What changed

StarDocks now offer a free Repair Hull / Recharge Shields service. Land at any StarDock, click the button, and your hull and shields restore to full. No credits, no turns — just patch up and get back out there.

Port trading also got a significant fairness pass. We closed a same-port arbitrage exploit where captains could buy and sell the same commodity at the same port for guaranteed profit. The fix introduces proper buy/sell spreads based on port class, so prices now reflect real supply-and-demand logic. Same-port flipping is no longer profitable, but two-port routes still have healthy margins if you find the right pairs.

Why it changed

Free repairs at StarDocks lower the barrier to re-engaging after a bad encounter. Before this, damaged ships had no option but to keep flying and hope for the best. Now there’s a safe harbor.

The arbitrage fix was player-reported and player-requested. A trading game where the best strategy is standing still isn’t much of a trading game. The spread system rewards captains who scout, compare prices, and move cargo between complementary ports.

What’s next

The port spread fix is a stopgap. A deeper directional port economy is in the works — one where each port class buys specific commodities and sells others, making port-pair discovery the core trading loop instead of a pricing gimmick.