Elite Trader OXZ

Esteemed Commander,
The Galactic Guild of Elite Traders (G.E.T.) has studiously considered your application and is pleased to inform you of your admittance to our Order. We maintain Guild Houses in all systems of the Eight Charts, and you can be assured of a hearty welcome wherever your voyages now take you.
May the GETTING exceed the Taking! - Refrain from killing and assume our gentle mantle, and reward will be equally forthcoming.
Yours most Truly,
Grand Master Exoloön of Inera.

Brother GETter,

The storied intergalactic Elite ranking is attainable for ship Captains of every disposition, peaceful or warlike. Eschew the space-lane on Station approach and watch your Grade soar as you dock with our Markets, trade skillfully, and doggedly ply the celestial Milk Run.

Note well that the ascending Grades of G.E.T. do not countenance the recondite practices of many of today's free traders. We are traditionalists. Contracts are frowned upon, as is opportunistic scooping and the sale of mined minerals and the dealing in precious stones and metals. Our Assessors will not credit you for such sales. We'll meet you on the Market floor or nowhere else. As one of our crasser pooker-playing Brothers once coined: if it ain't paid, the score's not made. We're about buying and selling.

You may note with an ironic smile that G.E.T. cares little whether Galcop deems your bought goods illegal... We have small truck with that legislative body - but our situation is one of mutual tolerance. With us, your record is always clean, and all trades legitimate in our eyes.

As it forever has been, Market Observer and Market Inquirer by Brother Spara, adjuncts to your calling, are almost de rigueur. Do not exit a space-dock without them!

Trade well! One day we'll meet for a toast in the Halls of Inera with the Exalted.

Your friend and mentor,

Dor Reval of Xexedi, Supreme, Serendipitous & Serene Space Grocer.

Confessions of a Guild Quisling

Contratius Phlebor of the Gerete systems, notorious and much-sought bounty hunter, once of elevated Grade in the Guild but now its bane, has let it be known that to the highest Grades is entrusted a secret of Galactic import.

To this secret, he has stated, is owed the G.E.T.'s power, wealth, ubiquity, technical prowess, and present ascendancy throughout the Eight Charts. Phlebor has spoken gnomically of a 'Ninth Arch', upon which he refuses to elaborate.

"What is nearly certain is that the Guild traces a lineage back through myth to the Templar Order of the fabled Terra. It is recorded in their scriptoria," he hints, "that Templars once held sway on that near-forgotten planet, over its rulers and would-be hegemonites, in similar fashion to G.E.T. over Galcop and the Lawless Worlds. It is, they say, both Trust and Continuum."

Contratius is widely ridiculed (by those who dare to do so, including the Guild itself) for these and further claims...

The now ageing whistleblower of scarred and burned visage offered quite freely to this reporter that 'the Brothers' pay homage to a forgotten deity whose prime directive was: Do not kill.

"Ancient Terra again," he comments, "A philosophy I came to find I couldn't quite square myself with. The money was nice, though. And their miraculous ship upgrades, some of which my old Asp still has. Got away with a few of those still in place, though most 'bad Brothers' are stripped of everything. The true Brothers really won't kill, you know - won't press the trigger for that final burst. Some are galactic Elite rated too..."

Persisting respect for his erstwhile masters written in his remaining eye, Contratius cut short our chat with the words: "I'd never betray them full-out. And they leave me alone."

No Guild representative could be reached, or located, for comment.

Seeking expertise, I found confirmation of one of Phlebor's claims. Hild Fenwith of Xexe University:

"Mythohistorians would not deny, however, that such proto-chivalric Orders, blooming out of monasticism in ancient epochs, owning their own fleets, fortresses, and preceptories, did indeed count trading and banking among their keys to power, holding money and their Secret over the heads of kings and Pontifs like edged weapons."

Identically so with the G.E.T. today, Phlebor contends.

Mild-mannered keepers of long-lost secrets, with an edge hard as military lasers. And they're everywhere, my sometimes reticent source told me. Is the Galaxy the better for the Guild?

You tell me.

--Tea Mereso, Xexedi Enquirer.

Overview

To lay this out in plain Common Galspeak... The accomplished and non-belligerent G.E.T. Brother will witness various astrogational marvels in respect to his, her, or its spacecraft, to wit:

A continual upward evolution in

Elite ranking

Speed
Shield strength
Shield recharge rate
Energy recharge rate
Energy levels

In addition to

A ship forever in good repair
Automatic, free refuelling
Free fast-dock facilities at every station
No mass-lock, except at Main Station (Oolite >1.85) - weapons must be offline before hyperspace countdown, otherwise normal mass-lock pertains.
A permanently 'clean' Galcop record
A clone of their ship, gratis, in every spaceyard, should they wish to reset their augmented speed, energy, and shield strength to nominal. (Oolite >1.88)

Unless the Brother strays - in which case none of the above apply.

Gratifications

Gratitude is due to Spara, Dybal, and another_commander for their encouragement, advice, and - above all - the education of a Javascript neophyte.

Versions

NEW IN VERSION 1.1

Immersive G.E.T. messages at every stage of the voyage.

Successful trading brings useful rewards.

NEW IN VERSION 1.2

Minor cosmetic enhancements.

On Arrival Screen, speed-reward status message is not shown if another OXP resets the ship's maxSpeed (Masslock Compensator is a known culprit).

NEW IN VERSION 1.3

Cosmetic enhancements (contextual comms messages).

Destroying other ships--as opposed to damaging them to aid escape--brings System G.E.T. disapprobation and a bout of penance (no Elite score or rewards).

NEW IN VERSION 1.4

Feature update (see bullets above)

NEW IN VERSION 1.5

G.E.T. Status entry added to the Manifest screen, showing best trade to date, and the system, commodity, and ship in which it was made.
A couple of expedient refinements in the ship-rewards system: shield and energy recharge rate increments have been reduced in the light of a Bulletin Board discussion.
No mass-lock applies only when weapons are offline, and they must be disabled before hyperspace countdown.

NEW IN VERSION 1.6

Refinements and improvements in the Best Trade logic: G.E.T. Status on the Manifest screen now takes into account individual sales of individual commodities and lists these, while aggregating all separate profits made at the same station.

NEW IN VERSION 1.7

Added the obvious to G.E.T. Status: total profit for the current station.
Further improvements to the selling logic: all good trades are acknowledged and complimented (though only one still scores).

NEW IN VERSION 1.8

Free G.E.T. fast-dock facilities are now available at every station via autopilot (C-key). GETters no longer need to install a separate auto-dock OXP or fork out over 1000 credits for Docking Computers.

NEW IN VERSION 1.9

Total profit now applies to the System as a whole: allowing for in-system trading, along with buying and selling at multiple stations in the same system.
Cumulative profit is given alongside compliments on the Market screen.

NEW IN VERSION 1.10

Introduces two G.E.T. entries to the F4 Interfaces screen:

G.E.T. Master Advisory. The System Guild Master offers salutation and advice to trader acolytes.
G.E.T. Max Trade Resetter offers the opportunity to set your Maximum Trade, as displayed on the Manifest screen, to the profit gained in the current system. Useful if the system glitched, or if you switched ships and now prefer a clean start.
E.T. checks for the presence of Market Observer and, if absent, adds a 'Trade (goods): xxx.xx cr' line for each individual sale, after the manner of M.O.

NEW IN VERSION 1.11

G.E.T. strictures in respect to the destruction of other ships have been tightened. Repeated ship-kills result in a permanent black mark, ruling out further speed, shield, and energy enhancements. (It is perfectly acceptable, on the other hand, to damage an aggressor beyond repair and force him to disengage. No Guild penalty results from that form of self-defence.)
Augmented ship specs are reset to nominal after a given number of ship-kills.
For straying Brothers, the Vow of Good Brotherhood makes its appearance on the F4 Interfaces screen: errant commanders are given the opportunity to reform. If accepted, all G.E.T. privileges are restored.

NEW IN VERSION 1.12

G.E.T. accepts a donation, a 'gift', comprising 1% of every member's profitable trade over 100 cr and 10% over 1000 cr. Donations determine the Brother's advancement in Grade and Title inside the Order, as well as being the prime source of G.E.T. wealth, power, and technical prowess.
23 Grades with associated Titles track the advancement of the Brother within the Guild. Grades stretch from 'Grocer' (Grade 0) to 'Elite Grand Master Eternal' (Grade 22). G.E.T. Grades have been liberally adapted from the 33 Degrees of Scottish Rite Freemasonry.
A Brother's ethical standing is also noted on the Manifest screen: 'Good', 'Reformed', 'Errant', 'Bad', along with his donation to the current station, total donations, and Grade with Title.
A full G.E.T. Ship Status Report has been added to the F4 Interfaces screen, showing the technical enhancements applied to the ship's systems since the Brother's induction. Both nominal and current specifications are noted for speed, thrust, shields, energy, and energy recharge rate. (Arrival Reports note only previous and revised specs while omitting thrust for reasons of space.)

Dependencies

Oolite v1.82 or later. No dependencies on other OXPs.

Recommendations

GETTER HUD - the only HUD in the inventory designed by G.E.T. Brothers for G.E.T. Brothers, showing digital speed and cargo hold contents in place of missiles.

FE Ships and FE Ships Player, favouring the Trader/Explorer, bring Oolite's core ships into line with those of Frontier: First Encounters, which expanded cargo-capacities across the board.

Goods Containers, externally mounted 5- or 10-ton cargo cannisters, fitted to any spare missile pylons, will speed your course to riches and larger ships.

Market Inquirer and Market Observer, it goes without saying, along with Torus to Sun Drive, enhance the E.T. experience greatly. Running with weapons offline will be to your advantage.

For all-round good spacegrocership, G.E.T. regards the following basic upgrades as essential:

Advanced Space Compass
Witchdrive Fuel Injector
Military Injector Upgrade
Large Cargo Bay (if available)
and a beam laser: not for its destructive potential, but for the quality of its reticle!

Conflicts

Certain OXPs will conflict or interfere with the rewards-system and special privileges of Elite Trader. Known to be problematic are Masslock Compensator, Auto Refuel, and possibly certain shield or energy enhancers. AutoDock has been made redundant by ET's own fast-dock privilege. The best advice is to experiment.