We received several questions on how trading works. Here is the brief explanation needed to avoid conspiracy theories.
This high profit trading is not a mistake. OW is risky and you can lose everything. One successful run should set you up for a while, one robbery should not discourage you from trying again. Game should not waste player time by forcing him to do 100 runs. 1 run is as risky as 3. This is a final view on trading.
Making profit
- Source - Supply: resources are brought for trading to county capitals (mostly based on their historical origin)
- Demand - Consumption: resources are consumed in county capitals
- Weak demand - resources can be also sold in any non-consuming port but at a lower price
- The further is the consumption port from the source of the resource - the higher the profit (can reach high multiples)
- 1 very long trip using wind boosts can make more money than several short trips
Supply
- Types of supply: there are cheaper trading resources and there are very expensive trading resources. Every county capital has a variety of resources from cheap to expensive
- Cheaper resources: are brought in great quantities consistently
- Expensive resources (Madagascar jewels): are brought to Caribbean from time to time
- If expensive resources are not there - trading IS NOT NERFED - they just were not brought yet (they are rare and expensive for a reason). Just buy other goods or find another less competitive county capital to exploit (hint: or hit other traders getting all the goods for free).
- You can no longer place contracts on trading goods (One of the best community proposals that was implemented). This allows you to buy the goods if you are in the port right after their delivery by NPCs
NPC Traders
- You can get expensive resources by hitting NPC traders or Player traders too.
- NPC traders no longer very cheap heavy goods and are only dedicated to trading. You might hit those jewels near the very distant port and half a million
This will be enough to get you started.
Community Request: well constructed trading guide (video or paper), if we like it it will be posted across all game channels for fame and glory.