Production bonus - a basis for an economy

[Etsija]

This game has potential for creating a manufacturing-and-trading based economy, but atm it is non-existing. The main reason is there is 0 % profit in refining your raw material and selling it, at least for all the refined products I checked.

Example: guild shop buys raw ore for 100 credits a piece. You can feed the raw ore to a capsule refinery, which will give you 5 capsules + 5 Alloyed Metal Mesh. But for each of these, the guild shop pays only 10 credits, totalling to the exactly same 100 credits. No profit whatsoever made for all the trouble. I checked randomly other refined products like shields, shield rechargers and power capasitors, and the result was exactly the same: the assembled product's prize is exactly the sum of the ingredient's prices.

So, currently the only reasons for anyone to really delve into the production factory -minigame, are:

1. It is fun to tune your factories.
2. Refined materials like shields tend to run out from the local shops, because everyone needs them.

I think this would be EASY to fix: add a "production bonus" to each item, which needs either refining or assembly from subitems. The bonus adds value to the end product for each and every assembly phase, and by phase, it can be small , say 2 %. This way the bonus would be additive, and the most sophisticated items - which also require the most complex factory setups - would benefit the most.

Example: Making of an Advanced Armor

Phase 1: refining raw ore to Alloyed Metal Mesh + Crystal Circuit -> 2 % bonus
Phase 2: Alloyed Metal Mesh + Crystal Circuit into Grey Hull -> 2 % bonus
Phase 3: refining soil into paint -> 2 % bonus
Phase 4: coloring Grey Hull with paint -> 2% bonus
Phase 5: creating coloured Standard Armor from the Grey Hull (needs capsules) -> 2% bonus
Phase 6: creating ingots from capsules -> 2% bonus
Phase 7: creating Advanced Armor from the Standard Armor (needs ingots) -> 2% bonus

You get the idea. Please support if you agree with me this game needs an economy!

 

[darvath]

That is a pretty good idea Etsiija!

 

[madmax1993]

That's a great idea. This game lacks in the economy part and this would definetly change some things.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

The game does need a full economy overhaul... Personally I don't even think the game needs AI controlled shops anymore but rather a different way to acquire the money needed for spawning or repairing space stations.

 

[Etsija]

Sven, any ideas what that "new way" could be? Yes probably an economy overhaul is needed, in the end. Meanwhile, I think my simple suggestion could give a real economy a headstart.

 

[ToyotaSupra]

Yes, I like it. Also Sven_The_Slayer I still don't know why we don't have the ability to have AI customers as well for single player.

 

[Crusade]

IIRC, if you set up your own shop, you can set your own prices. I may be wrong, however.

 

[CyberTao]

I don't exactly see whats wrong with it...
Everything has a comparable value and it fits right in with bartering and trading, since it tells you how much resources it took to build basically. If it's online, could just try some player to player merching (selling for a small profit in return for convenience), or selling the excess to a shop for quick and easy money.

 

[Etsija]

CyberTao: because there is no production bonus, there's no benefit at all in producing anything from the basic minerals, because it is a waste of time and effort, really. That keeps the economy in a "raw production" phase. In market terms, "the market will never develop". Having only a small percentage as a production bonus and adding that same percentage to the prizes at each step the production takes into building more complicated things -> promotes building these complicated things, because the time spent is compensated monetarily.

No one is capable of flying with raw ore. You need these complicated items like thrust, computers, shields etc. My suggestion encourages at least some people who want to make money like this to work towards building such items.

 

[CyberTao]

The problem is not there is no profit, there is no demand. Something with an actual value of $380 can easily be sold for $500 irl because there is a demand for that object, because we can't all make it. If the crafting system is to be accessible to everyone, such demand will never happen. All it would do is make larger ships easier to spawn in, since you get the blocks faster (creating them out of nothing).

Have you stopped to ask Calbiri why the prices are balanced like this btw? I remember that he wanted the cost of the blocks to equal the sum of it's part when he was creating the crafting trees.

Besides, credits were devalued basically, their main use is either making a station, or buying a scrap one to harvest/renovate. The idea of getting more blocks, to get credits easier, to get more blocks doesn't quite appeal to me. Could use them in player-to-player trading, but you could again charge an overhead for delivery and convenience.