Best Of

So, thinking about the Drugs tradeskill, we want a wide variety of drugs, but tradeskills tend not to allow very many skills. Jewelry has five, so let's go with that:

Uppers allows you to prepare Stimulant and Recreational drugs. 90 lessons in.
Downers allows you to prepare Narcotic and Alcoholic drugs. 270 lessons in.
Steroids allows you to prepare Steroid and Therapeutic drugs. 500 lessons in.
Trips allows you to prepare Hallucinogenic and Cosmic drugs. 680 lessons in.
Designer allows you to Purge and Cut existing drugs. 900 lessons in.

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Stimulants increase Agility and Techcraft by 15, but reduce Lifeforce by 10. They would also shift a character's build toward lean.

Recreational drugs have two unique fields, effect_first and effect_third which allow you to specify the first/third person lines for your drug's RP effects. Recreational drugs have no mechanical effect beyond this.

Narcotics increase Aim and Psyche by 15, but reduce Lifeforce, Evasion and Regen by 5 each. They cause you to slur your speech, just as alcohol does.

Alcohol functions by getting you drunk. It has no effect on stats, but it does mean you can brew algae whiskey on your ship.

Steroids increase Strength and Agility by 15, but reduce Regen by 10. They also shift a character's build toward heavy.

Therapeutics increase Lifeforce, Regen and Evasion by 10, but reduce Strength, Agility and Techcraft by 10 each. They also shift a character's appearance toward juvenile.

Hallucinogens increase Techcraft and Strength by 15, but reduce Evasion by 10. Like recreational drugs, this comes with the option to set an ambient message.

Cosmic drugs decrease ship trick cooldowns by 10% at the cost of reducing all stats by 5 each. They're made using kith-reactive compounds.

Purging eliminates all effects (positive or negative) of all drugs currently effecting the patient and reduces the impact of future non-purgative drugs by 20% for an entire year. Unlike other drugs, this is cumulative, and regular purgative treatments can render someone impervious to the effects of drug use if you stuff them with enough purgatives. Requires an AGREE from the patient.

Cutting allows you to cut an existing drug item with chemicals from a different drug design you have access to. This allows the imbiber to gain the effects of both designs simultaneously. Effectively adds a second Class to the drug as well as as an additional Effect_first and Effect_third. Does NOT change the appearance or imbibe messages, so you can spike drugs with this ability!

Normally, taking multiple doses of the same drug simply resets the duration of all effects, and taking different drugs gives you the positive effects of the latest stat-altering drug, but the negative and fluff effects of everything you've taken.

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To design a drug, you need the following fields:

Appearance: The phrase for the container that the drug comes in. For example, "a nanoplastic syringe of Black Nova".

Dropped: A sentence describing said container on the ground. "A sketchy looking needle lies here, full of black liquid."

Examined: The appearance of said container, in detail. I'll leave this one to your imagination.

Class: The class of the drug, which determines the effects. Can be any of the eight drug classes above.

Eat_first: The first person message for partaking in the drug. Despite the name, it doesn't have to be eaten - you could drink it or inject it or snort it instead.

Eat_third: The third person message for partaking in the drug. Uses $(caster$) variables as standard.

Effect_first: The ambient message shown to the user while under the effects of the drug. Only for recreational and hallucinogenic drugs.

Effect_third: The ambient message shown to everyone else. Likewise, only for recreational and hallucinogenic drugs.

I would like to propose a new system for Starmourn’s economy:

COMMODITIES!

Introduce 12-20 new commodities that are purely for trading between stations for different prices. Things such as: various foods, water, batteries, fuel, construction materials, gasses, alchohol, clothing, etc. You know, things that the denizens need.

Now, each station should have an NPC that buys and sells these commodities, and each station should only offer 5-8 different commodities. Every station should have varying prices, and each station should also have 1 commodity that is in high demand that would be bought for higher than average, and one 1 commodity that is in low demand that is sold at below average. The prices, what’s in demand, and stock available should change every day (probably at sync).

So, let’s start at Omni station: You speak with the NPC and are offered the following:

Station is SELLING:

1000 Water for 2 marks each ←-- low demand

50 Oxygen for 8 marks each ←-- high demand

250 Epoxy for 3 marks each ←-- average

250 Synthleather for 4 marks each ←-- average

300 Synthcloth for 3 marks each ←-- average

100 Fuel Cells for 25 marks each ←-- average

Station is BUYING:

100 water for 1 marks each ←-- low demand

800 Oxygen for 10 marks each ←-- high demand

300 Epoxy for 3 marks each ←-- average

300 Synthleather for 4 marks each ←-- average

500 Synthcloth for 3 marks each ←-- average

250 Fuel Cells for 25 marks each ←-- average

300 Batteries for 12 marks each ←-- average

500 Argon for 8 marks each ←-- average

200 Space Juice 3 marks each ←-- average

This would be the current stock for the station of Omni for the day. So, wanting to make a profit you buy 300 water since it’s cheaper than average, then check the COMMODITIES MARKET <commodity> for prices at stations currently offered until you find a station that has water in high demand. Let’s say Izaren has a high demand for water for the day and is buying water for 4 marks each. Let’s also say that the 300 water almost fills your light freighter completely. If you don’t have a freighter, you can only move around 15 or so at a time, so this would be an activity mostly for people with freighters.

You arrive at Izaren with your 300 units of water, and sell it for DOUBLE your investment, making 600 marks in an agreeable amount of time. Water would probably be the most prevalent and available commodity, therefore making a small profit. Some commodities could in general be more rare than others, therefore being more inherently valuable. Such as a specific building material selling for 10 each at lowest, and 30 each at highest; but is rarely available to be bought.

I feel that the commodities offered each day at each station should be finite and the amounts shared by all. So, if Player A buys all the water from Omni, Player B will have to either go to another station (where it may or may not be in low demand) or wait until the next day to see if it spawns more water.

That takes care of the typical commodities, but what about illegal contraband?

Let’s say that occasionally, a station will offer illegal commodities that are much higher value than typical commodities offered. And, on the same day another station would be buying that commodity for a very generous profit. So,Tranquility deepness would be selling 50 units of glitter for 250 marks each and Iota would be buying glitter for 400 marks each: a profit of 7500!

But, carrying illegal goods means being marked for open pvp – Anyone can attack you at any time and steal your cargo and sell it themselves. (if they themselves aren’t blown up before reaching the buyer). The pirate would make a cool 20,000 marks if they had the space to haul it all. But, most likely they would have to make several trips, or divide the cargo between several pirates, or have a freighter nearby that can haul it for them.

And there you have a virtual economy that is engaging, fun and most importantly, profitable to participate in. Simple buy low, sell high tactics to make a fair profit, hauling, and piracy!

TL:DR Introduce commodities that are only bought and sold by stations. Each station having varying prices, commodity types, and demands that would change every day. Commodity units would be LARGE and a few hundred would completely fill a freighter. This system would be COMPLETELY SEPARATE from the current economy, and would simply be a different way to generate marks. Also, smuggling illegal goods for higher profits and pvp.

On the other hand the faction reimbursements sustained pretty well so far, that is without even placing taxes! But then all IRE organizations by nature are tax heavens. And it is really not only on the back of 1-2 players. Some people support far more then others yes but then it is part of the RP in a sense. 

The reward comes after you capture enough of the cosmpiercers and then a time of relative peace strikes. That is a long term investment but some people seem to desire either minimal losses or great gains in short time. And along the stacking captures and cosmpiercer benefits, factions offer their own rewards to promote one activity or another. Clone and insurance costs are pretty low, and the most hit you could get is that your ship could be overloaded with cargo and destroyed in a PvP zone. Those who lose large ships can put those marks back fast enough. 

In the end cosmpiercers are a community activity and people should not look from the perspective of individual. Losses and problems cause your governments to be motivated to find solutions as well. Right now dying in a cosmpiercer would only hurt someone's pride, not their accounts. Maybe one can even see it as a time loss, which is why it is a promoted activity. 

Alternatively we can follow the path of Aetolia ylem battles where there are no losses, some gains which does nothing to impact economy or RP. Essentially a minigame to keep interested PvPers engage each other which most of the time ends with the numerous party to win if the other side shows at all.

Time and again the old thought that reducing the costs of activities would endorse those activities fails because the activity itself practically becomes desensitized from the world. Let me say this, if there was none or extremely minimal losses then why should one care about developing policies regarding military and economy? Why should one motivate others to do certain activities?