Trading is OP in current build.

I recently started a new game and chose "Scavenger" as my starter fleet. Well, since my fleet was too small for most exploration and bounty missions, I thought I'd try freelance trading for some quick cash.

HOLY SHIT, with my first trade, I doubled my money, and I only had to travel a few light-years! Well, after that deal, I was hooked and started trading like a madman, obsessively checking the prices of Heavy Machinery and Drugs, which I found to be the most profitable. Within 6 months, I was sitting at over $1.5 million, and that's AFTER buying an Apogee, 4 phase frigates, and 5 other various high-tech frigates and destroyers, all equipped with top-of-the-line weaponry. Also, by now I was level 7 solely from "profitable trade" xp.

The closest I got to danger was occasionally having to spend a story point when a rouge patrol caught me and noticed I was carrying several hundred metric tons of illegal drugs.

At first, I was like, "fuck yeah, this is awesome!" But then I got to thinking, "Wait a minute, I've already achieved multimillionaire status, yet I hadn't even fought a single battle!" That's when it dawned on me that I had essentially *skipped* the early game and had inadvertently propelled myself deep into the mid-game.

In doing so I had deprived myself of all the challenge and adventure I had sought to experience. I wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment slowly turning my gaggle of junker crafts into an elite battle squadron. Sure, I was well on my way to achieving my goal, but I felt zero personal connection to any of my ships because not one of them had seen battle. But that's not even the problem, because I can find a battle any time I want. The problem is that *I no longer even wanted to leave the core worlds.*

Essentially, I realized that trading is the **dominant strategy.** Why venture out and risk losing all my shiny new ships to a random pirate or panther attack when I could easily earn 4-5 times more in about half the time making a few simple trades in the core worlds?

I know, I know, why don't I just *forget about trade* and go out and explore to my heart's content? Well, because I've never been one to force artificial challenges upon myself. The fun of gaming, for me at least, is the thrill of finally figuring out how to survive in a challenging environment and *master the environment* using all available tools. I can't just make myself forget there is a **dominant** **strategy** that I am not utilizing. It just feels contrived. And when the challenge feels contrived, the entire experience begins to feel contrived as well.

TLDR: Trading needs to be balanced so that it's not insanely profitable for literally anyone to do. There needs to be more barriers to becoming the sector's de facto trade oligarch aside from auto-piloting to the nearest trade market and clicking on an item's icon to view current prices.