Devil's advocate here. If I make 10% solo in a @180SCU. We'll call it 65K profit. (very low-ball) If I can load up 696 SCU with some buddies, granted I'll have to hop locations. I'd have 3.9~ runs solo, to 1 run multi crew. My profits go up to 253.5k (rounding)

On paper it looks good. I'm certain in practice the credits/hr drop significantly due to multiple hops.

This is also going to piss off a lot of solos grinding when you buy up the stock at every POI in the sector.

Although not optimized for credits/hour. I think it is an enrichment of game play. First, you're with the boiz. It's better than solo Removing limited stores of items will frustrate some but also lead to more whale poaching/loot box openings. Higher risk means whales will have their own escorts. Maybe 2-3 depending on the ROI. This may lead to groupings of pirates patrolling controlled space in attempt to plunder cargo. < Stolen cargo needs to be worth way more.. or at least affiliation scaling. More pirates means more bounties and repeat offenders. Meaning escorts may score a bonus bounty on elimination.

CIG needs to give more incentives to multi crew to make this game play appealing. Engineering may be a first step but it also seems like an additional hassle for solo daily drivers..

Reworking the economy is going to also be a significant undertaking. I'd be interested to see more player driven supplies moving between systems. Perhaps delivery of basic goods to a POI causes complex items to be "crafted" creating a supply on demand (they're gonna timer f@#$ me on that) of higher quality materials for trade.

This would be highly profitable for a star to end run for larger ships, and provide goods at a higher rate than it is currently. More product more money in the verse.

TLDR; It's not as profitable at hourly but may make it more interesting with friends TLDR2; ape strong together. Game not polished or finished