System Sustainability

[Enoki]

What are they gonna do? FEED US?!?

You will get used slowly to make more Soylent Green...

 

[Enoki]

...to the population?

Yes.

IMHO, that's a lousy scenario.

Smuggling food in is fine, selling it to the starving is something else. Profiteering from their suffering is on another level.

Player 1: "Yes, let's see, 25,000Cr and I'll pilot the trader to Bastion V"
Hero NPC glares at that player. "WTH is wrong with you? Give me the keys, I'll fly it."
Hero NPC2 "Lock and load, I'm in", gives disparaging glare to Player 1.

The dictatorship has declared all meat illegal. You are smuggling in 200 tons of bacon cheeseburgers...

 

[Grav_Moped]

The dictatorship has declared all meat illegal. You are smuggling in 200 tons of bacon cheeseburgers...

Well, that's it then, isn't it?

200Td of bacon cheesburgers and a well-equipped mercenary cadre to lead the revolution!

(The cadre's cultural liason suggests that part of the cargo be burgers without the bacon or cheese, in order to elicit the broadest possible support for the burger uprising. Depending on the timing, some may need to be the fillet o'fish variant.)

 

[Grav_Moped]

...or, the shorter alternate joke: how many cheesburgers can fit into a standard Drop Capsule?

 

[Condottiere]

You have to pay the mercenaries.

 

[Condottiere]

Or else.

 

[Grav_Moped]

Ok, but no touchy fishy.
(Darn. Can't get the gif to upload -- image is link to imagur, which hosts a copy of the animated gif. It's pretty much what you see in the preview, but animated and with captions.)

https://imgur.com/eJXr6Xf

 

[Condottiere]

Success only compensation package.

 

[Commander Truestar]

...to the population?

Yes.

IMHO, that's a lousy scenario.

Smuggling food in is fine, selling it to the starving is something else. Profiteering from their suffering is on another level.

Player 1: "Yes, let's see, 25,000Cr and I'll pilot the trader to Bastion V"
Hero NPC glares at that player. "WTH is wrong with you? Give me the keys, I'll fly it."
Hero NPC2 "Lock and load, I'm in", gives disparaging glare to Player 1.

It is a lousy scenario...but, one many criminals would take up.
And, a job "do gooders' would take up if they could get donors to pay for...and donate food cargoes for.....

Either way, you emerge from jump with an established vector and check your arrival location.
You confirm your existing vector will bring you to an intersect with the world you targeted
Then.....You go dark. You shut down everything, drift and wait....

Soon enough, you have to spark things up and make the burns to insure you hit the planned LZ "dead on"
(1: Can we not use "dead" on???
2: Stop whining about the terms I use and strap in!)

As soon as you hit dirt side, knowing the dictator's forces are on the way, people start crowding the ship and some of them are armed.
it's too late to just dust off when you realize....
....a lot of those crowding onto the ship had plans to leave the world with us - and weren't prepared to take "No" for an answer
....a some of those had plans to "take the ship" so they could get those they cared about off world...
....a a smaller number of them figured your ship would have weapons, which they could use to strike back at the Dictator and maybe...
...maybe...kill him!!!

So, yeah, the idea to get rich may suck ...to you... But, that's just the door you walk into..
the crazy show you actually see is much different than what was on the theater marquee..

Use your imagingation

 

[atpollard]

IMHO, that's a lousy scenario.

Technically, isn't that the scenario every time the SPECULATIVE CARGO rolls a 400% sell price?
You just landed with something in CRITICALLY short supply that people will pay "whatever" to get.
Is it less sinister when they are "Electronic Parts" instead of food, and desperately needed to keep the Air Purifiers working on a Tainted Atmosphere?

The Starship Crew just seldom cares why the Broker got such a high price, they just drink a toast to their good luck at the Starport Bar (where Locals are not allowed), then look for someone DESPERATE to sell something for 50% of Base Cost.

 

[Commander Truestar]

Technically, isn't that the scenario every time the SPECULATIVE CARGO rolls a 400% sell price?
You just landed with something in CRITICALLY short supply that people will pay "whatever" to get.
Is it less sinister when they are "Electronic Parts" instead of food, and desperately needed to keep the Air Purifiers working on a Tainted Atmosphere?

The Starship Crew just seldom cares why the Broker got such a high price, they just drink a toast to their good luck at the Starport Bar (where Locals are not allowed), then look for someone DESPERATE to sell something for 50% of Base Cost.

Not every situation.
Back in the 1980's I had a short term job with a retailer during the onset of the Cabbage Patch Kid doll craze
It came along with an insane demand for the game "Trivial Pursuit"

So, one Thursday afternoon, we all get called into the back stock room by the owners.
It seems their suppliers had sent them the last 2 CPK dolls and three Triv. Purs. games.

The owners were so frightened the store would be mobbed by a wave of "I MUST HAVE IT's" followed by other waves of "YOU MUST HAVE MORE! YOUR LYING!"...
Stores were having their windows smashed and the sales floors destroyed.

So, the owners said, "we're giving these out to which ever of you wants it so long as you put it in a bag and not tell anyone we had them"
So, I got a free copy of Trivial Pursuit thanks to a metaphoric roll of 400%

IN the years that followed, the dice switched to 80%, and now....much worse

 

[Condottiere]

And now, we invest in GameStop.

 

[Grav_Moped]

And now, we invest in GameStop.

Line Goes Up.
Buy The Dip.
HODL.

Yeah....

If you can't pick out the "mark" at your poker table, guess who it is?

(Cynical... me?)