The problem with plantations

[Jim Bergerac]

No ... if this thing's going to fly, there needs to be something of real value at stake to the attacker - say a chance of losing an officer, or even maybe a capital ship. Defensive fortifications don't come cheap, &, unlike ships, they don't have any offensive capability.

[Argo]

Stupid question, but what are the risks/ downside to pirates / attacking nations? I hear lot's of talk of maintaining balance, but so far it seems all upside for pirates.

Where is the balance for pirates if merchants no longer need ships?

[xPROx]

Ok well the Plantations owners had to pay 100 credits each port and billions to get them where there worth anything. How about pirates pay 100 credits each port to have attacking rights and Plantations owners get to put a fleet there to guard against attacks

[DezNutz]

Stupid question, but what are the risks/ downside to pirates / attacking nations? I hear lot's of talk of maintaining balance, but so far it seems all upside for pirates.

Where is the balance for pirates if merchants no longer need ships?

That's an obscure and very unlikely widespread problem.

Yes you can run a plantation without owning ships, but not everyone could do that.

The player resource market is supplied by players moving goods from another port. If traders didn't move that resources, eventually you would have to employ ships to move it yourself.

Additionally, if not enough resource is being transported, the supply will exceed the demand and eventually reach a point where the port market will buy your plantations product at a rate equal to or less than your cost to produce it.

[Most Lee Harmless]

Stupid question, but what are the risks/ downside to pirates / attacking nations? I hear lot's of talk of maintaining balance, but so far it seems all upside for pirates.

Where is the balance for pirates if merchants no longer need ships?

The focus is wrong. Yep, a plantation owner can run it without having fleets. But the resources needed to run it have to arrive in the players market via ships. Someone has to carry them there for the owners to buy them. The only resource that does not need carrying there is the one that was always there before plantations.

They dont arrive by magic. They get carried there by ships. If not the plantations will fail due to lack of resources to keep them running.

Same with workers. An owner can buy them on the market but fleets still had to bring them there to be sold.

So, there are still fleets needing to be run and open to assault.

[Argo]

Ok thank you. There has been much talk of late of "no need of ships". Thanks for clarifying.

EDIT: Pro +1

[Most Lee Harmless]

There is a confusing of the desire by some to be able to target specific individuals who do not run large fleets in support of their plantations with some generalised notion that therefore nobody needs to run ships. It is not so. The player markets just mean someone elses ships carried the goods to the port.

The same number of ships carrying the same amount of cargo is still required.

[sXs]

There is a confusing of the desire by some to be able to target specific individuals who do not run large fleets in support of their plantations with some generalised notion that therefore nobody needs to run ships. It is not so. The player markets just mean someone elses ships carried the goods to the port.

The same number of ships carrying the same amount of cargo is still required.

OK so where is the risk to the plantation owner? I run 17 only 4 have any ships associated for any reason. yes those supplying resources do bear a bit of risk, but they mitigate that by being able to set the price of the goods they sell.

As far as my thoughts go..... I would rather pay a bit more for the resources I need in order to eliminate that risk entirely. A matter of priority and preference in my mind.

Therein lies the imbalance. I know I have made back my investment into plantations several times over in the short time, relatively speaking, that plantations have been operational. The only risk I have going forward is if the resource markets dry up. Then and only then will I need to sail ship in support. I can supply most of the resources needed for most of my plantations with a few hawkers...... excluding food. Once your plantation reaches a certain point, wokers aren't a worry either. No need to replenish workers.... or very few needed to maintain.

I am far from being the largest plantation owner and easily make 30-40 mill a day even after buying the resources needed. Going forward,,,, that 30-40 mill a day will not vary much at all.
,
As far as cost of a plantation, figure 200 mill to max out a 500 acre plantation to 5 stars(which you do not need to do). In a port like St Martins, you make that initial investment back in around 428 days. Other ports it takes longer, as Dez said once a port becomes oversupplied, the price the port pays goes down..... Caspian is a good example.It pays 2 GC for every crate it buys.

I supply my plantations for 3-4 days at a time from players market. Larger plantation for around 300-450 each time or 100-150k gc a day . average about 100k per day for each. Times 17 for 1.7 mill a day in supplies total. not bad for 30-40 mill a day in revenue.

My ships are almost all dedicated to other ventures now. I have very little need for them from plantations.

[Most Lee Harmless]

*rant self-edited*

I dont see much point in arguing this feature. I dont even like it.

[Jim Bergerac]

I know Feniks - I see you sniffing around me Vaasburg warehouse quite often for bargains
The simpler solution be to bar plantation owners from the port markets where they operate.
I see one player who would have to commit more resources to merchant shipping at a glance