Surf the stars in search of aliens, wormholes, and unclaimed loot in this strategy RPG MMO. Trade at ports or excavate planets to build cash reserves, then invest in drones for hunting low-level aliens that drop money and superior starships. Combat drains resources, so pick fights wisely-victories yield experience and honor, but loot does not always cover costs.
Fuel powers your minimalist ship, gathered actively or offline, with scanning and towing big objects burning the most. Attacking weaker ships flags you as open loot, marking your nameplate red and exposing you to penalty-free attacks that strip cash and disable stealth. Form or join corporations to guard wormholes, share defenses, and dominate star clusters-ideal for fast typists who thrive on keyboard-driven play.
Surf the stars looking for Aliens, wormholes, and unclaimed loot. Trade with ports or excavate planets to earn money. With cash, you can buy drones for Alien hunting. Even low-level Aliens carry cash and may well have a better Starship than yours. Since combat costs resources, you'll want to ensure that you can win before engaging in battle. Even when you win, however, you won't always show a profit from the loot. Even so, an honorable kill will earn you experience and honor.
Your ship will launch with a large amount of fuel, and you'll incrementally gather more fuel whether you're active or offline. Movement takes very little fuel, especially if you travel light. But some activities burn much more. Repeatedly scanning for nearby starships will consume fuel far faster than travel. Towing large objects around with your ship also costs a lot of fuel.
One last bit of advice; don't attack any ships lower level than yourself until you're quite clear on the risks. You can become flagged as 'open loot' for that and it brings several disadvantages. First and most importantly, you'll become an honorable target for everyone -- which means that anyone can attack you without penalty and loot your cash and ship if they win. Avoid flagging yourself and your ship and cash will be safe in combat. Second, your ship normally disappears after a short cool down period when you log off. But if you're flagged, your ship remains visible until the flag expires. And, lastly, any stealth effects that you may have are disabled while you are flagged. Note that none of those penalties apply if you attack an 'open loot' flagged ship -- of any level. Flagged ships are easy to identify by their red nameplates.
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A short introduction to Starship Traders MMO
Starship Traders MMO looks like a cross between a modern MMO and a graphical version of a traditional MUD (Multi User Dungeon). The player starts out in an unknown galaxy in a minimalist space ship, having been lured there as a would-be colonist to an Earth-like planet that doesn't actually exist. The backstory is told by the mechanics at trading posts and is part of a mission (quest).
As a stranded space ship pilot, the player's first goal is to learn to survive in their new environment, first trading among the ports and planets and, later, hunting aliens for cash and ship upgrades.
Players can create corporations or apply to join an existing one. Members can share defensive resources and pool their power to monopolize a valuable star cluster. Wormholes to star clusters can ususlly be guarded and wormholes to other galaxies can be indirectly, but temporarily, guarded as well.
The MMO requires a keyboard to play -- and is optimized for efficient play by fast typists. While it has full mouse support, it is not particularly suited to heavy mouse use.
