OTU Only: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way from Collace

[Krikkitone]

Exactly, so to compete the jump 1 trader would have to cut costs to 333Cr per jump, take three time longer to get there, have three weeks of life support and crew salary to pay...
let's see you pay off the mortgage with your revenue reduced by over a third.

No, just the J1 ship carries cargoes
1. to destinations 1 Parsec away
2. from worlds where J3 ships almost never visit. (fine I’ll pay 3000 the alternative is it never gets there)

 

[Condottiere]

If you are only doing monojumps, you don't need a great astrogator.

Nor engineers.

I'm thinking, interns.

 

[mike wightman]

Except that a market needs both demand and supply. If I'm running a J2 ship and shippers are willing to pay Cr1k/Td/jump twice to move their stuff two parsecs, why shouldn't I exploit that? Don't discount the cost, just skim off the shipments that want to save a week of transit time, and pocket the change.

There is a flaw. I come along and offer my jump 2 service which is the same price, I can get your goods to market faster, and return with market news faster.
You say "no thanks", your competitor says, "I'll take it." They can now cut costs on the transport to market and thus either make a greater profit or reduce the price to ensure their stuff sells and yours doesn't.

Or if you mean the jump 2 ship says it is jump 1, pockets two jumps worth of revenue for one jump's service you may gat away with it a couple of times, but eventually another jump 2 merchant will come along and do it for the one jump cost.

 

[mike wightman]

Not a bad assessment. That said, it means that the supply of Cr1k/Td/jump cargo space for farther than J-1 is going to be quite small and very irregular. If you're flying a Far Trader, you probably don't have to accept cargo for a J2 at Cr1000/Td on that jump. They'll pay more.

No they won't. They will just wait for the next ship that will take it at cost, unless it is time critical, in which case they may pay more. But the LBB2 trading rules were written for a jump 1 free trader.

 

[Grav_Moped]

There is a flaw. I come along and offer my jump 2 service which is the same price, I can get your goods to market faster, and return with market news faster.
You say "no thanks", your competitor says, "I'll take it." They can now cut costs on the transport to market and thus eithe make a greater profit or reduce the price to ensure their stuff sells and yours doesn't.

Or if you mean the jump 2 ship says it is jump 1, pockets two jumps worth of revenue for one jump's service you may gat away with it a couple of times, but eventually another jump 2 merchant will come along and do it for the one jump cost.

They can undercut, but the operating costs are pretty close either way (within tens of Cr per Td).

 

[Grav_Moped]

No they won't. They will just wait for the next ship that will take it at cost, unless it is time critical, in which case they may pay more. But the LBB2 trading rules were written for a jump 1 free trader.

If they were willng to wait, they wouldn't need J-2 in the first place.

And, yes they were. Also note that the Subsidized Merchant is handicapped to keep it close to parity with the Type A (wasted drive bay space, and carrying a 20Td small craft that doesn't generate revenue). The Liner has a lot of staterooms so the cargo hold isn't too large for the available cargo generated by the trade minigame.

 

[mike wightman]

The "demand signal" gets worked out ahead of time.
"Hey, you've got a Class A starport here, but you're only TL-9? How about I bring you guys some better drives from over at Glisten/Glisten every few months? They can build 'em for cheap, and won't have your funds tied up for long. Deal?"

"No thanks, we get them shipped in by Tukera at cost. all we have to do is advertise for them and prioritise their services."

And if on one of the runs they aren't buying since the last ship they built on spec is still waiting for a buyer, you've got Jump-5 to go shopping that set of drives around to other starports.

Starports that build ships are suppled by the megacorps. There is an adventure to be had where a shipyard messes up with the last Z engine they have and need someone to go get a new one before the customer finds out. There is an adventure, which is what a group of Travellers should be doing.

 

[mike wightman]

Yes. Which means you're not going to reliably tag along on that run with your cheap freight -- that's where your supply of Cr1k/jump freight space would have come from.

And it is such a rare occurrence it is an adventuring opportunity or a special event on an expanded trading minigame.

 

[Grav_Moped]

"No thanks, we get them shipped in by Tukera at cost. all we have to do is advertise for them and prioritise their services."

Starports that build ships are suppled by the megacorps. There is an adventure to be had where a shipyard messes up with the last Z engine they have and need someone to go get a new one before the customer finds out. There is an adventure, which is what a group of Travellers should be doing.

Tukera doesn't come by there that often. Not enough cargo demand there to fill the holds of the ships that are big enough to get anywhere near close to profitability at that kind of range.

And yes, that'd be a good one.

 

[mike wightman]

If they were willng to wait, they wouldn't need J-2 in the first place.

And, yes they were. Also note that the Subsidized Merchant is handicapped to keep it close to parity with the Type A (wasted drive bay space, and carrying a 20Td small craft that doesn't generate revenue). The Liner has a lot of staterooms so the cargo hold isn't too large for the available cargo generated by the trade minigame.

The rules tell you what is available now to be shipped now.

 

[mike wightman]

Tukera doesn't come by there that often. Not enough cargo demand there to fill the holds of the ships that are big enough to get anywhere near close to profitability at that kind of range.

Is there a single A or B starport not on an xboat route? The megacorp trade lanes follow the xboat routes (it was actually set up the other way round)
And Its sub-lines do, as shown by The Traveller Adventure.

And yes, that'd be a good one.

I may use it now, no good adventure seed should go to waste.

 

[Grav_Moped]

The

The rules tell you what is available now to be shipped now.

If you need to ship to 2 parsecs and you can get it done in 1 week, you might pay more. If you don't want to pay more, you might choose to wait (which means it's available as a J2 cargo at up to some amount, but not at a higher one). But RAW doesn't allow for purchasing through-shipment, just one jump at a time.

 

[Spinward Flow]

They will just wait for the next ship that will take it at cost, unless it is time critical, in which case they may pay more.

Or there's always the charter option.
A third party "buys out" the load capacity of a starship (at 90% cost for that capacity) and basically gets to have that starship at the third party's "beck and call" for interstellar shipments.

Consider that a mainworld may have what amount to "seasonal exports" (think agricultural products, if it helps) and that third parties on that mainworld are eager to have a standing contract (for charter) at particular times of the year when the "bumper crops" of whatever commodity get harvested.

If there are no interstellar exports, that means that (see: supply/demand theory) the prices for that commodity will "fall" in that local market due to an oversupply. However, if there are interstellar exports, the supply side of the equation can be "moderated" and producers can simply export the "excess" beyond what is needed/demanded by the local economy for sale elsewhere. So instead of the government subsidizing the producers of the goods for export, the government subsidizes starship operators in order to export goods to help stabilize the local world economy.

Or to take a different (real world) example in durable goods, rather than in perishable agricultural products ... the TESLA factory in Shanghai operates on a "cyclical" basis of production for the domestic market (in China) and the export market (Europe, Canada/Mexico, SE Asia, Australia/New Zealand, etc.). So when looking at production on a monthly rather than quarterly (or annual) basis, some months in a quarter are dedicated primarily to producing for the export market (when the transport ships are available) and some months are dedicated primarily to the domestic market. The production "run rate" of the factory is "relatively stable" while the destination for most of the products coming out of that factory VARIES from month to month (domestic consumption vs foreign export). It then becomes possible for third party transport services to "anticipate" when demand for transport services will be needed for foreign distribution and plan the movements of their transport assets accordingly to meet those needs for export capacity.

When you can reach the point of "predictable demand for export services" that's when third parties can start to step in as middlemen to organize charters of transports, so as to create a predictable demand for services.

Ideally speaking, in CT terms, you wind up with a subsidized starship that spends a LOT of each year (~70%? ) operating under charter contracts, to meet "predictable" home port export/import needs. The "remaining" portion of the year (~30%? ) the starship is free to do tramp trading and engage in speculative goods arbitrage.

But RAW doesn't allow for purchasing through-shipment, just one jump at a time.

NOT TRUE.
All that is required is for a starship to DECLARE ITS DESTINATION(s) to enable multi-jump shipments. The written example cited earlier expressly called out and highlighted intermediate destinations when explaining how tickets work. Bold text added to highlight what people ought to be paying attention to.

LBB2.81, p4:

Interstellar travel is priced on the basis of accommodations; prices cover a trip from starport to starport, encompassing one jump, regardless of length.

LBB2.81, p9:

Differences in starship jump drive capacity have no specific effect on passage prices. A jump-3 starship charges the same passage price as a jump-1 starship. The difference is that a jump-3 ship can reach a destination in one jump, while the jump-1 ship would take three separate jumps (through two intermediate destinations, and requiring three separate tickets) to reach it. Higher jump numbers also may make otherwise inaccessible destinations within reach. But for two ships of differing jump numbers going to the same destination in one jump, each would charge the same cargo or passage price.

RIP ticket pricing per parsec in CT (because GURPS is a different system).

If a starship declares, in advance, where it is going for its next 3 jumps. it can get passengers and freight tickets bound for any of those next 3 destinations ... not just the next 1. However, by "committing" to those additional destinations beyond the first, any deviation from that "plot" is going to cost the operator, because the operator is still going to be bound by contract (see: tickets) to deliver passengers and/or freight to those destinations (you still have to deliver, but if you "take the long way round" you're not getting any extra ticket revenues for deviating from your pre-planned route). So if you deviate from your plot, your revenue tonnage remains "occupied" (assuming you don't "dump" it somewhere rather than deliver it) and you don't get any new ticket revenues while that revenue tonnage remain "undelivered" to the intended destination(s).

Good luck Rules Lawyering™ your way out of the obvious, clear and repeatedly stated intent for how tickets are supposed to work (per jump, NOT per parsec) in CT.

The rules tell you what is available now to be shipped now.

Even more to the point, the RAW tells you what is available to be transported aboard YOUR starship only, depending on where you plan (and declare, in advance) that you are going to be going.

If you have a "set" route that you follow, without deviations, this means that you can basically keep your manifest full at all times.
Why?
Because you can declare "all" of your successive destinations AT EACH port of call.
You aren't just selling tickets to the "next stop" along your route, you're selling tickets to ALL OF THE STOPS along your route simultaneously.

Think about it in terms of a J1 Free Trader operating along a J1 Main somehwere.

1. Destination 1: 2 high passengers, 6 low passengers, 30 tons cargo
2. Destination 2: 1 middle passenger, 4 low passengers, 10 tons cargo
3. Destination 3: 3 high passengers, 10 low passengers, 40 tons cargo

With that, your manifest is functionally "full" even though no single destination is claiming more than 50% of your revenue tonnage capacity. But you're leaving your point of origin with what amounts to a full shipping manifest ... you just need to commit to (and declare) enough destinations in advance to fill up your shipping manifest and then "refill" with new tickets as you deliver along the way, in effect "rolling over" your revenue tonnage on a somewhat continuous basis.

I figure that THIS (multi-destination planning) is what most J1 Free Traders wind up needing to do along otherwise "uninviting stretches" of J1 Mains (such as the journey between Regina/Regina to Equus/Lanth) in order to keep their manifests full for the length of their journey through economic backwater regions (the Spinward Main through Lanth subsector has TWO of these low population "dead zones" along the way).

This kind of operational model is not cleanly compatible with tramp trading ... let alone tramp speculative goods arbitrage trading.

Tramp trading means "letting the economic winds blow you towards your next destination" from each delivery point. You aren't planning more than 1-2 destinations in advance (with 1 being the most common). As a tramp trader, when you arrive you discover what needs to be shipped where and then choose the option that provides the most revenue for your ship based on that demand at each starport. You aren't "planning ahead" to be anywhere in particular, you're just "going with the flow" of whatever looks like the best deal for your operation at each decision point.

Tramp speculative goods trading is advantaged by NOT having a pre-planned route in mind. That's because if you're able to score a cheap purchase on a lot of speculative goods, you want to be able to alter course to the best destination to sell that lot of speculative goods at the most advantageous arbitrage price. Having a pre-planned/set route interferes with that goal of turning around speculative goods for arbitrage profits at the highest possible operational tempo.

And it's at THIS point that the details of maps and the "arrangement of trade codes" to engage in tramp speculation arbitrage starts becoming incredibly important.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Allow me to elaborate further on the point that I've been making up until now ... and why it's important to USE A MAP when thinking about these things.

Let's say that you're a merchant and your home port is Vilis/Vilis/Spinward Marches.
The region of space you have to operate (usefully) in looks like this:

If you're an operator of a J1 Free Trader ... and you do not have double jump capability you're basically going to be limited to the Vilis Trace as your region of operations.

Your best options for passenger/freight demand are going to be:

1. Vilis/Vilis (population: 9)
2. Garda-Vilis/Vilis (population: 8)
3. Arkadia (population: 8)

Your best options for speculative goods arbitrage are going to be:

1. Vilis/Vilis (Industrial)
2. Choleosti (Non-industrial) @ 1 parsec from Vilis/Vilis
3. Frenzie (Non-industrial) @ 3 parsecs but J1+1+1+1 from Vilis/Vilis
4. Stellatio (Non-industrial) @ 3 parsecs from Vilis/Vilis

Not exactly a lot of choice or opportunity for favorable speculative goods arbitrage beyond the Industrial/Non-industrial axis of options.
The way I imagine a J1 Free Trader would want to operate in this region would be primarily between Vilis and Garda-Vilis (for passengers and freight tickets while avoiding C- starports and piracy and misjump risks). If an opportunity for a non-industrial speculative goods opportunity aries, you can divert through Choleosti to try and make a big sale/cheap buy.



If you add a collapsible fuel tank to your cargo hold, you can add Margesi/Vilis and Saurus/Vilis to your list of destinations, either of which would be good to have as Agricultural, Non-industrial worlds. Saurus is probably the "better" of the two options (being a Green Zone rather than an Amber Zone) and the "piracy risk" is actually lower at a type D starport than it is at either a type C or E (or X) starport, according to LBB2.81, p35 encounter tables.

Diversification into adding agricultural worlds into the speculative goods opportunities mix will be "worth the investment" into a collapsible fuel tank in the long run, I'm thinking.

---

But now change your assumptions and start thinking in terms of longer range in a tramp speculative cargo arbitrage operation.
Look at the map again and see if you notice anything.

Non-industrial worlds are "plentiful" in this region of space (marked on the map by use of italics for Population: 5-6 worlds and underlined italics for Population: 0-4 worlds), so it won't be difficult to "reach" a non-industrial world with J2-3 from almost anywhere on this map.

But if you're a merchant who doesn't mind "going beyond Imperial controlled space" but doesn't want the "hassle" involved in going through customs in Zhodani or Darrian or Sword Worlds controlled space, there's only a few worlds in the rimward half of this map that are going to be of interest to you as a speculative goods arbitrage trader because of their trade codes. These worlds, which are not inside the boundaries of polities other than Imperial are:

1. Rushu/Qrerien (Agricultural, Rich)
2. Nonym/Darrian (Non-agricultural, Poor)
3. Dekalb/Qrerien (Rich, Water World)
4. Thanber/Qrerien (Poor)
5. Margesi/Vilis (Agricultural, Amber Zone)
6. Vilis/Vilis (Industrial)
7. Saurus/Vilis (Agricultural)

However, to "get at" access to most of those trade codes, you're going to need a 3-5 parsec range in order to sustain a "useful tempo" of moving speculative goods around for arbitrage sales.

• Nonym/Darrian (Non-agricultural, Poor) and Dekalb/Qrerien (Rich) are 4 parsecs apart.
• Dekalb/Qrerien (Rich) and Vilis/Vilis (Industrial) are 5 parsecs apart.
• Thanber/Qrerien (Poor) and Margesi/Vilis (Agricultural) are 5 parsecs apart.

If you need to move a speculative goods lot from an Agricultural world to a Non-Agricultural world, without entering the controlled space of a non-Imperial polity, you've got 2 choices.

1. Margesi/Vilis > 4 parsecs > Dekalb/Qrerien > 4 parsecs > Nonym/Darrien
2. Rushu/Qrerien > 4 parsecs > Dekalb/Qrerien > 4 parsecs > Nonym/Darrien

What this all adds up to is an astrogation context in which double jumping is going to be a "useful capability" to have in a tramp speculative goods arbitrage trader (to get to "best resale value odds" markets) and that there will likely be a substantial value in having J2+3 capability for those runs between Dekalb <> Vilis as well as Thanber <> Margesi.

It's POSSIBLE to make a lot of this still work with single J3 capability, but it gets "clunky" and slow to move around between ideal markets when constrained by needing to refuel after every jump. Dekalb and Thanber (for example) are only accessible when jumping through either Quare or Choleosti, for example.



This is perhaps my most "obvious" example of a context in which J2+2 or J2+3 (without refueling) is "required" in order to have enough range for a tramp speculative goods arbitrage trader to have the widest possible range of opportunities to buy and sell with the greatest odds of being able to profit from the journeys. You need to have a "collection of trade codes" that are "close enough" to reach within 1-3 (4 at the most) jumps from your current location at almost any point within your region of operations ... and that requires having A MAP like the one that I've provided above, which shows you ALL of the trade codes in an easily accessible and readable at a glance format. You basically need the starship equivalent of a portolan chart that details which locations will be most favorable to buy and sell speculative goods at.

A truly ambitious merchant would set up "local offices" in Dekalb, Thanber, Margesi, Vilis and Saurus whose job is to buy up speculative goods that come available each week (at reasonable prices) and then warehouse them until the operation's starship "drops by" to pick up the goods and take them away for sale elsewhere. That way, instead of having just a single starship "checking for opportunities" at each starport the operator visits (1 starship, 1 check per business week), you instead build up an organization that is "checking for opportunities" at ALL of the starports EVERY week and buying up the "best deals" as they become available. The organization then just needs the starship to "show up" and haul away the speculative goods to wherever the highest resale value ought to be found. In other words, develop a "network of suppliers" for speculative goods arbitrage in which everyone gets a cut of the profits. You would only need like 2 starships to service transport shipments between those 5 worlds (Dekalb, Thanber, Margesi, Vilis and Saurus) in order to MAKE BANK for the entire operation.

Note that what I'm describing here is the kind of "penny ante" small time operation that works like a megacorporation ... except on the small operator end of the scale.

 

[Spinward Flow]

But now change your assumptions and start thinking in terms of longer range in a tramp speculative cargo arbitrage operation.
Look at the map again and see if you notice anything.

Aaaaaand ... I just talked myself into realizing that a J3 clipper design DOES have enough of a qualitative advantage to be worth the engineering expense involved. if you need to transit 5 parsecs without refueling, J1+2+2 is better for ticket sales ... but J2+3 is better for a higher tempo of speculative goods arbitrage profit windfalls.

Looks like LBB2.81 F/F/F drives @ TL=10 in a 400 ton hull for J3/3G/PP3 performance in a clipper ship is back on the menu!
Why?
{ points at Vilis/Vilis/Spinward Marches }

See the tech level there?
{ waits patiently }

 

[mike wightman]

Jump 3 does appear to be the sweet spot. For a group of PCs I wouldn't bother with jump 2 after making as much profit as possible with the jump 1 free trader. Once you can bankroll a couple of free traders and give them enough operating capital to buy any speculative trade it is likely time to buy your jump 3 ship, preferably outright with the profits from your jump 1 ships.

Your idea of paying someone to be on the lookout for speculative trade items is a good one, and so is building your own purification plants on each planet you trade with. I like each PC to have a few characters on the go at a time, scattering them about a subsector not only allows for the speculation game but also provides more opportunities to throw adventures their way.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Jump 3 does appear to be the sweet spot.

Yeah. It does.
I talked myself out of it (in the context of District 268) and now I've talked myself back into it (J3) when based out of Vilis/Vilis/Spinward Marches.

Small tangent ... who do we thank for the update to the Vilis world page on Travellerwiki?

For a group of PCs I wouldn't bother with jump 2 after making as much profit as possible with the jump 1 free trader.

I wouldn't necessarily look down my nose at the J2 Far Trader, particularly as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. There are going to be some regions where J2 is a superior option than J3. One of the locations in the Spinward Marches that comes to mind would be the Aramis subsector, simply because of the arrangement of the stars.

Of course, trying to generate profits with a J2 Far Trader in the Aramis Subsector is basically "playing on HARD MODE" when it comes to trying to make ends meet on starship operator balance sheets. The lack of variety in trade codes means that the speculative goods opportunities are going to be somewhat meager and "less impressive" than you would find in other regions.

One of those "better regions" for trading in speculative goods arbitrage using a J2 Far Trader would (ironically) be in the region around Vanejen/Rhylanor/Spinward Marches, which would have some pretty good arbitrage opportunities.

Another location where J2 "is plenty" for what you need would be running along the border of Regina/Lanth subsectors, potentially going as far to Trailing as Focaline/Aramis and using either Regina/Regina or Paya/Aramis as your home port for annual overhaul maintenance cycles.

My point being that there are going to be contexts where a J2 Far Trader is "good enough" for what you need to be doing as a merchant.

Once you can bankroll a couple of free traders and give them enough operating capital to buy any speculative trade it is likely time to buy your jump 3 ship, preferably outright with the profits from your jump 1 ships.

A trick question is going to be WHEN is the right time (on the balance sheet) to do so? How much profit will you need to "bank" before you can "safely" expand your operation with another starship (and crew)? Considering that @ J3 you're mostly going to be gambling wheeling and dealing in the speculative goods markets, you're going to need some financial cushion remaining in order to make really EXPENSIVE buys for speculative goods lots if they become available. I'm thinking that having MCr40 as a financial reserve AFTER buying a speculative goods arbitrage clipper makes a pretty decent amount of sense ... so if you're buying starships with "cold hard cash" to avoid bank loan mortgages, you're going to want to have construction costs plus an extra MCr40 available before you commit to making a purchase like that, as a business that wants to remain solvent (and growing).

Your idea of paying someone to be on the lookout for speculative trade items is a good one

I have my moments.
However, it does require an "interstellar business operation" that is larger than any one single starship (and her crew).

so is building your own purification plants on each planet you trade with.

Depends on what kind of setup you have going and where you're operating.
In some locations, importing and maintaining your own fuel purification plants on worlds you trade with MAY wind up being more trouble than it's worth (because stationary assets like that must be defended if you don't want them to be taken from you). In a lot of ways, it's often times going to be more economical to just put the fuel purification plants on the starships, rather than basing them on worlds you frequent, for reasons of reliability/accessibility/security/maintenance/etc. meaning that they'll be less hassle in upkeep to deal with (and a very different logistics tail for your operations).

If you're on a FIXED route that you never deviate from, building fuel purification plants on world surfaces CAN make economic sense.
For a tramp trader that rarely knows where you're going next ... building fuel purification plants on world surfaces CAN wind up being a liability rather than an asset (or better yet, a stranded asset!).

I like each PC to have a few characters on the go at a time, scattering them about a subsector not only allows for the speculation game but also provides more opportunities to throw adventures their way.

Having an "ensemble cast" of characters for Players to work with in a particular region of space, allowing Players to "wear different hats" at different points in the game can make for a more expansive effort in world building that is more immersive than having Players work with characters who are limited to the crew of a single starship.

Less a kind of "Star Trek" story about a hero ship and more of story about "A Game of (corporate) Drones" who are all trying to not go bankrupt while the hero ship makes everything possible.

 

[Carlobrand]

Fundamentally, there are only two options:

1) Noncanon - the Imperium is a free market (maybe a little too free since we have corporations shooting at each other).

2) Canon - the Imperium is not a free market. (The heavy hand of Imperial law lies on it, reinforced by megacorporations with armed ships, private armies, espionage networks, and the will to use them to maintain dominance over upstarts.)

The thing is, the Spinward Marches are huge, and they're only a small part of the overall Imperium. 250-some billion souls among 271 Imperial worlds ranging from TL15 Trin and Mora with 10 billion each to 876-574 where they're knapping flints. No natural explanation for a Cr1000/jump rule can fit every possible transactional situation for every possible pair of worlds in the Marches. There will inevitably be traders and shippers who go their own way for their own reasons. Moreover, the game declares the Cr1000/jump rule rather emphatically. Ergo, interstellar trade as described in canon is not free trade.

 

[mike wightman]

The Imperium champions free trade. The Imperium encourages free trade, The Imperium protects free trade.

That is the official line, always has been. But, as has often been said by people with a lot more insight than me, you have to read between the lines.
The folks at GDW, either intentionally (in which case they are genius) or unintentionally (in which case they are unwittingly genius) used an unreliable narrator to hide things in plain sight. The racist bias of the Third Imperium, the minor status of the Aslan, the mustache twirling mind reaming villainy of the Zhodani, the Hivers, all hidden in plain sight.

The Imperium champions free trade, providing the megacorporations or merchant lines that line the pockets of the nobility are doing the free trading.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Moreover, the game declares the Cr1000/jump rule rather emphatically.

Indeed it does ... if you know where to look (and understand what you're reading).
However, that rule is "inconvenient" for people who want "more money" to be available from ticket revenues ... so things like the per parsec rather than per jump interpretation keeps cropping up whenever someone designs a starship that is inherently non-viable economically on ticket revenues alone.

After all, if the rules (as written) don't work for you ... change the rules until they do.



The simple fact of the matter is that CT stipulates an expectation of Cr1000-2000 per (revenue) ton per jump for passenger and freight tickets.

The one exception to that is the transport of mail ... which is Cr5000 per ton per starport destination (not per jump!) in revenue, but is limited to only 5 tons (so Cr25,000 maximum limit). I highlight the difference for mail deliveries to point out how mail cannot be delivered to an "intermediate destination" that is an empty hex on the map while double jumping (for example).

Double jumping is "advantageous" to revenue tempo (Cr per day) with passenger and freight ticket revenues.
Single jumping is "advantageous" to revenue tempo (Cr per day) with mail and also speculative goods arbitrage.

One Size Does NOT Fit All when it comes to "best practices for all things at all times in all circumstances and contexts" you see. Navigating that "tension" between what is best, when, requires knowledge, skill and savvy from merchant operators.
Why?
Because the river will provide ... so long as it doesn't sink us first.

Anyone who wants to do a little bit of reading on the Rules of Acquisition can do so during their down time in each jump.