killthrush

I'm thinking part of this should be based on players pushing back on low rates. Bidding on a job with a counteroffer might be a solution. In order for missions to work they need to be viable within the economy, taking fuel costs, risk, and time investment into account even for the Aphelia missions. As they stand right now, virtually none of the missions I see on a given day are worth taking. But for 2X the rate? maybe.

It seems like tax rate shouldn't just be a constant but some function of player activity instead. In other words, as the active playerbase increases, so does the tax rate and vice versa. Perhaps derive this from a percentage of market trading volume? If the economy is healthy a tax rate as a counterbalance to inflation makes a lot of sense. If the economy is cold (i.e. like it is now), taxes will kill it.

hey hey everyone, I'm loving this game so far. Can I have access to discord please? thanks!

Degradation of materials and constructs seems like it would be necessary in order to sustain a player-built economy IMO. Otherwise, scarcity would continue to be forced downward, as would prices. Entropy is a fantastic sink, and I really like the idea, especially allowing for wide variation across materials/components/etc. Don't want to grind on repairs? Pay someone a fee to cover the market price for mats and overhead of repair systems. Or keep spares. Don't have a trusted mechanic? Buy your own mats, bots, and equipment and cut out the middleman. Don't have the money but lots of time? Hack together your own manual repairs and patches (or have your pet do it) - just enough to keep the lights on. Or, live dangerously as some have suggested and do absolutely nothing - your cheap ship may blow up but you can always buy or build another one. As long as the methods are economically balanced this should be fine and should suit lots of playstyles. Entropy could also (eventually) make for some VERY interesting planetary mechanics for example the need to build ships differently for use on different planets - corrosive atmospheres, extreme heat/gravity, etc. My #1 concern would still be the player economy though - in order for this game to work at all the economy needs to be *real*, for all intents and purposes.