1. Buying 3000 E Cells at 12 credits at a SPP
(2. Buying 3000 E Cells at 12 credits at an alternative SPP)
2. (or 3.) Unloading 3000 E Cells at designated owned factory
Ships only have CLS2, Nav Com 1, one shield each, and freight bays of 3010 to accommodate everything. I've throttled pilots at Apprentice to simplify things.
After setup, ships seem to complete the loop once or twice. Upon returning to an SPP to buy again, the pilot goes on standby even though the E Cell price sits at 12. In the Property view, their status at the station flickers at "Dest: *name of SPP*" or "Landing at station..." even though they are already there. If an alternative SPP is added as stop #2, the ship will shuttle between the two SPPs endlessly without buying, even when both have prices at 12. Other pilots trade other wares fine, so it seems E Cells are unique in CLS2 (Jump energy weirdness? Refueling vs. buying as a commodity?).
I also recall reading in one of Timsuptonothin's guides that messing with a pilot's route and restarting CLS2 at the wrong time can have annoying consequences, which I may have done
... But the outcome is always the same: the pilot will not buy on their own, even though the price matches and they have the cargo space. I have interrupted CLS2 by manually buying the 3000 E Cells, after which the pilot successfully delivers them and then returns to the SPP, only to wait indefinitely.Interestingly, if I buy a new Demeter and then freight-exchange CLS2 over from one of these lazy pilots, the new ship will execute the loop fine once or twice, and then the frustrating cycle will repeat.
Any advice is appreciated!