the current prices for some goods in the capitals there's still some profit for the smuggler possible.

tl;dr: Implement a player-driven Black Market with higher tax for smugglers and other shady folks.

[Jean Ribault]

6 minutes ago, Bragan Benigaris said:

Recently thinking about neglected aspects of NA, I suddenly realized that one of my dearest activities is completely missing in the poll: Smuggling

Maybe it's a spleen only of me, maybe it's because a smuggler is severly hampered in game: He can't set contracts in enemy ports.

For myself i tried to circumvent this problem by making deals with players from other nations or using alts. The latter one is cumbersome and the first one more difficult since we can't open a private chat with enemy players in ow any more and you always have the risk of loosing your trading partner.

But I don't want to open the regular market for enemy smugglers, some ports like Esteros or Cartagena would immediately loose their status and attractivity for conquer.

Instead of this i would suggest the implementation of a second market with special rules: The Black Market.

Rules:
- accessible only with smuggler flag or for "indigenous" nationals
- instead of 10% tax a 20% gang fee /clan fee as base
- no automatic dropping of goods, purely player driven

The last point would lead to the mechanic that the smuggler would set for example a contract for buying teak logs and has to wait for a player to sell him some. If the price is high enough, that's a good deal for the selling national player who could buy directly on the regular market and the smuggler gets access to rare goods - for a price, of course. But with the current prices for some goods in the capitals there's still some profit for the smuggler possible.

tl;dr: Implement a player-driven Black Market with higher tax for smugglers and other shady folks.

 

True, it is an aspect of the game wherein a lot of depth could be added.  I like that you are thinking of it.  However, I see two obstacles:

1. Alts.  As long as alts are condoned in this game and are being used regularly to circumvent access to resources or the economy limitations to them, then there is no incentive to be the smuggler.  Especially with a 20% tax.

2. Reputation system.  There is none.  There should be one, and a smuggler's lifestyle should be tied to his reputation.

Would be nice though if such depth were added to this game.

[jodgi]

1 hour ago, Bragan Benigaris said:

Implement a player-driven Black Market with higher tax for smugglers and other shady folks.

Would you do this when every freedom-sandboxer solves this problem at lower taxes using alts?

Who's more shady: The smuggler paying high tax or the alt paying less?

 

[AeRoTR]

1 hour ago, Coraline Vodka said:

You can buy ships and put them in fleet just takes a bit of fiddling

Yes but it is stupid. If I can do it, with all that put in shop, send other to fleet, remove first from shop... Why can’t I buy a ship and send it to fleet?