What changed

Pricing model recalibrated. The spread multipliers that drive port buy and sell prices were adjusted — the scarcity markup on what ports charge you was lowered, and the need bonus on what ports pay you was raised. Complementary port pairs (buy from a seller, sell to a buyer) now yield profit at normal stock levels instead of the guaranteed loss they produced before.

Port inventories rebalanced. Every port in the galaxy had its buy-side commodity stock reduced to 30% of capacity. Previously, most ports were already full on the goods they wanted to buy — so even when direction matched, the port had no room to accept your cargo. Sell-side stock (what ports offer) was left untouched so trading volume is preserved.

Scanner improvements. The route scanner no longer filters to profitable-only pairs — it shows all compatible port pairs ranked by profit. Positive values appear in green, negative in red, zero in muted gray. The empty-state message now reflects this.

Why it changed

The directional port economy launched earlier today (see entry 01) with correct buy/sell rules, but the pricing math made cross-port trades unprofitable at normal stock levels. Every complementary port pair was a net loss. On top of that, seeded inventories had buy-side ports at or near capacity, so even if prices had worked, there was no room to sell into.

These three changes together — lower buy prices, higher sell prices, and actual room to accept cargo — make the directional economy work as intended. Find a port that sells what another wants, run the route, and profit.

What’s next

Trade should flow now. The scanner will point you at the best local routes and the numbers on screen will match what you actually earn. If a route shows red, skip it — the green ones are real.