Suggestions for an Economy II update

The economy needs a massive revamp, in my opinion. SE's main gameplay loops are exploration, building, combat, and industry. The in-game economy should allow a player to substitute one of these elements for another. For example, if a player prefers exploring over shipbuilding, they should be able to trade in ore patch locations and rival NPC coordinates for cash, then use that cash to buy pre-made ships. Conversely, a player should be able to sell resources to buy ore patches and POI coordinates (I’m that player).

Here are some of my suggestions, in order of importance:

1. More Distinct NPC Factions
   I can’t distinguish any of the NPC factions because they’re all equally bland (except for Factorum and pirates). There could be fewer factions, but each could have a distinctive feature that aligns with one element of SE gameplay. The style of their bases and ships should reflect that aspect. The things they trade and the contracts they give should also reflect that. For example, The Refiners could have bases resembling large refineries and focus on buying ore and selling ingots.
2. Fixed Trades per Station
   One major drawback of the current economy system is that items traded at a station change every few minutes, making shopping and selling entirely based on chance. There’s no point in settling near a specific NPC station because the trade offers are random, so you might as well jump away until you find another station. While there’s room for some time-based or random trade deals, stations should also have fixed offerings. For instance, The Fuel Kings faction could always buy ice in bulk and sell H2, or a high-tech manufacturing faction could consistently buy platinum and gold ingots and sell thruster comps and superconductors. Stations could even broadcast their trade offerings, making the game feel more alive.
3. Ability to Set Your Own Price in Player Shops
   This one’s for servers only. Currently, players can’t set prices lower than a minimum floor set by the game, which is far, far too high. This prevents players from undercutting the market, and on the servers I’ve played, attempts to establish player-run markets have failed because of this restriction.
4. Faction Reputation and Station Prosperity
   Right now, there’s little reason to increase reputation with a faction since it barely affects gameplay. Selling goods and completing missions at a station could increase that station’s prosperity, in addition to reputation. This would lead to better prices and larger quantities of goods for sale, allowing a player uninterested in industry management to rely on his friendly NPC station for supplies. Conversely, raiding NPC transports and outposts destined for a station could decrease its prosperity. Poor reputation with a faction could result in hostile fighters spawning when you approach, and a very bad reputation might even prompt them to send ships to attack your base. Faction rivalries could add further depth, with late-game missions placing you in opposition to certain factions.
5. Selling Ships and Building Bases for NPCs
   While it’s great that players can buy ships, there should be more of them—and more thematic options. Players should also be able to sell ships to NPCs based on their specifications. For example, a mining faction might buy a ship with a certain number of drills and cargo capacity. The ships players sell could later spawn as random encounters. Additionally, the repair contracts could be expanded to base-building contracts, where players go to a specified location, build the required structures on a platform, transfer the grid to the NPC upon completion, and get paid. The player's creation would remain part of the world, at least until pirates raid it.
6. Unknown Signal Revamp
   While Unknown Signals are a useful part of any game start, they quickly turn into a nuisance. They should be reimagined as free samples from XYZ shops, along with the coordinates for those shops. Some signals could function as full mobile shops: you press a button, pay a fee, and a cargo of your purchased items spawns nearby (or is delivered by parachute if you’re in atmo).
7. Endgame Content
   Like Factorum's blocks, each faction could have unique, unbuildable late-game blocks. Maxing out reputation with a faction would allow you to purchase these items, while stealing them would turn the faction into a mortal enemy. Another cool late game item would be those reinforcement beacon from CaptainArthur where you could spawn allied NPC warships at your location when needed.

Bonus: Resources placement

While only tangentially related to the economy system, ore patches should spawn differently on each planet. Although there is some variation now, it should be even more drastic. Earthlike planets should have a good selection of starter resources, like iron, nickel, and cobalt, but only small quantities of others. Additionally, certain ores should be easier to mine depending on the planet; for instance, Mars could be rich in iron with large surface deposits, while planets with resources for advanced tech might lack basic ones. This way, the gameplay loop would be: "I need a lot of uranium to power that warship, time to mount an expedition and set up a base on the Alien Planet," instead of the current "I need uranium, time to fly randomly in space until I find some or rage quit." This would greatly enhance the emergent narrative aspect of the game.

Anyway, those are my most wanted items. Most of these aspect already exist in the game in one form or another and are great fun. But there is room for improvements.