Gifts?

[Sabaithal]

Been seeing beside both fine meals and spacefly caviar a "(gift)" text. What exactly does this mean? Do these items have an alternative use aside from selling them?

[The Nameless]

Some do. In the case of the caviar, it's used in the Split plot at more than one point; I recommend not selling it. Seminars appropriate to skill level can be given to pilots and managers to train them. Most things may be a subject of a random 'deliver this-or-that' mission. This isn't Dragon Age or SWTOR though, and there's no romance plot to be triggered by giving somebody a flower.

[Cassian]

Would be nice if gifts could be used to increase morale. My managers seem to be losing morale rather fast.

[The Nameless]

Originally posted by wimpy:

Would be nice if gifts could be used to increase morale. My managers seem to be losing morale rather fast.

Make sure the station has enough cash in its account, and if you have a workforce, it's well-fed and medicated. Otherwise your manager is sad.

[Sabaithal]

Originally posted by wimpy:

Would be nice if gifts could be used to increase morale. My managers seem to be losing morale rather fast.

I was more thinking using them to instantly increase faction relations.

[The Nameless]

Originally posted by Sabaithal:

Originally posted by wimpy:

Would be nice if gifts could be used to increase morale. My managers seem to be losing morale rather fast.

I was more thinking using them to instantly increase faction relations.

There's a mod out that lets you bribe them (not to make you an instant hero or anything; just enough so you have docking rights back and can tell the difference between smugglers and security ships so you can shoot badguy mass-traffic to make further improvements.)

[Fartikus]

Can I replace food with spaceweed to keep residents happy?

[Psycho 78]

Originally posted by The Nameless:

Originally posted by wimpy:

Would be nice if gifts could be used to increase morale. My managers seem to be losing morale rather fast.

Make sure the station has enough cash in its account, and if you have a workforce, it's well-fed and medicated. Otherwise your manager is sad.

Not sure if serious. If serious do you need to supply the station or will station-assigned trader ships get what they want?

[The Nameless]

Originally posted by Psycho 78:

Originally posted by The Nameless:

Make sure the station has enough cash in its account, and if you have a workforce, it's well-fed and medicated. Otherwise your manager is sad.

Not sure if serious. If serious do you need to supply the station or will station-assigned trader ships get what they want?

Of course I'm serious.

The amount of credits in the station account definitely affects manager morale; I've seen it happen in my game. For full morale you need the recommended balance in the account. If you have less, your manager's morale will be lower.

I've heard that an under-supplied crew can actually cause the manager to leave. That was in older versions, when managers also had an annoying tendency to simply vanish regardless, and may not be true anymore if it ever was. I've never had a case where that was definitely what cost me the manager, and I can't confirm any correlation between supply levels and manager morale, but I don't know if you want to find out what happens when your station crew runs out of food.

NPC traders will bring food and medicine to your station if you have credits in the station account to pay them and trade in them is not restricted; as long as this is going smoothly and your station is making money, you may not have to do anything about it at all.

Subordinate traders assigned to the station will gather food and medicine from the distance they're allowed to travel, again provided the credits are available, and also if the correct type of food is in range and the stations are supplied, trade is not restricted, you haven't set your buy offer price too low, etc etc etc.

By far the easiest way to supply a station crew with food and medicine is to simply create the modules on the station. For Argons you will need meat, wheat, and spices to supply your food ration modules; just wheat and spices for medical supply modules. Meat, wheat and spices are all made from water, so you'll need to start with water refineries to supply them.

All races need spices, I haven't memorized what all goes into their food by race. I'm not sure if medical supplies are race specific or not; it could be that all races need wheat for their medical supplies, or they may need the race-specific vegetable ingredient. I'm pretty sure that whatever they're made out of in the first place, all medical supplies are the same in the end.

Bottom line, if you want your manager to have high morale, see to the care and feeding of your station.

On the bright side, NPC stations need food and medical supplies too, so if you have more than your workforce needs, it's just more stuff to sell.