So, I hit level 2 in all but Drilling, didn't really think that one would happen as it's slow. I think I'm around half way to 3 in prospector and surveyor which is nice, well on my way to getting back to where I need to be. Still haven't had to hunt only for stones/fruit, which is great, I have sold some of what I have found while mining to keep it all going. I now, for the first time ever, have enough of one of the free things to find to have over a pec of it. I must say, Panda must be eating lots, because I've found over 1,000 dung! Now we just need to teach him to clean up his own mess. Nothing major this weekend, up and down on mining as usual, ended up with some profit after switching back to rookie gear, I think I'll be stuck on that for awhile again. Largest find with rookie so far: VIII, largest with normal TT finders this time around: XII, so I'm guessing with rookie gear a VIII is like a XII with normal stuff. ;) Anyway, my highest PED card since coming back to all of this has been 60 PED, that was nice to see but it went back down way too quickly. I am now around 7-8 PED. All in all I'm pleased with how I'm doing, not so pleased with how I utilize my profits. My major goals are way too far out and I need to come up with some more reasonable immediate ones, perhaps I'll just try to save up to get some amps going, that would be fun and I never got very far in using them, though when I did use them I really did enjoy them. One of my future thoughts has been to skill up/chip in some medical so I could get back into healing for PED, though this time around I'd want to buy some armor and plates and probably get my skill to the point of being able to do business on CP, though I need some input on this. Does anyone think if I spent some time getting what I need and then advertising myself on CP I'd actually get some good business? I'd have to be able to make enough PED in a couple weekends to pay for trips back and forth, so please keep that in mind (I can't sit still that long, drives me crazy). Also, any advice on how to figure out how much I should charge? Before I'd charge decay plus 5 PED for an hour and I'd accept tips if the run was profitable and the people were happy with their results, but I'm not sure how others do it. Anyway, I'm sure this thought is at least a few months out, need to have some really great runs to pull this off. Oh, and healing tool suggestions are welcome too, need to figure out what to invest in.
Hmm... I know the reason you stopped playing the first time was to spend more time with your family, and I assume that you are still managing your time with them well. (not playing hardcore hours) So although I don't know anything about CP personally I would advice against it. In order for you to pay for your tickets back and forth you would need to put in some time, which is fine if all you wanted to do was skill healing. But I assume you want to continue mining and hanging with your soc as well, so I think committing to a service profession away form your home planet would be a bad idea. I have spent the summer trading/playing on Rocktropia which is different but has some similarities, 1. Travel fees - more for me 80ped round trip, less for you 2. Time to recoup fees - I spend about 2 weeks 3-5hrs a day per trip - im guessing your looking at 10hrs or so? 3. Time away from soc activities - I miss all soc activites and hunts except for 1-2 weekends a month - you mostly mine, but I think you usually do healing for your soc hunts, so would miss out on them 4. Soc chat is always there for both of us, but probably easier for you as a lower rank than for me as a General trying to run the soc from a distance. 5. Skill gains vs. cost vs. time - I only traded for the first part of the summer after my big hof because I didnt want to waste it all if any of the bad loot period theories were true but have picked up hunting lately and been skilling ALOT about 1kped cycled a day untill the noob invasion when I quit to help with that. - You could get just as many skill gains for healing on calypso with less invested in equipment. (I think) 6. Fun Factor - Big mobs, different atmosphere, Traveling to new places is alot of fun and its a game, so do what you think is fun ;) GL doing your research and making your decisions ;) narfi
Well, the reason I was thinking CP is because I know there are quite a few bigger hunters up there, so I might be able to get some work. I don't mind being up there for a couple weeks, I'd just need to know that there are people up there who might hire me. I'd be playing for a couple hours at a time, most likely Friday and Saturday, so that gives me at least 4 hours per week, possibly more, I have to manage my time wisely, if I stay busy I'll stay longer (more weeks) of course, it's not like I'm missing much when all I do is mine. As far as soc events, currently I'm not really doing any, I'm not a hunter and I'm trying to keep myself focused on my goals ATM. I'm hesitant to just FAP for the soc, I feel like I'm being given a handout instead of earning something (some people are far too generous). I think my biggest barrier right now is figuring out which side of healing to go for, traditional FAP or mindforce? I see at about the range of 20hp/sec MF is the least eco, however as far as the cost of FAPs it might be the cheapest. Obviously I can't afford one of the top tools so it is really limiting. If I chip in the MF is about half the cost to get up to the right level. In reality, what I need to know is: 1) Would someone on CP actually hire me if I were there? 2) What is a good way to charge for the service? 3) Which direction should I go for healing between the two or does it matter? 4) Any other helpful suggestions?
I'm pretty sure Black Hawk would appreciate some FAPing. Other than that, generally the big hunters are big enough to do their stuff, and you'll not be able to make a serious impact on their healing without uber equipment. You will still be a tasty mob target, then you'll find running back and forth gets very old, and so will the person hiring you. (This is one benefit to being at CP over Eudoria, as the real hunts that anyone cares enough to take a fapper, will be so far away that you'll spend a fortune in ME trying to get back whilst pissing them off with 'Co-ords plz') Generally speaking hunters hunt economically alone and in groups for the crazy stuff, I think you'll have a hard time getting business and if you do it'll have to be very cheap. I'm not sure about the margin after repair of say gremlin and appropriate plates along with your fap and any travel costs. Also it's really important to be crystal clear over the charging and what you'll actually do. Considering that globals mean shit, I've spent nights in dome 4 where we've had around 8 globals, one or two of hof standard split over 5/10 people and it's been a big 'ol wet kipper in the face when counting the profit. Unless someone gets an ATH while your fapping them, don't economise to get more than a ped. As Narfi said, I really think you need to look hard at what you want to achieve and the lengths you'll go to. Travel is a massive waste of the very marginal profits, look at spending at least a month in one place. The longer you spend in isolated communities like CP, the higher the chance you'll make friends and possible business, stick around in the revival areas and fap the newly undead. They'll almost always thank you, and it's a good lead-in to advertising. Running around dome 4 shouting 'FAP SERVICE' 10 times in chat will really piss people off, get people to understand the benefit of what you're offering. It's important to establish your primary market, by knowing what you're targeting situations that you can take advantage off will more readily present themselves. For example, you could decide to target 'Noobs @ CP'. You can develop the service and add value that other people don't take the time for. Such as finding people that want to try out CP, offering them advise about armor, weapon, etc. It's all basic stuff that you can find on the forums but it's a service, because your joining the dots for someone else. Maybe you'll also work up contacts with pilots, so you know when and where to get quick flights, show the newbie around CP - how many times I got hopelessly lost up there! You'll be fapping them - your core business - but by adding value to the service, you'll have happy clients who realise the benefits of your service and may well stick with you. But if they don't you'll have a sustainable model (new business coming in). You see this is a far cry from thinking of simply clicking a button in a game, to using real world thinking to run your own business, something you can be successful at, good luck.
