To me this seems like too fiddly a change with too little payoff. If there were another thing that can be bought, it really should have a big effect and warrant its existence. This is more of a niche thing I'd say and would complicate the game unnecessarily.

Also, being in the energy business does not pay well enough to begin with. Taking even more of that away would not allow even for the little amount of leeway you had with that strategy before.

I have found Planetmule over Planet Steam's Boardgamegeek forums. I own the game, but also haven't played it yet. Hopefully one day I will

I would like this to happen as well.

I've read of someone who opened two copies of the game and connected them by LAN on the same computer. I do wonder how well that works, though.

If playing against only the AI, this is a good suggestion, but pleas please please don't add this to multiplayer games. Abusable features such as this can breed... well... abusive communities. At least leave all other players the option to unpause the game if the offender doesn't return.

I loved Traders! Incidentally, it was the game that sucked me into the M.U.L.E. style games. Around 1995 that was, I think. Got that thing in some sort of game compilation. It was the lowest profile game in the compilation, but the one I played for the longest. I still prefer it to M.U.L.E. to this day, unlike most people. Planetmule probably beats it, though, simply because of net support.

Agree with everything said here, I think this is very awesome and everyone involved should win the lottery or something for all the positive karma they just gained themselves.

I just got my copy of the M.U.L.E. boardgame (it's called 'Planet Steam') and started looking for M.U.L.E. clones online. Of course, I didn't find any good ones. When I found out about this project here, I got really excited. Guys, guys, thank you for making this dream come true! Hooray for Planetmule!

(And it's not even out yet. It better not suck or I'm gonna look stupid )