What changed

The problem

Melange trading was always unprofitable. Player carycartter reported: the cheapest buy was 4,500 cr/unit, but the best sell was only 4,491 cr/unit — a guaranteed loss.

Root cause: melange base prices were assigned from a single random range regardless of whether the port was a buy-port (player sells here) or a sell-port (player buys here). With no price discrimination, the spread formula alone couldn’t create profit — sell-ports often had higher base prices than buy-ports.

The fix

Directional pricing was applied to all melange ports in the live galaxy:

• Buy-ports (Class 1) — where you sell melange — now price HIGH so you sell dear.
• Sell-ports (Class 2/3) — where you buy melange — now price LOW so you buy cheap.
• Stock levels are also tuned to amplify the directional effect.

Results

Before the fix, melange routes were almost universally a loss. After the fix, profitable adjacent routes are the norm rather than the exception. A good one-hop run can net a meaningful profit per unit.

What this means for play

• You can now run profitable melange routes between dangerous and caution sectors.
• A full hold of melange can net a serious payout on a good one-hop route.
• Melange remains rare and high-value, but it’s no longer a trap.