Guide to Trade Beacon ErisEn

Aster's Trade Beacon

"Why do they need that many medkits?"

The Aster's Trade Beacons are a system that allows the CEV Eris Aster's branch to import and export goods with external clients. Operated via the Trade Program, these beacons are the key to the wealth of universe. Aster's is not responsible for any potential hazards related to the rapid and repeated use of the Trade Beacons including burns, unusual roaches or tears in reality.

Location

The Aster's Trade Beacons can be found on the bottom floor of the Guild area and can be controlled from any modular computer-like device with the Trade Program installed on it. A disk with the Trade Program can be found in the same location should you need to install the Trade Program on a new device like a personal laptop.

Beacon Operation

The Trade beacon is operated with these steps:

1. Open the Trading Program on the computer. If it is not installed a copy of the program can be found in the Aster's Trade Guild area on the bottom floor.
2. Ensure that the sending and receiving beacons are linked.
3. Link the appropriate account to the program. For purchases or exports, any account can be used. In order to manage requests or access historical transactions the Guild department account will need to be linked.
4. Select the appropriate partner on the Trading Network. Each partner has specialized sets of wares and orders specific to that partner.
5. Make the profits!

Importing Goods

The Guild's partners on the Aster's trade network sell wares related to their specialization ranging from surplus goods to design disks to unique goods not otherwise found on the Eris. Anyone with a bank account may purchase goods through the Trade and Trade Request programs.

Items that a user is planning to purchase is referred to as a cart. A cart may contain items from several trade partners and can be saved if the order might be repeated in the future. Carts are finalized by clicking the shopping cart button at the bottom of the Trade programs.

Exports and Offers

The Guild's partners on the Aster's trade network do not necessarily buy any old junk, but instead specifically purchase certain items that the other groups on the ship may produce. What these outside entities will buy can be found under the Offers tab. Offers will change on a set period, varying the amount of items required to fulfill the Offer request and the payment reward.

Fulfill an Offer with these steps:

1. Select the Trade partner you are fulfilling the Offer for.
2. Go to the Trade Screen and select the Offers tab
3. For any offers you have the items for and wish to fulfill, press the checkmark button in the send column.
4. If you have multiple offers you wish to fulfill at once, you can use the Fulfill button in the top right to complete all valid offers you have the materials for.

Items that are not part of any offer may also be exported in general with the Export option but will only credit the Guild department account and will not improve relations with any of the Trade Network partners. It may however be useful for disposing of embarrassing or inconvenient items.

Items exported do not need to be in mint condition or necessarily have all components installed.

Where do I get Export Goods

The Guild does not necessarily generate goods on its own and doing so is often time consuming and risky. The other corporations and even the vagabonds may be tapped to provide goods however either with agreements to split profits or by making bounties via the Bounty Board program.

New Trade Partners

The Guild's partners on the Aster's Trade network pay attention to how much the CEV Eris branch buys and sells. Buying items or fulfilling export Orders increases the standing with that beacon. Increased standing unlocks additional purchase categories and reveals additional trade partners who have their own set of wares and offers. The standing with other trade partners is global to the Eris which means that if the actions of a department unlock a new trade partner, all other groups on the Eris will be able to see and access the wares of the new partner.

These traders may also be found by physically navigating the CEV Eris around nullspace via the Navigation console on the bridge, regardless of other reputation.

Request Fulfillment

In addition to making profit for itself, the Guild is also has the privilege of permitting or denying other users access to the trade network. Using the Guild department account, users of the Trade Program can Approve or Deny purchase requests made from the Trade Request program.

Trades vs Requests

You may notice that there are two variations of the Trade program. This is because the Trade Beacon Order Request system attaches a handling fee to orders which is awarded to the Guild on fulfillment of the request on top of charging for the order itself. Meanwhile orders made by the Trade Program do not have this surcharge added to the cost of the order.

As the Trade Program can only be found on the disk in the Guild, it can be a target for theft by those who wish to bypass the Guild's gatekeeping position to the Trade Network.

The Guild will see all data associated with a request, such as what the request is purchasing, who is purchasing and the reason why the request is being made. Usually the Guild does not have much reason to deny these requests but the ability to deny requests may be used to punish those the Guild deems as a threat or to extort additional favors for quick fulfillment.

A special case to note is requests made by vagabonds. Since vagabonds by default do not start with a bank account, all requests they make will be through the Guild account or a personal account owned by a gainfully employed member of the crew.

Additional Notes and Tips

• Remember to unlink accounts once you are done using the Trade Program. Leaving an account linked makes it vulnerable to being drained if someone breaks in.