Posted by: Father Tim
« on: April 11, 2010, 08:02:00 PM »Quote from: "Beersatron"
That would be cool, but then you have to think about how could one Empire's Wealth be useful in another Empire's Wealth. The trading of minerals would be practically and easy to RP as would actual research topics but I would imagine trading Racial Tech could get a bit 'far fetched'. In saying that, there is already a mechanism for transferring tech and whole ships through ruins/salvaging and then boarding combat.
Did I just talk myself into a circle?
Which is exactly how it worked, when it worked. Two (or more) empires with populations on the same planet/moon/whatever could trade minerals, technology, and eventually ships (for other minerals, technology, or ships) in an bid/offer system (eg 'selling 2000 sorium for 1000 duranium' or 'selling 20cm Plasma Carronade for 20,000 any mineral'). It predates the wealth system, which is why it doesn't take wealth into account, and is one of the reasons why the Planetary Market fell out of use (it didn't ever get update to account for Wealth, and we (the users) argued whether wealth should be transferable between empires).
Any reference in the fiction to trading technology or minerals is referring to the Planetary Market - or possibly to SM mode 'handwaving' for roleplaying purposes.