Trade Routes

[Tenrik]

But the diamond-niobium run is really OORP, if you ask me, since most people take shortcuts a trader really shouldn't know about. Not only that, though, but the people are also shipping for both IMG and Republican, which is pretty iffy in terms of RP...

Having a mining ship flying for IMG ([img]Tenrik), a comment on how we in IMG handle this.

I commonly haul niobium to the New Berlin system, as it's one of our main commodities. But I don't buy it in Kusari, instead I buy it at one of our own bases in the Taus or, even better, mine it there. Also, I often sell it at Dortmund, an "ally" ALG base, not the Ring, even if the profit is a bit lower. And I never fly diamonds back, but choose something in RP instead (like engine components much needed at some of our bases, or MOX produced by ALG). Oh, and I don't use the Sigma-13 -> NB hole either. Tried it, don't like it. The longer route via Frankfurt is much more relaxed and enjoyable imo.

Of course, I don't make as much money as an oorp power trader would. But I have much more fun, and my routes contain more stops and variation, and still bring a quite reasonable profit.

This is just an example of how you can take one of those uber traderoutes and alter it a bit to fit your rp, still keeping most of the profit. My advice: figure out who you want to fly for, visit all their bases and their allies bases, check what's produced and needed in those places, and build your routes around that information.