The economy downwind

[WhipMaster]

I'm 80 game days into play, sailing around ports of Al'Ankh. By this time prices in port differ not more than 20 lions. There is not much opportunity to make a buck and I'd like to buy a Sanbuq or improve my Dhow. I've collected around 4K lions so far.

Is this planned? Will this economy recover at some point?
What would you recommend?

[MrAxebane]

I've been sailing in Al Ankh about 50 game days, and I'm also seeing less profitable trade possibilities. However, I'm still making decent money by sheer volume of trade, but also by shifting to stuff like Goods, Leather, Rabbit Furs and other more valuable cargo.

However, I also saved over 4,000 Lions, and I've checked the Currency Exchange (on the table above the mission book in Gold Rock City) and found that if I convert my Al Ankh Lions into Gold Lions I can get over 120 Gold Lions, and it only costs 75 Gold Lions to purchase the Sanbuq! So you should already be able to upgrade the Dhow and still have enough to also purchase the Sanbuq if you wanted!

Anyway, to answer your actual question: "How long will it take for the local economy to recover?"

I don't know the exact number, but I think if you stay away from the area for about 2 to 3 weeks of in-game time (enough time to travel across the ocean to another region, and then back to Al Ankh) the economy should have recovered a lot. Of course, crossing the open ocean will be way way safer if you purchase the Sanbuq first, and I realize you might not be interested in ocean travel, so it may not be ideal!

[Odoty]

You have a few options really, and it sort of depends on what you've already managed to buy
If you have a suncompass (or quadrant and regular compass) you can sail across to Emerald in the Dhow if you don't think you will reach the Sanbuq
If you don't have those and are really stuck with anything, it might be worth making another save game in Emerald and seeing what there is there and using what you've learnt to try and save a bit more to afford a bigger boat
Also from AA you can go to Oasis quite comfortably, but Emerald offers you both Fire Fish Lagoon or Happy Bay as a shorter oceanic trip

[Hektor Riven]

I'm on day 120+ and I noticed it's generally hard to trade in Al' Ankh. I managed to get some profitable transports, like above 80 Al' Ankh lions of profit for each, but we're talking about three or four cargos in total.
There are also very few goods available in the non-capital island.

Acceptable profits come from missions between archipelagos, I'm afraid, and I agree that a Sanbuq would be the most reliable way to reach other worlds, even if I heard some did Gold Rock City to Fort Aestrin in a Dhow.

[Thundercracker]

Originally posted by MrAxebane:

I don't know the exact number, but I think if you stay away from the area for about 2 to 3 weeks of in-game time (enough time to travel across the ocean to another region, and then back to Al Ankh) the economy should have recovered a lot

i do circuits of the map, and prices are mostly back to normal by the time i return, so ~75 days.

[Ailika]

Buy the Sanbuq, fill it with trade (and missions because you will need reputation) and go to the other regions, that will end your money problems. I remember the first trip i did from Al'Ankh to the Emerald Archipielago i was able to buy the 3mj straight away and also the Kakam in a couple of trips between the EA islands. After going arround depleting the trade opportunities in the EA i went to Aestrin and was able to buy both the Cog and the Brig.

[jamespfp]

Fun Fact about Al Ankh, the price for fresh fish there is quite good all things considered, so if you were to buy a box of hooks and then catch as many fish with it as you can then sell the fish directly to table vendors or Inkeepers you'd likely make more than 20 Lions in profit over the cost of the box of hooks. Obviously this is time limited now because the fish will spoil, but it is possible to catch fish off the docks and that greatly reduces spoilage.

[boris.glevrk]

Originally posted by WhipMaster:

I'm 80 game days into play, sailing around ports of Al'Ankh. By this time prices in port differ not more than 20 lions. There is not much opportunity to make a buck and I'd like to buy a Sanbuq or improve my Dhow. I've collected around 4K lions so far.

Is this planned? Will this economy recover at some point?
What would you recommend?

Basically you should get the Sanbuq in the first 20 days and GTFO ASAP. "international" trading has much higher income and since (I think) leaving a region despawns the NPC there, being absent from a region seems to also properly reset the market prices.

4K lions should be enough to buy you the sanbuq. And then you can use the smuggling thing to get another 30 gold lions and use that to remodel your ship to some useable extent, then you should just sail to Emerald. Bring some spices/silk with you and then remember to take a quest.

[Thundercracker]

Originally posted by boris.glevrk:

(I think) leaving a region despawns the NPC there, being absent from a region seems to also properly reset the market prices.

it does not. we can even get reports of current prices while out of region.

if the economy just hard-reset if you got too far from a region, it would screw the economies of the other regions, as they trade between each other based on supply and demand.

[theaaronone]

I guess I haven't spent enough time in any particular region to see the economy completely flatline, but I'd think it would *eventually* rebalance, the simulation seems to always be running in the background. Like Thundercrack said, the world prices still fluctuate - stands to reason the local trade should keep going to make that happen so the unseen "NPC Traders" would keep shuffling things around.

Like others have said, I suggest getting yourself the Sanbuq, and heading to Dragon Cliffs with all the nav tools, provisions, and as many missions as your rep and cargo hold allow. With the default rigging on the Sanbuq, Just stay around 31 degrees and head east, you can track your approximate position with the sun compass, and/or clock at noon, check latitude with your quardrant on the north star at night to make sure you're not too far north or south. I usually make it with 9-10 days at sea... Then bounce around that region for a bit, don't forget to head south "off the map" to visit the new island too (Still part of Emeralds/same currency) - your pile of merchant gold should see a significant increase.

After that, head north to Ft. Aestrin - and eventually SW back to Al'Ankh... you'll be gone for a significant amount of time, and if the economy STILL hasn't recovered - I dunno.. flood the market with some previously super expensive item? I'm out of ideas lol