Question: Hoarding Data?

[PvK]

Is there any reason not to always sell collected generic Data? Is it used for anything other than selling, or is there any reason to wait to sell it?

[Dubious]

AFAIK, it's only purpose is fund raising.

-Dubious-

[PvK]

Thanks. I did notice a reason to sometimes wait to sell it, though. The offer for it is not always the same. I imagine it depends on the faction paying for it.

[Tarkh]

Maybe, it would be logical to have an option for using data in crafting somehow?

[ibol]

Different races do indeed pay more or less for data, and it also varies by sector. There are some quests that require large amounts of data. But its main purpose is indeed to keep you flying (money!).

Mentioning crafting, maybe something like "moonstones in the grinder" in borderlands TPS... interesting...

Or, I've just created "experimental weapons", so maybe a certain amount of data could force an experimental weapon to be made...?

Or, exchange data for "crafting manuals", which permanently increases your base crafting level... oh, the possibilities.

[EDIT] 20 minutes later...
OK, I ran a simulation of using data to improve crafting, with a max of 133% of your base level. cost increases per level increased.

you have DATA=0 , your base crafting level =88
you could increase it by #levels=0

you have DATA=30578 , your base crafting level =88
you could increase it by #levels=18
which would cost data=31768

you have DATA=387998 , your base crafting level =88
you could increase it by #levels=29
which would cost data=64680
i had to stop becuase i reached the 133% limit

[Kazeto]

Originally Posted by PvK

Is there any reason not to always sell collected generic Data? Is it used for anything other than selling, or is there any reason to wait to sell it?

You can leave it be as emergency funds if you ever end up using up all your money on random stuff or losing it in any other way and don't have money to refuel.

Doesn't appear to be much, but that is indeed an option.

[PvK]

ibol, it would be nice to have something interesting to do with data... except I wouldn't think it would make sense for the current data, which seems mostly to be from exploring space and planets and caves, to result in crafting improvements. Maybe if there were different types of data.

Also, while it makes some sense to be paid to contribute data and be paid for it once, it doesn't make sense that selling data to someone would reduce how useful that same data might have been if you used it to help you craft, because data is inherently copyable, so sharing with the Bank or the Gruff or whoever, would not mean you didn't still have copies of any data you had which would be useful to help craft things.

Which is a long way of saying, it seems to me that if data is usable for more things, maybe there should be different types of data - mapping data vs. terminal data and combat data.

[OrionM42]

Originally Posted by Kazeto

You can leave it be as emergency funds if you ever end up using up all your money on random stuff or losing it in any other way and don't have money to refuel.

As a matter of practice, after the first 5 or 6 Sectors or so, (once I am feeling pretty secure) I always save my data for extended periods. As Kazeto suggests, it makes for a good emergency fund; AND as Ibol noted, the prices paid for data do vary quite a bit! In my experience, Firax and Tentaculons routinely seem to pay the most for data (which incidentally, comports with their story-lines.)

On a pure unit basis, I have seen data sellable through a range that runs from a little less than one credit per unit of data, up to a figure that is close to 2.5 credits per unit of data. (I also believe that it tends to be worth slightly more in (much) later sectors. In any event, it pays to shop around; and accumulating it, until you find a price you can not pass up, OR find yourself in a funding emergency, seems to be a good course of action, IMHO.

Anyways, I don't call it "hoarding" (negative connotations) -- I call it "saving for a rainy day" (positive connotations) OR "cutting the best deals" ...

[OrionM42]

Oh, and I almost forgot: there are some "Pay It Forward" type rewards for accumulating/holding (however briefly) certain specified amounts of data, to wit:

Have 20,000 data, earn $10,000 in Pay It Forward credits;
Have 100,000 data, earn $25,000 in Pay It Forward credits;
Have 500,000 data, earn $100,000 in Pay It Forward credits.

In my 90 Sector winning game, I did briefly accumulate and hold 500,000 data, and collected the Pay It Forward reward for that. Right afterwards, I warped to a nearby Sector with a Tentaculon Embassy, and sold the data for a near-optimal price, that was (as I recall) a little in excess of $1.35 million.

[ibol]

I get obsessed with math and modeling things...carried away...