There should be some XP for trading. Maybe through burying treasure?

[Aetrion]

There really should be some way to get XP from trading and making lots of money, because right now it's kind of silly that if you play as a trader you basically have to go out of your way to start fights if you want to have a high trade skill or attain perks like Peddler or Entrepreneur.

If you simply run trade routes you get no XP for doing so, which isn't all that bad because of the relatively low risk involved, but it's still annoying that a large portion of the traits and skills are in fact extremely useful to traders, but can't be attained unless you are a fighter.

So I'd like it if there were a few changes to the way the game works in regard to trading:

1. Make pirates attack the player when they are carrying super expensive cargo, even if the players fleet is more powerful than the pirates. Simply assume that the pirates found out what you're carrying and are willing to take the risk of fighting a superior fleet for a potential huge payday. That way there would be more fights that naturally come out of running trade routes, and skillfully avoiding combat or finishing the fights with minimal losses would still help your bottom line even if the enemies who attack you are generally weaker than your fleet.

2. Add some kind of system that allows players to take money out of the game in exchange for XP. Maybe add a system that lets you bury your treasure, and then the money is simply gone, but you get 1 XP for every 10 piastres buried or something like that. That way if you don't want to deal with fights at all you can still level up your character by just burying a lot of treasure.

[Bobby Digital™]

maybe they could give a small amount of xp for every 5,000 worth of goods traded. that could be tweaked of course.

[tnoPLUTO]

Sad thing so far as a trader is....you can't even upgrade your trade skill. no exp...

[Aetrion]

Yea, that's the biggest issue really. If the levels were all just combat skills, that'd be one thing, but there are skills and traits that are a cornerstone of any successful trade character, and you can't get them by trading.

[Mr Chill Chill]

I started out with the intention of becoming a trader, and like you I found it odd that XPs weren't being added. I eventually joined England so I could establish a foothold in Mexico to pick a fight with the locals and also start a few businesses. It wasn't long before I was able to level up a bit.

[gravos_frappe_fort]

Yeah same i'm a complete trader build, but i have to fight, and also you can't buy out cities, you either persuade governors to join you ( so they must like you, so you need to do stuff for them= combat) or you conquer them for which you need to be a captain = renown= combat.

Of course you can always simply have a huge party and not fight yourself, but you still need to have combats in both cases. But a lot of people would say that the end goal of this gameplay is mostly have your own party and fight another party.

Also admittedly trading it's really fun in itself, i mean i had to create an excel to plan the most lucrative routes with which vessels etc ... :D

[Aetrion]

Yea, but you need XP to have a powerful party as well, because again, leadership, herbalism, surgery, the various commander traits etc. all make a significant difference to how well others fight for you.

[tnoPLUTO]

It's not that all traders do not want to fight at all. Sometimes I chase some bandits down, not because of the exp, but for a little diversion. What bothers me is the necessity of fighting to get experience.

[Aetrion]

Yea, the issue is that you need to kill people to become a better trader. I wouldn't have any problem with the system the way it stands if XP was purely to up your fighting ability, but it's for increasing everything, so it should be gained through everything.

[Bobby Digital™]

look at it this way, defending yourself from ne'er do wells was a way of life back then. especially for people trying to make a fortune in selling and trading goods.

[gravos_frappe_fort]

And it's known that you can have brilliant trading ideas with your guts spilling out and your hand unsteadily aiming a pistol with your last bullet to shoot a ne'er do well who's aiming at gutting the rest of you.


... The same applies for herbalism, and other such skills. I do concord with there being a need to distance some skills from others, but yet again how would you gain "intelligence" while fighting huh ? :D

But yeah a minimum of XP for trading would be nice, but it'd say something like per day you'd get your profits of the day divided by (a high number to be decided upon) to get how much XP you'd get. Like that both traders and fighters would get some XP. Maybe put it together with the reset of good in the early mornings. Or possibly something with your total amount of gold and not just what you gained today but that'd be too easy to grow exponentially.