Trade Development Blog

[Foxglove]

In a word: no.

But why? What reason is there that this suggestion is not feasible? We went through each of your points in the OP and ensured the commodities met the criteria where possible:

* Should provide a new and unique economic role

None of those suggested commodities are the same. The entire purpose of them is to help add to, or rather create because there isn't one currently, an interesting and varied Edge Worlds economy. After suggestions like Lyth's, the intention would be that hopefully other factions would follow that pursuit and request commodities to help build this Edge Worlds economy.

* Does not duplicate existing routes or existing commodities

With the exception of AUGs and SAMs, none of these commodities are duplications of routes. Now in regards to AUGs and SAMs, whilst both commodities may have very similar routes in regards to their role as a commodity they're still quite different from each other. I don't need to explain why, simply read the infocards. And both are also treated differently by different factions in regards to contraband/legality etc. And once again on the subject of legality, APM Advanced Hardware isn't contraband (as it’s legal in the Houses when hauled by a Core ID) and furthermore shouldn't be sold to unlawful bases. This is why Viper Munitions was suggested instead.

* Does not conflict with existing route balance (this will be very difficult for the casual observer to evaluate)

This isn't something we can know ourselves for sure, but we're doubtful that these commodities would have any impact on balance.

* Enhances role play opportunities for factions (creation of Synth Paste and Synth Gel are good examples of this)

These commodities do this and beyond. Each commodity is distinct and unique gameplay wise, economy wise and roleplay wise. It creates a huge multitude of roleplay opportunities for both Core IDs and the large plethora of IDs the commodity would be able to interact with. More so than Synth Paste and Synth Gel actually. And if the latter was able to be added - when it could also be seen as just as samey as Synth paste - why can't these commodities also be added? Shouldn't people just treat Synth Paste as both 'paste and gel' too without the need for an additional commodity?

* Trade crosses House borders

Given the amount of sell points this is easily achieved, and creates an economy that can hopefully encourage traders to weave both in and out of the Omicrons.

Wow. You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. The commodity was specifically created to be sourced from Freeport 11, because I'm the one who created it and put it there. That it was mined was tossed on LATER haphazardly and without any due diligence. All of those infocards are after the fact, have nothing to do with either the creation or implementation of the commodity, and have no binding authority over what happens to the commodity. The infocards you are pointing to as authoritative are merely retcons by someone who didn't know what they were doing, like much else that has made it into this mod. The commodity was created for Freeport 11, not for The Core, which did not even EXIST at the time. So, like I said.

Anything that is submitted and compiled into the mod becomes an item for players to both use and roleplay with. And this is such with Iridium. These infocards aren't old, poorly written bits of rubbish that need to be updated, nor are they retcons. They've either been added recently or have held strong and have been used as a legitimate lore source for years. There is a handful of Iridium infocards that justify The Core's involvement with the commodity, especially the reason why it's on FP11. And Lyth can assure you that he has been working with the story devs closely in regards to how Core has been handling Iridium from a lore standpoint and was responsible for some of the newer infocards regarding Iridium. And there's still a bunch waiting to be implemented too. And FYI, even back when The Core didn't exist, the source of the Iridium on FP11 was the Corsairs who were mining it from Planet Nauru (which later came under the control of The Core). So whilst we may be incorrect regarding the ooRP origins of the commodity, it's inRP origins, roots and current status hold true. Yes, the source was not created for The Core or the Corsairs but for the Freeport, however there has been years long roleplay and lore that has been repeatedly updated and added to to justify why that is the case.

And the commodity will simply become a mineable commodity again in the near future once Iridium mining is re-added back into the mod anyway.

As this is a roleplay server, roleplay should also have an impact on the economy too. It is an extremely tricky situation that currently Core has zero access to the only Iridium sell point their side of Sirius and is utterly laughable because in lore and in roleplay they are directly responsible for that Iridium source. Otherwise, where does it come from? Does it grow on trees?

All we ask is for the sell point to either be moved - which will have zero repercussions on gameplay - or at the very least create a duplicate sell point because without Core having access to it we are creating loopholes both gameplay wise (how are the Invicta Research Complex owners meant to create Cloak Disruptors?) and roleplay wise (Why are The Core, who mine Iridium, still selling it to the FP admist the recent Delta crisis?). Otherwise we're left with this big glaring hole in the lore, and the best way to solve that given the situation you're putting us in would be to retcon the last week of Delta events.

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