Avian Gamers Network

I have read a good bit on these forums and the devlogs about the economy, but I am still hoping to get some more information. Specifically, I want to know more about how pure traders (smugglers and convoys) affect PvP.

As I understand it, selling goods in PvP zones will increase unrest. But what incentive does a smugglers have to go to a pvp zone at all (unless prices skyrocket)? It seems like a trader would be better served to simply go elsewhere and not risk their ship. What rewards will a merchant have for smuggling, either individually or in a group or nation? In port battles, will there be ways for merchants to contribute to the battle other than through direct warfare (medical ships, firefighters, messengers, etc)? Perhaps a system of bribes to the townspeople/guards or so on?

I don't have solid answers to all of these specifically because I don't know which aspects have already been implemented. However, here are some of the things we've discussed:

You can generate unrest/contention without engaging in PvP
Economic turn ins can generate unrest
Conquest missions can generate unrest
Smuggling missions send you to dangerous ports
Earning contention points gives you advantages in the final battle, so merchants can take actions that will increase the odds of victory even if they don't participate in the battle

As for whether there's enough incentive, it's hard to answer at this point. Our beta is still on a very small scale, which means we haven't fully tested things such as the economy and full-scale national warfare. With the upcoming beta expansion, we'll be looking at those issues closely and determining where we need to make improvements.