X3:TC Help with trading please!

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Silzter
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X3:TC Help with trading please!

Post by Silzter » Mon, 22. Jul 13, 00:30

Hi guys, I need your help with my trading system as I'm desperate to find out what I'm doing wrong. I currently have over 10 sector traders distributed over Ore Belt, Home of Light and Argon Prime, and a Silicon Mine L. Hovever I make money at an INCREDIBLY slow pace, or sometimes, not at all... I expected it to be totally different as I read in some forums that with sector traders you'd raise millions really fast...
I just want to know what to modify in my system... Thanks for your help!

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willyshop
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Post by willyshop » Mon, 22. Jul 13, 01:08

If I understand you correctly, you have 10 sector traders over three sectors? If that's the case, that could be the root of your problem. There are only so many deals to be made, and they are going to keep competing with eachother. Keep aneye on them, and if they go into standby all the time try moving them around to other sectors. Once they get to level 6, you can start to expand their trade range.
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IronMask
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Post by IronMask » Mon, 22. Jul 13, 01:25

I'm pretty new to this as well, but I'll drop my $0.02.

As willyshop says, you have too many traders in too small an area.

It's like when you're manual trading. You do a few runs between a couple of sectors and then you have to move on because you've either exhausted the supply, or filled up all the factories. That's just the way it works.

If you have one sector trader running two or three sectors (on their own), they should keep going for a fair old while.

I started my first ST of in Dukes Domain and he did fine. Once he was a high enough level, I increased his range and that was that. ST to UT in a matter of hours.

As far as I understand it, don't have sector traders overlapping each other unless you're okay with them going on standby a lot. The only ones you can get away with doing this are CLS traders because you can specify for them to trade in different commodities.

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willyshop
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Post by willyshop » Mon, 22. Jul 13, 01:46

IronMask wrote:As far as I understand it, don't have sector traders overlapping each other unless you're okay with them going on standby a lot.
Above a certain level (20 or so) they will start to avoid going for the same deals. Even before that, some overlap is alright, for example STs in neighboring sectors each with a range of 1. Depending on the location, each could have access to five sectors, of which only two would be shared. This means they will likely go for different trade opportunities.
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Honved
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Post by Honved » Mon, 22. Jul 13, 14:48

First, if you move one of those sector traders to Power Circle, and another to Antigone Memorial, they should find a few more deals that they can make, and train up faster than if they're competing with 3 other STs. Once they reach level 6, you can restart them as a "Local Trader", a Sector Trader with a RANGE of "0-1". That "1" will allow them to operate in the sectors adjacent to where you assign them, and you should see a VERY noticeable increase in their profitability. The game will automatically prompt you to enter the range (0-1), and that range can be increased by one every two ranks. Increasing the range beyond that runs the risk of them venturing into Pirate or Xenon sectors, so you have to decide whether the extra range and profit is worth the added risk. At Rank 7, you can convert them to a Universal Trader instead, where you allow unlimited range in exchange for the higher risk of them going places they shouldn't.

Meanwhile, limit your STs to one per sector, so they're not in direct competition, and they'll train up faster.

Once trained up to level 8-10, you can restart one in Home of Light and another in Herron's Nebula, with Range 2, and they'll cover the majority of the Argon Prime vicinity. A third, restarted at rank 10 in Argon Prime, will help distribute items from the northern end of the region to the southern. You can probably run about 5 "Local Traders" in the area before you saturate it. Any extras will probably be more profitable if relocated to other areas.

That Silicon Mine of yours will be in direct competition with the ones in Power Circle and Herron's Nebula, so it won't be nearly as profitable as one in some part of the map where there's a shortage of silicon wafers, although a CAG should eventually be able to market enough silicon to make a modest but steady income.
Last edited by Honved on Mon, 22. Jul 13, 14:52, edited 1 time in total.

ajax34i
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Post by ajax34i » Mon, 22. Jul 13, 14:52

Yeah, some overlap is ok, but not until each one of those traders can cover a +3 jump range around their base sector. And then you overlap the edges of their areas, not the core. Example: Herron Nebula +2, Home of Light +2, Queen's Space +3, Seizewell +3.

ahob
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Post by ahob » Mon, 22. Jul 13, 21:27

You may want to restrict the range to 0-2 sectors, though, as within this range a trader will go for the optimal deal. With larger ranges (3+ sectors) the deal is chosen more in a random-walk fashion. At least it is like that in X3TC after v2.1.

Probably this manual is useful, as I understand it is from a dev. (The thread is in German, just opt for the English download link.)

AgamemnonArgon
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Post by AgamemnonArgon » Mon, 22. Jul 13, 23:26

I like to start my traders with quite a distance between them.
I prefer they are activated in different parts of space as they are pilots of the races they begin at.

That adds more to the game immersion for me.
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