Well, since mining was "killed", from my experience, the main moneymaking technique became trading...
Of course,pirating, ship re-selling and graphics are an option too but lets talk about trading and trading factions...
And are the advantages of being in a trading faction?
Escorts? Yeah... sadly, having escort means to pay. Paying a pirate every 5th-6th run is still better than paying escort for those 5-6 runs...
Collective? Yeah, having buddies with you to talk is always good thing but it really doesn't make moneymaking any faster. And you are (just like me) trading JUST for money, this pretty much doesn't matter.
Loan? Yeah, some factions give you a ship to start. But this is only useful for beginners or someone that for unknown reasons lost his cash. (wipe/HDD fail/other)
What is it then? Also dont forget... Flying as a faction trader gives you the probably biggest handicap you can have...
You have to TAG yourself... Really, TAG is a banner "Pirate me!!"... Not really good thing to do when you are trying to make the desired sum as fast as possible...
Lest face it... Players trades 80% for money, and being in trading faction makes it even harder. Kind of weird IMHO. Is there really nothing that can be done to make trading factions worthwhile..?
Yeah and i almost forgot...
In some trading factions, ships you can fly depends on your rank.
Highly exaggerated example: "May i join your faction? I need to make some money." "Sure! Here take this ship for free so you can start. *faction gives newbie some small/medium transport like Albartoss or maybe BWT*
*Some days forward* " Fine i have enough cash now for a 5k so i can make money faster" " No you cant haz. You low rank."
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