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A story about clam rustling

Thanatos

Investor
Investor
Location
Saudi
So, as i had read on the forums the exciting prospect of trying out a new money making scheme (Clams/Pearls) had been implemented.  I also read that this was highly profitable. 
 
On my jolly way i went with a rented motorboat (which i named Amphitrite)  to seek out these rare oceanic beauties to earn my fortune.
 
After around 15 mins I arrived at the clam bed armed with my scuba gear and ruck sack dreaming of the untold fortune that could await me below, I dive down to the point of almost pitch black and start to search for these elusive bivalve mollusc hoping to find a glistening jewel of the sea.
 
Fantastic, I had found 8 brine dwelling shellfish to place in the trunk of my boat,  one more trip to the salty depths and back again and I was carrying all I could.
 
Back in to Amphi I go, my GPS set to lead me to the Clam processing the smell of salt in my nostrils and the wind blowing across the top of my shiny wet suit hood I full throttle all the way around the coast avoiding being shot near the Red zone twice and running in to treasure hunting pirates at the treasury ship wreck. Being alone at sea starts to take it's toll, I tell Amphi "i'm sure that after an hour and a half, this is going to be a great haul."
 
 I talk to the clam opening chap while he processes my catch, he ensures me that the pearls which he found inside will fetch me a pretty penny however i should be careful as the altis pearl buyer is very close to the MPU . By now I am on the edge of my seat with anticipation I AM GOING TO BE RICH! Unless i get stopped at the last hurdle by an oceanic blueberry.
 
Map marked and GPS set again I make my way back past the gold hunting pirates and the rebel gun fire of the Red Zone towards my final destination.  My head is reeling trying to work out how much the just short of 3 hours work will bag me.  I know i can make £300k in 30 mins doing some of the legal jobs so this will be BIG!
 
I approach the area with great caution as not to alert the police, my heart is pounding in the belief i have scored big.  I have been shot at, almost crashed in to a couple of other boats and now i am so close to the police i am sure to lose it all. The buyer greets me with a stern cold stare i think to myself "this guy is not for bartering just accept the price he gives you." I sell my first white shiny sea orb £18,000! My god that is a lot for 1 item but then i realize i only have 16 i quickly calculate that in 3 hours i have made £288,000.
 
Now i'm not sure if there is a larger vessel i can use or if i'm not pushing the throttle hard enough but i was feeling kind of cheated.  yes £18,000 is a high price for an item but when you are limited to the small amount you can carry in such a slow moving vehicle over such a large distance it makes it highly unprofitable especially if i could end up with a hefty fine or jail time.
 
At this point i decide that I have had enough for the night and wanted to share my story with you all. 
 
So i guess this is just a story to enable you to judge for yourself if the life of a clam rustler is for you.
 
Admins/Devs could the storage be increased or the journey made shorter / quicker?  I actually enjoy the sea work and would love this to be used to it's fullest potential.
 
Thanks for reading
 
Thanatos
 
I agree with you @Radioactivshark I wouldn't mind it taking me a full 4 hours if i had a large storage capacity in my boat i did have fun doing it but it doesn't seem to be profitable enough.

 
Haha its a good little story I enjoyed it makes me wanna start doing some :D 1+

 
How much reward should 1 Claim/Pearl run give do you think ?

Like all things numbers come into the head and it either gives not much or too much... we then of course work to get it right

This is open to suggestions :)

 
How much reward should 1 Claim/Pearl run give do you think ?

Like all things numbers come into the head and it either gives not much or too much... we then of course work to get it right

This is open to suggestions :)
I think coz u can carry so little should give around 20-25k each to make it worth the time but it's nice to have to dive for them and it takes so long to do.. Like frog legs are like 270k per 20 mins and weed via unmc is around 600k for 40 mins and claims are 2-3 hours for 260k ish give or take
 
There are many boats in Arma, perhaps add in a new and bigger boat (remove any armed features) and increase the price of clams to about 25k?

Just my suggestion.

 
@Wilco what I would recommend, is look at the Altis Life Stock Prices. Figure out what the approx. £ per Minute is for each resource. (no easy task).

Consider how long it takes to get there in a hemmt and helicopter, and how much yield you can carry. Then how much you make at the end. Divide that by how many minutes it took. 

Then look at diving. 

£144,000 / 120min = £1,200 Per Minute

£288,000 / 180min = £1,600 per Minute

We get an average of £1,400 per minute. 

I don't have stats on other resources, but Oil with a tempest device would net £160,000 per 30min. Which isn't great compared to Iron, Salt, Frogs Legs. Illegal Drugs like Weed and LSD make even more. But point is:

Oil £pm is £5,333. Nearly x4 more profitable. Is done is 1/4 of the time and it's legal. To set a fair price, I would look at the economy. Each item's value should be based on this formula:

value = Time Spent per run * Risk Factor / Item Weight (smaller units are worth more, but should average out)

Risk factor simply being:

  • how far do you have to spend on the road/air?
  • Is it illegal?
  • How long does it take to fill a load? (gathering is the most vulnerable part)
  • Where do i have to travel through? (Large towns like Kavala and Sophia are more prone to robbers, if it's illegal, how likely are cops going to see you?)
TL;DR

Something easy to make should yield the least. 

Something time consuming but legal should make a lot.

Something time consuming and illegal should make the most. 

 
I think adding bigger boat with like dragon seid would be a good idea mabye keep the claims the same price and with the bigger boat lets player raid the sunk ships more also as the mpu are more active now days gives them something to roleplay when thay can pull along side these transport boats and see what there up to.

 
Adding non-arma boats will just make it a mod server, and our great leader is strongly against this.

This item is still new, so changes can be made i believe,

The only answer i have is to increase the price, greatly. 

I thought Clams where like on top of the list regarding giving money, but wasting 2 hours on a 200k run is not worth it at all,

And + we have MPU patroling, imagine spending so much time and you get caught... 

But yeah, my only advice i have is to increase the price.. alot.

 
Adding non-arma boats will just make it a mod server, and our great leader is strongly against this.

This item is still new, so changes can be made i believe,

The only answer i have is to increase the price, greatly. 

I thought Clams where like on top of the list regarding giving money, but wasting 2 hours on a 200k run is not worth it at all,

And + we have MPU patroling, imagine spending so much time and you get caught... 

But yeah, my only advice i have is to increase the price.. alot.
If the price was 100-200k per pearl, that would make it a bit more profitable. That huge boat that was sitting in Kavala harbour ... now that I would like to see drivable and useable for things like this.

 
If the price was 100-200k per pearl, that would make it a bit more profitable. That huge boat that was sitting in Kavala harbour ... now that I would like to see drivable and useable for things like this.
i think 1.6m -- 3.2m would be a little to much don't think think :s I wouldn't complain but you have everyone doing it lol. I can imagine unmc driving stiders out to do the pearls for that lol
 
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i think 1.6m -- 3.2m would be a little to much don't think think :s I wouldn't complain but you have everyone doing it lol. I can imagine unmc driving stiders out to do the pearls for that lol
You can only transport these items in a backpack or boat so a strider would be useless.  Just for your info.

 
You can only transport these items in a backpack or boat so a strider would be useless.  Just for your info.
lol I was making a joke sice thay struggle to reach 10 kmh on water and that speed u still be making profit lol
 
i think 1.6m -- 3.2m would be a little to much don't think think :s I wouldn't complain but you have everyone doing it lol. I can imagine unmc driving stiders out to do the pearls for that lol
You might say that, but look at how long it takes to do it! Plus, you've got MPU out there trying to stop people ... doesn't seem too bad to me.

 
I've been pondering and making calculations ever since i saw this post.

Now, as I see it, the storage capability of a motorboat is currently 95 and the weight of 1 pearl is 8, therefore;

95/8 = 11 and a bit + the extra 8 pearls you could carry on you (64/8 = 8)

In total you could carry up to 19 pearls in one trip (given a single man trip and all done in 1 boat).
 

So, when you end up selling these pearls, given the price of each pearl being £18,000,

18,000 x 19 = £342,000

This seems to be an average pay for most civilians (from what I've seen).

Now, if you wanted to increase the prices, I would personally suggest a nominal increase of around £8500 so that the total price for each pearl would be £26,500.

This would give a total of £503,500 for a total of 19 pearls.

Now, this is how it should be done. 1 boat, 1 man, all done in one trip.

For those that wish to carry 8 pearls in their backpacks, you get a pay out of £212,000.

EDIT:

I may be making a suggestion to increase the price of pearls,

but as MPU2ND;

TOUCH MA PRECIOUS CLAMS AND YOU DIE!

 
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Your all after those silly pearls, what about all of that delicious clam meat?

But seriously, @Heatproofsean has a very good way to look at it.  Its profit per minute needs to be increased by either changing the amount of time or the selling price of the pearls or by doing both which I think makes the most sense.  This way people are not making millions on a single run.

Of course another way is you could sell the clam meat to maybe the market?  Or even add back in the fish markets.

 
Your all after those silly pearls, what about all of that delicious clam meat?

But seriously, @Heatproofsean has a very good way to look at it.  Its profit per minute needs to be increased by either changing the amount of time or the selling price of the pearls or by doing both which I think makes the most sense.  This way people are not making millions on a single run.

Of course another way is you could sell the clam meat to maybe the market?  Or even add back in the fish markets.

Personally I would rather see a really long run but with huge rewards... rather than it being a quick thing you keep farming. 

 
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