Vine
Posts: 34
4/30/2014
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It would be extremely convenient if there were some way to track the buy and sell prices for the various trade goods in all the ports the player has visited so far. I was thinking that a tab in the Gazetteer, called 'Markets' or some such would be a good place for that information. It could list all the trade goods and their buy and sell prices for each port in columns or something. Since this is information that a player could just wright down, there doesn't seem to be any gameplay reason to hide it, and it would be convenient to have for deciding what goods to buy when you're far out to zee. Perhaps there could be a storylet to peruse the papers to add the data to your tab, though that might just be an unnecessary layer of complication.
As a corollary, it would be nice to have a journal to make notes in.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Vine
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Captain~Umber
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ProfPlum
Posts: 4
5/1/2014
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I would very much like to see a Market tab in the journal, just to record the prices as you last saw them. Journals are for making notes after all. Otherwise it is a case of having loads of scraps of paper lying about the desk, which is annoying and immersion breaking. Enjoying myself so far 
edited by ProfPlum on 5/1/2014
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Shawn01752
Posts: 20
5/5/2014
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It would be pretty cool to have a Ledger Tab. something on the order of:
Bought London Supplies 6 @ 10 Echoes Ea.
Sold Demeaux Supplies 2 @ 1 Echoes Ea.
It's not critical for me though - I'm really spreadsheet-y and record that kind of stuff on my own.
While it would be interesting to see a fluctuating market that responds to what I buy and sell, I don't expect it. And, really, unless I'm the only Captain on the Unterzee, I wouldn't expect my actions to have a dramatic effect on prices.
On the other hand, I *do* want to see each game be slightly randomized on Buy/Sell prices. It would be cool if Palmerston paid a good price for Souls in this game, but in the next one they wanted Silk instead. Figuring out the lucrative markets was part of the fun for me in this beta. If those numbers don't change from game to game, then I only have to research the markets once - every other game will be a bit grind-y in that respect.
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alhimself
Posts: 13
5/6/2014
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It strikes me that in the current build the prices make a sort of sense. There are essentially only two proper shops (that I can find so far.) The Fallen London shop and the Venderbight shop. The Fallen London shop is duplicated in various placeholders like Chelonia, Polythreme and of course Mount Palmerstone. And Venderbight is just in Venderbight. It makes sense that one of the things sought after in Venderbight is Prisoners Honey. They're in exile, they'll miss the luxuries. And ditto spider silk being more available in the tomb colonies and sought in London. That makes sense too. I always forget the name of the 100 echo coral that sells for 95 in Venderbight. I suppose that makes less sense, but the margins are better so once I get my dreadnought that'll be the intended freight south.
Palmerstone seeking souls makes sense. Parabola linen most likely will be cheapest in Polythreme. Small fluctuations in the prices would be interesting. I suspect that my actions will have flooded the market in the tomb colonies with prisoners honey by now. But the price still remains a competitive 3 echoes profit per unit. If only I had a bigger hold. Of course the only things that currently matter are honey, silk and (splinterlack or whatever the coral) because there is nothing but loss to be made trading anything else. Just don't buy supplies or fuel in venderbight. And that again makes sense in terms of flavour.
A ledger would be ok, but if the prices remain static I am happier without one, as it won't take long for players to work out and customise trading routes around the world. There's a depressing lack of entertainment out east, and Port Cecil in particular is a terrifying place, you go there and you just get super scared no matter what you do. And fear is an expensive hazard, especially since you only need 50 of it before your men start jumping overboard like lemmings.
Still, however it is implemented, I think the trading with the small margins and the big fear outlays is a useful means of encouraging and rewarding exploration. Even the Iron and Misery company has some use being off in the darkness but carrying a free -5 terror reduction. Although you probably lose more than five getting to it unless you're just passing by.
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dov
Posts: 2580
5/9/2014
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ProfPlum wrote:
I like the idea of being able to communicate with other merchants/zailors to get more recent prices. Although not sure what happens if they report on places you have never visited... Seems like a cheat, but then such occurrences are possible
Not necessarily a cheat. Sid Meier's Pirates! (which FBG have mentioned as one inspiration to Sunless Sea) had similar mechanics: You could get bits of info on other cities (included price changes, or events which might impact prices), even if you haven't explored enough to know where those cities are. It worked fairly well.
It's not exactly the same situation with SS, since here the very names of places are unique and fun to discover. But this is definitely solvable (e.g. you only get info on places already discovered; or you get vague references of "some port" where prices rose, but no name, making it tempting to stock up on the goods and go find that port, etc.).
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Aspeon
Posts: 311
5/10/2014
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When I first played the game, I didn't even think of the trade goods as trade goods: I saw them as things with an obscure use I'd yet to discover. (Of course, a wonderful thing about the system is that they can be that too) My first Elite-like was Escape Velocity, which had trade goods in a separate section from useful upgrades, and the buy and sell price for a good being the same- maybe not seeing that tripped me up?
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A raccooning will not be postponed indefinitely.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Aspeon
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