Is there a difference between the prices for the cargo from a prize ship, if I auction it with the ship or sell it to a trader?

[Fluen]

Would one of you, who made the auction, algorithm tell me, if there is supposed to be more profit in auctioning a prize ship with its cargo or sell the cargo to a trader first and then auction the empty ship?

 

[Grey Roger]

I'm not sure, but it's certainly quicker. Both in game time (selling to the store can take hours, sometimes days, whereas selling the ship plus its cargo in the shipyard is instant) and in real time (one click, ship and goods all sold, done; versus go to the store, sell each type of cargo on each ship individually, then go back to the shipyard to sell the ships). Time is money, especially if you have any quests active that have a time limit.

Which means, even if I'd get better prices by selling the cargo separately, I probably wouldn't do it. In the time it would take to sell all the cargo separately, I can be back at sea looking for something else to capture. So as far as I'm concerned, regardless of the prices, selling the cargo along with the ship is both more profitable and more fun.

 

[pedrwyth]

The intention was that there would be no difference = no exploit. (apart from the time difference @Grey Roger noted - but this is logical since it is the shipyard owners time to waste unloading the ship if you sell it with cargo)

I have also included a shipyard interface where now if you sell a ship with cargo you get the same values as in the shop (including if tradeLow) and also if you downsize and thus auto sell off some cargo the prices match. I also fixed the fact that in this last scenario the shop monies were not being reduced at all in line with the money you gained.

There remains a slight (longstanding) glitch in that if you go to the store with no ship but still auto trade (you fool) the canny shopkeeper does sell you minimum goods even though you can't take them anywhere so you lose some money he gains and keeps the goods - but surely you wouldn't be that much of a mug? would you?

It was a good few years ago and by now I wouldn't guarantee it actually does behave that way. The note about the balance of the auction transaction was aimed at providing a better idea of the contribution of cargo v base ship.


At the time there was more discussion on whether the cargo of a prize ship should be locked and forced to be part of the prize. However that was left to the player to decide in the end.