Currently, the best method for grinding trade routes is to sail to each and every outpost, buy the entire stock of commodities, and only sell the sought-after commodities where they’re due.
Many of us have already figured this out and made > 1 million from this.
I think it’s a bit too simple as is. The optimal trade “routes” are really just one big circle.
They’re supposed to change each week I’ve heard, but that would have essentially no effect on the mindless circular laps we’re going to take.
So my goal here is to propose suggestions that would encourage actual risk-taking and strategizing.
Change 1: A more volatile market
Let’s be honest. We all compared the commodities to the stock market. Let’s make it moreso.
The market should update every couple hours (maybe on the hour every hour or every 3-5 in-game days), changing the surplus and sought-after commodities of each outpost. For simplicity, they could all be on a cycle that the player base could collectively learn and predict. Even better if each of the outposts update at separate times.
This would serve to place risk on all commodity exchange, as the value of your cargo will fluctuate, and you’ll have to rechart your course often in order to keep up with supply and demand. (Bonus: this could add extra purpose to the pocket watch by tying the market changes to specific dates.)
Change 2: A more complex market
Currently, exactly one outpost ever has a surplus of a given commodity and exactly one outpost seeks it. Instead, we should allow the case that multiple outposts seek or have a surplus of that commodity, the case that none do, and the case that one outpost seeks or has a surplus of multiple.
This in tandem with Change 1 would simultaneously add higher risk to buying standard-value commodities (they may not be valuable at all), higher risk to buying in bulk in general (the
value may plummet in the next cycle), and higher reward for accepting those risks (a worthless commodity you stockpiled could see a surge in value in the next cycle).
These changes could open the door the much more strategic pathing and purchasing behavior. Crews would have to act faster in order to keep up with the supply and would have to make tough calls in order to predict the demand.
Investing in particular commodities should be an investment and it wouldn’t always pay off for you. But when it does, you’ll make some serious dough.
Imagine: Every outpost has a surplus of raw sugar, so you spend the hour touring the map, buying raw sugar in bulk, then the market shifts... and... nothing. Still, nobody wants your sugar. You start to feel regret. As you continue trading other commodities the market shifts once again and you see that raw sugar is sought-after at Golden Sands, and you rush over to cash on 30-40 crates of the stuff and claim 400k gold as your own. Perhaps on your way you battle a Reaper as well, one who knows your haul, its worth, and its destination, and they hunt you as you try to make good on your investment.
