Re: (2617) starship prices & economics

Cynthia and Steve:

     Another meaty post...I wish I had the time this week to respond to
everything, but I don't.  As a result, I'll just hit a few high points.
Is there any possibility that you could upload your ship designs including
the price both with and without variant calculations?   That would make
life easier on everyone, as those of us who might be inclined to use some of
them can do so without needing to refigure the cost.  Similarly, I try to
make sure that all of my uploads contain enough information to allow people
to undo my variations in the designs without extensive recalculation.  As
someone who doesn't do these things on a computer (except for the word
processing part) avoiding recalculations is always a high priority..(-8.

     Personally, I try not to get too worked up over some of the lacunae
in the design system.  Clearly, things like computers ought to get better
as TL increases, on about the same scale as communicators.  But as long as
all vehicles are designed with the same handicaps, I don't worry about it.
Now something like Scott's Indianapolis series fusion rocket fighter planes
are another matter entirely...COACC doesn't fit in well with the Ref's
Manual, and we're still casting about for easy fixes that allow previous
work to be used (and new work to be submitted in the 'standard' format for
the benifit of those who disagree with our changes.)

     Regarding starship economics (and business economics in general):  It's
my impression that lots of people in the US currently go into business
despite the high failure rate of small businesses because of a (misplaced?)
confidence in their ability to 'beat the odds'.  I can see this factor
potentially at work in interstellar shipping too, although clearly the banks
would not give you such an advantageous interest rate on ship loans...

     If everyone followed the 'ship on other people's ships' for spec trade,
the demand for cargo space would probably exceed the available supply.  A
lot of the problems with Traveller trade in my opinion come from trying to
keep the system simple enough to use...which I'd bet is why they rejected the
notion of variable costs for shipping and passages.  As it is, some of my
players from other games have informed me that their GMs didn't bother with
detailed trade at all...he/she apparently just rolled dice once in a while
and handed out the money.

     When you advise against a fuel purification plant, are you taking into
account the limited availability of refined fuel and the concurrent dangers
of using unrefined fuel?  This would seem to indicate that you either don't
perceive a need to go to a starport of less than class B (or is it C?).

Rob Dean