Electricity as goods for trade

[giannikampa]

Imagine a battery, bigger than actual, lets say 2X2 in space and 5 times more capacious in power stored, a super hi-tech battery.

Imagine it can be deconstructed and installed like sculptures actually do. Yes, it has wheels to be pulled and pushed here and there from a single colonist.

Imagine it has it's own switch to be connected and disconnected from the powerline it's attached to.

Imagine traders sell/buy this batteries at a price if empty and at higher price if full. For simplicity it will be considered empty if not at 100%.

You could either buy some until your base is not self sufficient and sell them later, when your base has an excess of power.

"what's your business?"
"meh, i'm in the energy branch.."

[FridayBiology]

large capacitor unit?

[Keychan]

This seems like a cool idea, selling excess electricity, but it also sounds like it's way too easy to get make money.  I can fill up a lot of batteries really quickly with no downside other than short-circuit explosions.  Colonist don't even have to work, just build a stock of batteries and watch them fill themselves up.  You're going to have to take in that electricity is now going to have value, so if you stock up on a lot for yourself then you're sitting on a lot of money.

[JimmyAgnt007]

maybe make them hard to produce, require something rare like gold or uranium to make. 

[Kegereneku]

Considering energy is much easier to produce and very very hard to store, it wouldn't feel... 'realistic' (even in SF).

Also you would be short-circuiting most game mechanic thus killing the game. You are supposed to have an hard time keeping electric reserve, what's the point of "no sun/no wind" events if you can have a 10 days reserves ?

The Market for buying "super battery" before you can recharge them yourself is dubious...
You would have more luck buying/selling fuel-cells that resist 'that event' and prevent emergency blackout of your hydroponic.
Things being that fuel-cell are too costly and and difficult to recharge to be used commonly.

That's all from me.

[b0rsuk]

maybe make them hard to produce, require something rare like gold or uranium to make.

At which point you've invented a convoluted way to sell uranium or gold.

[SSS]

I wouldn't mind this under the condition that they're dirt cheap to sell... like, cheaper than potatoes cheap. It's just too easy to recharge your batteries to allow electricity as a commodity unless it takes massive amounts of it to make money.

[Mathenaut]

This wouldn't really work in the context of Rimworld. One common trend in general Sci-fi is toward the Tesla ideal of 'cheap, free energy for all'. There isn't really a context in which most spacefaring civilizations would have a problem generating energy.

I think a better question would be: What could be produced with that energy? Turrets are the only automated systems at present. There is room to expand that.

[BetaSpectre]

Electricity is cheap. Maybe the colony buying electricity would make sense. And if you ask me a trader without any electricity is a prime target to loot or exploit via continuous trade.

So there's no reason for electricity selling. Unless a trader is out of gas so to speak. Buying however makes some sense. But if a trader is out of electricity then he should be always available. Which probably would be abused as easy storage.

[Argon]

A cool idea, but it would either be utterly gamebreaking or pointless.

-Argon

[Mckee]

Another option would be to construct a power line running off map, in order to sell power to local settlements. If you added in a new construction, like pylons, you'd have to invest in it and protect it - since it runs outside of any base/killbox you might have. You could set the ammount of power for sale via the comm console, with neg rep if you cut off trade - representing leaving your trade partner in the lurch somewhat. Encourages people that have already set up a trade deal to protect it.

Hell, you could have the enemy target the pylons, or even illegally tap into it, which presents another challenge to deal with. Could also present an opportunity to fight alongside friendly NPCs, who show up to investigate the stoppage.

The economics of it would have to be balanced somehow, giving enough money and rep to make the risk/investment worth it. I think an off map version would work better than large scale battery storage.

[BetaSpectre]

Selling/Buying Electricity from other settlements makes sense.

[Johnny Masters]

Although i really like Sim City (the inspiration for selling  energy off-map, right?), i don't think it fits the scope of this game. I mean, there are just a few factions and they are scattered around the globe. I know you may thing "but its just 3 squares off my colony!", well i don't think a world map square equally translates into a game map, if that were the case, you couldn't even choose map size, also the planet would be really, really, reaaaalllyyyyyyyyyy small. Even then, the practicalities of building a grid would be very dubious, specially regarding its integrity in such a hostile world: They would be vulnerable to sabotage and there's very little you could do.


As for the battery thing... I actually like, more so as a buy resource than selling, which has been pointed to the possibility of exploitation.

The hows and whys could go on and forth forever, anyone could make a case against or for the plausibility of selling/buying energy, specially in a sci-fi game with a lore-in-progress such as is. It all boils down to how it will affect gameplay and how much options/challenge/fun it adds.

I happen to think buying energy could add a bit of tactical choices to the game, which adds to the fun. Selling has its ups and downs and need some thought. If its possible or not is mental masturbation. Then again, that's my opinion.

[giannikampa]

I'm happy to see many of you like the initial thought.
Some said it can be exploited, well the answer is obvious and already said: balancing. A very fast test session could lend to determine the price of energy to fit with other sources of income. Don't forget adding more wind turbines or solar panels has its cost in space and resources. Let's say you buy an empty capacitor for 500 and sell it full for 600, I don't think you will tend to move all your efforts to rely in that single commodity type for your income, except for a personal challenge, like we do now when we decide our business to be art and/or weaponsmith and/or tailoring (and/or ..lavish meals!). And if for some reason it ends that energy is your best income maybe the selling price of a filled capacitor should be set to 550. And so on.
A very balancing thing is the already existing difference from buying and selling the same thing, so, to say a number, buying a filled capacitor could cost you 800.
Selling ready to use energy is not that fictional, imo, considering we already do it, my wireless mouse has batteries i have to buy or recharge from time to time.
As for the gameplay i find trading energy is far better than adding the umpteenth crop type or manufactured object, because those mechanics already have place in the game.

[Mathenaut]

Problem is that the circumstances of the future don't really provide the need or the market for it.

Some other uses for production with energy would still be nice, though.