A discussion of the available info on the economy and various professions in Star Citizen. Please remember that while official sources are used whenever possible, everything is subject to change in the alpha phase. Feel free to discuss, dream, refine, revise, correct or add anything - all input is appreciated. Best viewed in classic mode, oldest first. (Previous Thread - RSI Forums) _________________ Important Note... With the ongoing release of information, some of the info at the top of this thread may be obsolete and will be updated in time. Clicking on archived links may log you out of Spectrum. _________________ Useful Links Tony Zurovec explains everything Quantum (video) Quantum AMA Prison AMA Player Status System AMA Service Beacons and Reputation Land Claims and Nodes Galactapedia ARK Star Map OLDER: The Economy The Shipyard Mining Exploration Piracy Cargo Interaction Science and Research Repair and Maintenance Salvaging Medical Crew Stations Galactic Guide Crafting Desired Professions - RSI Forums Alysianah’s World of Star Citizen (Additional sources are provided a few posts below this one) . Professions The basic design goals for all of the professions in Star Citizen: "...a variety of challenges requiring skill and intelligence, whereas mindless repetition of a task and idle drudgery are explicitly avoided. There are no aspects... that allow a player to simply press a button and wait without concern for a result, or that require players to perform an action repeatedly without some element of thought and/or dexterity coming into play." "Star Citizen will support a diverse set of occupations, each with its own unique set of challenges and rewards. However, there is no artificial concept of a character having to select a specific profession or character progression based upon gradually incrementing numeric attributes. The only thing that dictates your success or failure at a given endeavor are the actual capabilities of you and your companions and the equipment you bring to bear." - Tony Zurovec These are some of the 'supported' occupations: Racer, Fighter pilot, Starliner Pilot, Mercenary, Explorer, Bounty Hunter, Merchant, Hauler, Pirate, Privateer, Mining/Harvesting/Gathering, Search & Rescue, Salvaging, Repair & Maintenance, Scientist/Researcher, Medic, Industrialist, Data Runner, Journalist and Courier (see "Desired Professions" above for lots of other possibilities). *See also: 'Crew Stations' below for specific roles within a ship's crew Missions Supported professions will be offered a mix of scripted, dynamic and modular missions that keep the economy running. Missions can be acquired in several ways, such as through the mobiGlas, the local TDD (Trade & Development Division) job board, or from Service Beacons. A simplified diagram showing how every action is connected in a dynamic mission generation system: Commodities These are some of the types of goods that can be bought, sold and traded - legally and illegally - in the Star Citizen economy. Basic Goods: Manufactured items, standard products and commodities Premium Goods: Items that have been enhanced through performance tuning/overclocking etc Unique Goods: Items not available through the production chain, i.e. Vanduul knives, rare loot, mission rewards, alien artifacts Raw Materials: Found, gathered, grown or mined materials, i.e. ore, gas, timber, water, grains Refined/Processed Goods: Products refined from raw materials, i.e. fuel, steel, lumber, purified water, alcohol Salvage: Reclaimed materials, data, items and components that can be repaired, used, sold or repurposed Examples: diamonds, malt liquor, processed food, plutonium, hydrogen/gas, quantum hyperconductors, mobiGlas, optical processors, water/liquid, ore, thermoplastics, ammunition, clothing Economic Nodes and the Supply Chain "The Star Citizen universe is made up of literally thousands of nodes that drive the economy. A node is an abstract entity that accepts one or more types of input goods and outputs one or more types of output goods... Every inhabited area will consist of, at the minimum, a single population node, an entertainment node, and a landing node." "Players and organizations who amass enough wealth can take control of individual production nodes and begin building an industrial empire. The most aggressive entrepreneurs may take over whole sections of a supply chain and begin producing their own goods for sale on the open market – if they can keep the resources flowing. But be warned – some large corporations don’t appreciate competition!" - Chris Roberts Logistics "Running some of the larger ships will cost significant resources and you’ll need people to contribute to that. Missiles will of course also cost... People are really going to need to work together to figure this stuff out and fund it." - Erin Roberts "...you don’t deploy or use capital ships, even corvettes, as casually as you would an Aurora, Starfarer, or other personal-scale ship where you can tool around space on a whim and cover your operating expenses with casual profits." - Steven Turberfield Regardless of the profession, there are several fees, supplies and resources that need to be managed. These include things like taxes, docking fees, hangar rental, insurance premiums, fuel, medical supplies, repairs/upkeep, ammunition, wages (hired crew), food, oxygen, water. Items like ships and weapons will show wear and tear with use and will need to be maintained. Insurance Chart by @mammon Resource Gathering "...multiple roles of substance are presented, each of which is referred to as a specialist. Every role can occupy the full attention of a player and present sufficient challenge to keep them engaged, or assigned to an NPC whose skills are commensurate with their monthly cost." - Tony Zurovec Mining and Salvaging involve a combination of exploration, skill, and logistics. Spaceborne gases can be collected from gas giants and extrasolar sources and refined into fuel. There are multiple types of fuel: basic and quantum are confirmed. Larger ships are capable of tractoring in spaceborne junk and asteroids. Farming was added as a profession with the MISC Endeavor; this may require collecting seeds and plants Other types of gathering may be required to stock up on supplies if you're stuck in a remote location Manufacturing and Production "If you go to a factory and the AI has bought all the missiles, there are no more missiles for purchase that turn. Now, of course, if nobody's buying any missiles, there's a big inventory. First of all, the price of missiles would go down, but then also that factory is going to be running at a loss, and so maybe it starts to lay off some of its people." - Chris Roberts "Crafting" (manufacturing) in Star Citizen has been compared to SimCity's system. (see also 'Performance Tuning' below) The production process consists of getting the proper equipment, gathering materials, refining materials, producing goods, transporting goods, improving basic goods (performance tuning), and selling goods. Factories and storefronts on planets can eventually be owned by players. Factories can consist of multiple production nodes. Production nodes are specific to a certain type of item, such as a laser or lumber. Refining can be done on board ships as well as at factories. Production quality is potentially impacted by employee happiness. Economic missions and prices are generated dynamically based on the demands of the supply chain, including piracy. At each step in the process an NPC will fill the role if a player is not available. Production is turn-based. You will need the proper grade of electronics, materials, and a certain amount of workers to produce x amount of items per turn. Factories will create an order for whatever they're missing. The orders will go to the mission boards. AI will fill the order if a player doesn't. If your factory is doing well, purchasing more machines will attract more employees and the population of that planet will actually grow as a result. Factory mismanagement will lead to unemployment and unhappiness, which will cause increased crime and piracy in a star system. There is a planned companion app to help manage production when not logged into the actual game. Items and Loot "Loot drops are a huge source of inflation into an economy... We definitely want to have a salvage mechanic but our current leaning is that it will be something closer to being a Robert Ballard inspired shipwreck finder than a loot-fest pinata whacking simulation. :)" - Pete Mackay Most items in the game will come from the manufacturing system/supply chain. There will not be traditional loot drops or loot tables as found in many MMOs. We will be able to salvage some items from destroyed ships, if they survive the explosion. Intact ships can be boarded and looted. Unique items can be found in the universe, from bosses and other sources. NPCs are unique and will disappear from the world when killed, they can't be 'farmed'. Population "We actually have a full Universe simulation that... simulates about 20 million AI agents." "it's a pretty decent, high-level simulation, and that information is then fed to the system servers and the game servers, and that will help determine, when you're flying around, whether or not you will encounter NPC's or not, and whether those NPC's are fighting each other, in conflict, or what's happening." - Chris Roberts Each star system will be made up of NPCs and players. The player population will be about 10% of the NPC population. NPCs are living, working, trading, pirating, manufacturing, etc., just as a player would do. Players will not be able to spike the economy, the number of NPCs working and trading will help keep things in check. There will always be a market, even if players aren't currently filling it. NPC activity that isn't visible to the players is simulated in the background. continued...