Prisoner economics: enslave, sell or rob? (+gambling)

[Eddie]

I was thinking about what the best proceedings with prisoners is. Enslave, sell or rob. The robbery option assumes you then use the chips for gambling.

This question obviously depends on who the prisoner is. Raiders for example have such a low sell price that slavery and/or recruitment are clearly the best options. For your average tough guy or savvy girl the question is not so straight foreward.
The last few updates also changed the economics. Glamour was introduced, gambling was made less profitable. When gambling still gave ~4x the investment back, robbing was clearly better than selling. From my quick test gambling is now less than 2x, so sell vs rob is again an open question.

So, what do you do with your prisoners and why?

My proceeding so far: Sell only when there is no other option. Enslave when the slave monthly earning x10 > chips value of robbery. Else rob + gamble.
The richer I get the more I lean towards slavery.

[Rubber Cannonball]

Well, I find this a tough question to come up with a simple rule of thumb approach.  I think it really matters where one is at in the game and what the most pressing needs at the moment are.  Below assumes I don't need him for research.

Does the prisoner have something not readily attainable elsewhere at the moment that I need?   Well then I rob him or enslave him.  Am I also really tight on runt hours, then rob it is.  Are runts killing time producing sellable goods/cash that I am not desperate for then enslave away.  If I'm desperate for cash then sell him even if he isn't worth much; why divert my runts away from their $18/hour or better cash generating activity?

I haven't experienced gambling yet (yeah, I know I'm way behind on versions) and I am generating a bit of glamour that I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for.  I haven't completed the game yet and am trying to play mostly unspoiled.

[Gremlion]

Game forgives some inefficiency, so it's "exhaust all researches from the person", the only exception is raider buzzards whom I research once, grav harness on processing is worth more for me-> enslave if possible -> rob if not -> sell if not. I never recruit workers and don't use pimping since they started to waste prison space.

Slaves generate money (honestly - optional for me, would've used them even if they didn't) and save space (I'm a hoarder, it makes me use less buildings)
So far all my gambling needs are covered by mint,

[new_civilian]

I rob them if they give special resources/equipment, apart from that I sell them as my gals are very good at capturing people and I need the prison space. Money comes from other sources, it's good that Dioxine made it possible to use different approaches on this.

[Rince Wind]

I mostly enslave them, money is not much of an issue (anymore) and more space is always nice as you can use valuable base space for something else instead of vaults or leave it empty if that suits your defence better.
At the beginning I sell quite a few because I don't have the prison space and money is more important.

[Martin]

pimp* > enslave** > rob=sell. Forcing people to have sex against their will in exchange for money takes time and money to set up but nets you more than farms in the mid term

*except noblewomen, the oportunity cost favors selling

**except guild reps, see above

[Gremlion]

You probably haven't played for a long time, courtesans now take prison space, and even best prisons would lose to barracks+workshop in terms of moneymaking.

[Rince Wind]

Exotic Dancers make $42k/month, even when in cryo storage!

[Gremlion]

so, 40 dancers is an equivalent of 30 runts minting money.

[Ethereal_Medic]

I remember there was an option with the prizes section where you could use zaxx tokens to buy female slaves right off the bat.
If you want to entirely remove all upkeep costs, just burn your money that way.
You also get the luxury of salvaging base-space since you no longer need storage space. Just be aware that the vaults offer work-space.

[nrafield]

Sell early game, enslave later. Rob if I urgently need certain components, like from Marsec bodyguards

[Rince Wind]

Bodyguards can't be enslaved anyway, iirc.


Those 40 Dancers only need one tile in a base, unlike a minting operation, and no input whatsoever after it is established. It takes quite a bit of ressources and time to put it up though.

[Eddie]

I did some gambling to find out what the profit margin really is. 1000 chips will get you between 2 to 2.9 mil. Also, claiming the copper coupons and selling the stuff gives more money then just selling the coupons.

Bottom line, gambling gives you a little more than double your money back. So on the current patch robbing + gambling the robbed chips will always net you more money than selling a prisoner.

[JustTheDude/CABSHEP]

Isn't that like basically obvious that longer route will give you more cash? Just selling money purse yelds less cash that openining it (even without gambling), so robbing and gambling has to be better, but it's more micro demanding.

While Slaves give profit on the long run where at certain point you could deconstruct every vault in the Hideout and still have plenty of room.

[Mathel]

I enslave if possible, sell if not. Only rob when I need something specific from them.
Enslaving gives space, which is always worth it. The slaves giving income is a bonus.
There are more reliable ways to get money than robbing prisoners (Such as selling X-Grog), so I usually do not bother with robbing. By reliable, I mean they do not require specific suplies.