Smuggling as a true high risk/reward endeavor - for realistic gameplay and behavior

[Vredes]

Going back on track

I feel like a good start would be buffing Cardi/Artifacts given the number of new Outcasts groups

for example, instead of costing the 2ish million credits to buy 3600 units of cardi that I can sell for 15 mil ish

I would buy 3600 units at say 10-15 mil and sell for say 15-25 mil if not higher

profit margins remain the same but it is a higher risk cargo for the smuggler to lose credit wise would give incentive to pirate/police groups to capture the cargo and sell it themselves or destroy it in the police case.

A good smuggler will never get caught, but does it matter if you get caught or not if you know that power traders do 3 times as much as you?

A major buff in contraband commodities is needed.

[Stoner_Steve]

A good smuggler will never get caught, but does it matter if you get caught or not if you know that power traders do 3 times as much as you?

A major buff in contraband commodities is needed.

I can't tell if your agreeing with me or moaning about power traders.

And while a good smuggler will never get caught if someone really wanted to make some credits and avoid talking to people there are plenty of Zoner routes that are quite profitable.

However this discussion isn't about power traders, its about making smuggling risky, not about buffing routes to make them more profitable than lawful ones.

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[Sath]

A buff is needed for smuggling commodities, rather than increasing the sell price and the buy price, to make it an even more alienated aspect of Disco, that is hardly used due to fear of various complications like FR5, police patrols, majority of the smuggling commodities have their best sell point in Liberty and so on.

If smuggling is gonna be on par with normal trading, then it would be worthwhile the time spent, away from the lanes, using Jump Holes and going convoys rather than a single person smuggling. Given that ore trading is way more profitable than smuggling, not to mention that is also safer than smuggling (pirates, y u no pirate?), I don't see anything that makes smuggling even more risky, bringing in popularity to that aspect of the game.

[Highland Laddie]

@ Mory - the "risk" the OP is suggesting is financial risk, not necessarily physical risk. Since the current pricing involved in smuggling doesn't reflect the true risk-reward of the business, this is one way to make players more "invested" in their RP.

A corporate player who has only spent $500k to fill up his transport probably won't give much of a crap about RPing or losing his ship and cargo, but a smuggler who has already put 15M into his ship might put more effort to making sure his ship and cargo stay alive. Which is also why I would suggest doing this both to lawful and contraband commodities.

[Vredes]

I have a question then, if trading is more profitable than smuggling. Why would someone want to become a smuggler inRP in the first place. Risk of getting caught, you are unliked and denied access to stations if caught. There is still chance for you to be pirated. Han Solo was a smuggler for the profit, if not he would be working for the Empire distributing drinks to the imperial outposts and delivering mails around the galaxy.

[Stoner_Steve]

@ Mory - the "risk" the OP is suggesting is financial risk, not necessarily physical risk. Since the current pricing involved in smuggling doesn't reflect the true risk-reward of the business, this is one way to make players more "invested" in their RP.

A corporate player who has only spent $500k to fill up his transport probably won't give much of a crap about RPing or losing his ship and cargo, but a smuggler who has already put 15M into his ship might put more effort to making sure his ship and cargo stay alive. Which is also why I would suggest doing this both to lawful and contraband commodities.

Well Put

I have a question then, if trading is more profitable than smuggling. Why would someone want to become a smuggler inRP in the first place. Risk of getting caught, you are unliked and denied access to stations if caught. There is still chance for you to be pirated. Han Solo was a smuggler for the profit, if not he would be working for the Empire distributing drinks to the imperial outposts and delivering mails around the galaxy.

So your argument is that as a black-market dealer one should have the same profits as say, a multinational corporation.

No, a lawful corporation will always make more money in the end than a black-market dealer. Saying that smugglers and lawful corporations should have the same profits is insane.

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[Vredes]

I have a question then, if trading is more profitable than smuggling. Why would someone want to become a smuggler inRP in the first place. Risk of getting caught, you are unliked and denied access to stations if caught. There is still chance for you to be pirated. Han Solo was a smuggler for the profit, if not he would be working for the Empire distributing drinks to the imperial outposts and delivering mails around the galaxy.

So your argument is that as a black-market dealer one should have the same profits as say, a multinational corporation.

No, a lawful corporation will always make more money in the end than a black-market dealer. Saying that smugglers and lawful corporations should have the same profits is insane.

You got me very wrong here. A smuggler's job is to make more than the lawful EMLOYEES not the Corporations. Also you didn't answer my question. Why would a smuggler start trading with contraband, when the legal path is much more profitable and safe?

[Highland Laddie]

You got me very wrong here. A smuggler's job is to make more than the lawful EMLOYEES not the Corporations. Also you didn't answer my question. Why would a smuggler start trading with contraband, when the legal path is much more profitable and safe?

In RL, because smuggling IS more profitable compared to lawful trade. A drug smuggler is making way more than a truck-driver (edit: as I see you pointed out, already). For gameplay purposes (which I somewhat understand), this can't be realistically reflected in price differences of contraband and lawful commodities.

in RP reasons:
-lack of opportunity in lawful sectors
-desperation
-don't want to be bound by the rules of society
-coercion by unlawfuls
-thrill junkie

[Stoner_Steve]

You got me very wrong here. A smuggler's job is to make more than the lawful EMLOYEES not the Corporations. Also you didn't answer my question. Why would a smuggler start trading with contraband, when the legal path is much more profitable and safe?

I can't answer your question, your belief that all pilots will always want to make the most money possible doesn't conform with the RP of this server. Maybe my pilot can't be a lawful transport captain, maybe my pilot is addicted to cardi, not a whole lot of transport companies that would take on a cardi user

Depending on a persons RP there can be any number of reasons why they would choose to RP a smuggler than RP being a rich snob

This thread is a discussion about increasing the profit risk for smugglers, not buffing routes, make a new thread if you honestly want to argue your point so bad

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[Vredes]

I want just one RP reason to become a smuggler, nothing more. I also like smuggling, but it became pointless with its low profits.