I've taken a number of UIT cargo missions (various types) from Dau to Eo. They were advertised as 10 jump missions, but the AUTONAVOMATIC® insists on routing the missions through Itani space, which turns it into a 12 jump mission. It is only 10 jumps when routed through Serco space.

The autonavomatic decides routes based on faction standings as well, and tries to avoid all entries into Grey space.

Given that all my persona are Serco of good standing, I see no reason for the AUTONAVOMATIC® to route me through Itani space (though I am of good standing with Itani also). The Itani route is 2 jumps longer. Perhaps Grey Space is the answer. Either way, the Mission desk misreported the number of jumps.

A real bad one I had was helios to cantus. Way, way shorter through Serco, but it wonted to go to Ukari (grey) then UIT, edras (grey), and Itani, instead of just going right through serco and itani.

If you're interested in how it's actually computed, the nav computer assigns "weights" to each possible jump, and figures out its route based on those weights. Unfortunately it doesn't take into account faction standing. It just assumes certain jumps are more dangerous than others.

Moving between a nation's systems costs 1 (Eo to Cantus, for example.) Moving through gray space costs 2. (Odia to Bractus.) Moving from nation space to gray space, or vice versa, costs 3. (Jallik to Edras.) And crossing the Serco/Itani border costs 10.

ok waylon, then we need roving packs of serco and itani bots at the serco/itani border that shoot at each other and all players, regardless of faction standing. :P

Wild guess here, but isn't the Frigate going to be there in the Itani/Serco border? That could make it earn that 10...

Give Beolach a gold star for applying background knowledge.

But the point is that Mission Control is misreporting the number of jumps and the Autonavomatic is routing the trip incorrectly and the traders are getting shorted on the payout for the trip. So typical of large organizations to stick it to the working stiffs who are simply trying to make a living. If the trip is listed as a 10 jump mission, it should be routed as a 10 jump mission, not as a 12 jump mission. It *is* a bug.

WE"RE BEING LIED TO BY THE MISSION DESK!!! WE'RE BEING CHEATED OUT OF WELL DESERVED PAY!!! RISE UP MY FELLOW TRADERS!!! RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE THAT LIES AND CHEATS YOU!!!

UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION...

How about trade level? Make it reduce those weights? And combat level. I'm sure the weight system would definitely be acceptable by a weak trader, but us high level combat/trade can handle those pesky gray systems, and maybe the border once you know what comes in.

How about having it plot the return flight when you drop off the cargo?

Would also be nice if it would calculate the total number of trips it would take to complete the mission (for a given ship class) and then plot the whole mission instead of just the first leg.

TGP mission: Dau to Deneb. Listed as a 9 jump mission, routed as a 13 jump. This really needs to be fixed or the Mission desk should use the info from the Autonavomatic® to display the *PLOTTED* number of jumps, not the shortest path (that the Autonavomatic® just refuses to plot). Pay and trade experience should also be adjusted accordingly.

Also, too many UIT space to Itani space missions, not enough UIT space to Serco space missions.

Well according to the starting faction values, the Itani and UIT have a much stronger relationship than the Serco and the UIT. So I would expect there to be more Itani-UIT trips than Serco-UIT trips.

Serco credits are just as good as Itani credits. :-)

The UIT Serco/Itani trade imbalance was more of an aside than a true bug report. The imbalance with the plotted number of jumps vs. the reported number of jumps is what needs work.

Ok, I'll look into it a bit more, and see if I can track down the cause of the discrepancy.

Thanks Waylon. Much appreciated. :-D