New Trade Hub Models

Just a simple (on paper, anyway) request:

New trade hub models for Amarr, Dodixie, Hek and Rens (the latter two can utilize the same model).

Something along the lines of the Jita 4-4 trade hub, but obviously themed for each Empire.

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I like it.

However, I feel that the efforts of such a graphical update may go lost to most players if CCP doesn’t also put in effort to spread out the player base away from Jita.

Faction bonuses for producing faction-related materials in each of the quarters of space, for example. Or additional trade taxes based on amount of trades, so that people could trade at better prices outside Jita.

2 Likes

That’s a new twist - I like it. I wouldn’t have a problem with lower taxes on the other non-Jita trade hubs (or any of the smaller NPC hubs as well). Keep Jita taxed higher.

Just as soon as they become real trade hubs again rather than just regional markets/null ports.

Jita got its model because no other market even came close

So how exactly do they become “real” trade hubs again? I assume you have a suggestion or idea here…

Players begin to actually use them as such.

It’s hard to call something a trade hub when it can’t even manage to keep large conflagration or shuttles properly stocked lol

Yes, but how do we achieve this? Lower taxes? Simply wishing and wanting doesn’t make it so…

Players won’t use other trade hubs than Jita if there’s no reason to use those other trade hubs though.

There needs to be some incentives to play in other parts of the game and use those markets.

But there’s no need to make that happen. Jita wasn’t incentiviced it’s just what the players made it.

The other stations can have unique models in the event the same becomes true for them

Then it won’t happen - simple as that.

If only travelling between the hubs wasn’t such a ■■■■■■■ bore. You know, like maybe if they were closer together.

They were, but we had to lengthen this and establish a bottleneck for… reasons. I think it’s been great for Jita - but all the other trade hubs have suffered.

Funny how a simple request for a few new structure models devolves into a trade hub discussion.

So the request still stands - even if trade in the alternate hubs is still down.

Funny thing is that the regions should be further apart for other trade hubs to establish.

The healthiest secondary trade hub of the list, besides Jita, is also the one furthest away from Jita: Amarr.

After all, it makes no sense to start a trade hub only a few jumps out of Jita when customers can much more easily fly to Jita for their shopping.

Another sign that ‘closer together’ has been bad for the health of secondary trade hubs is that over the years the game kept making it more convenient to shop at one central location, Jita.

Chaining filaments to Pochven and filaments out of Pochven - the “Pochven express” coincidentally drops people in Caldari space the majority of the time, and can be initiated anywhere in the game. Okay, anywhere but wormhole space, but still. Easy 15 minute trip to Jita? Who needs other trade hubs!

In other words, the trade hubs need to be less conveniently close to each other to thrive.

This brings other possible ways to incentivise the use of other trade hubs:

  • all four factions on their own high sec islands, separated by low sec systems
  • risk for the currently risk-less Pochven express: disable cloaks for some minutes after filament use

this in addition to the options I already mentioned before:

  • production bonuses for creating faction-related items in faction space (e.g. minmatar ships in minmatar space)
  • trade tax based on amount of trades in the region (find cheaper trades outside Jita!)

Things like that, small changes that make it more convenient to shop at regional markets instead of going to Jita will make the regional markets thrive.

Your suggestion of shorter routes to Jita will do the opposite: why shop at a regional market if Jita is right nextdoor?

Other trade hubs won’t become bigger without incentives by CCP. CCP has over time made it more and more convenient for the game to have a single trade hub, and made it more and more convenient to travel to Jita from anywhere in the game (Pochven express) so it’s no wonder people rarely use other markets nowadays.

This is why my first reply to this suggestion was that new station models would go lost if CCP doesn’t also incentivise people to go elsewhere than Jita.

This is not something for players to change - players just play the game as it is designed.

This is something for CCP to change in the design of the game: make it attractive to build and trade outside Jita.

The reality is that we’ve seen a mass exodus of players from many of these regions. Without a decent playerbase to support a central trade hub it’s no surprise that some of these are suffering.

The last time I shopped at Amarr it left me with sticker shock - everything was easily 15-20% more than it would’ve fetched at Jita (in addition to not having many of the common items I needed).

I don’t know about the other three trade hubs, but they’re probably not that far off.

So you can move them further and further apart - but I suspect players will just end up congregating closer to Jita as a result.

Maybe, in the future CCP will get another new office building(s), and we can build new models.