Free traders, again...

Yes, I know everyone is tired of hearing me rant about the economics of MT
starships.  Tough, I'm doing it again...
Adam Naylor:

<generally about free traders>

>Most starship travel and cargo hauling would be undertaken by
>corporations.  They could offer guaranteed services, large tax
>rebates could ensure that the vessels were in top condition, they
>have a high access to security etc.

Anyone can offer guaranteed services.  And the only tax breaks you see
in the Imperium are the "subsidized merchants", not the Megacorps.


>I mean as a small time business who had to transport your precious
>commodities who would you trust?  The cleaming Tukera lines or some
>battered old free trader run by captain ahab who has a wooden leg.

Neither.  I would trust a gleaming free trader run by an ex-Oberlindes
man.  Incidently, why should free traders be "battered"?  Some of them
(most of them, from the character generation table) are brand new
ships.


>So how do free traders fit into it.  Well yes they are rare, they
>pick up the more unprofitable cargos or run the speculative markets,
>or get the smaller, luctrative cargos.

Nonsense.  If they get the "more unprofitable" cargos, they'll go
broke.  And most people seem to agree that the speculative market is
most of the interstellar shipping there is.  It's also the most
profitable.


>Back to the old character generation, a merchant character gets his
>hands on a starship (Including most of the time the coorporation
>captains).  But this is for the characters, not for the general
>populace. The average  coorporation captain will retire to a life of
>ease when he leaves the merchant service . The reason why players get
>starships is becuase the whole point of the game is adventure on the
>"High Seas" . It would be rare for an ex corp captian to buy a
>vessel, and this rare captain would be a player . (I mean whats the
>point in generating a merchant captain to go and live a life of ease
>straight afterwards : Ref "What does your character do ?", Player "Oh
>I dunno, hang around the jukuzzi") .

Hmmm...
This ignores the detail that it costs about KCr30 per year to "live a
life of ease".  And the average pension for those merchant characters
is about KCr12.  Which is about enough to live a social status 4.
Which I suspect is far from a "life of ease".  Most of those merchant
captains (in our game) buy a ship because they retire at 42 (or so),
and have 50-100 years left in their life and don't choose to spend it
living in squalor somewhere.


>Where do these players get the starships from ???? Well for
>coorporation captains thats easy . The average coorporation has to
>update its equipment regualry, this makes good business sense . What
>does the corp do with this mothballed freighter, sells it to one of
>its former employees (It would not be scared of compedition from its
>former employee cause the new owner simply just would not matter (His
>vessel is very "small fry")) .

This is almost reasonable.  Of course if they sell all their
mothballed freighters that way, then they are creating quite a lot of
competition for themselves.


>Free Traders get their vessels from say a fellow free trader whose
>retiring, a bankrupt orgainization, etc .

Then why are they mostly brand new?  At least you pay new prices for
them.


>The payments are large for paying of a vessel agreed, BUT those
>people want to be merhants they didnt get talked into it . The corp
>captains could be in it because they want to be independant .

The payments are too large to achieve breakeven.  And I always assume
that these guys want to be merchants to make money, not to lose it.


>The intestellar markets are geared up (So I think) for corporations
>running the space lanes . The free traders are the independants
>struggling to make a living off the "crumbs" the bigger fish dont
>worry about . But the intestellar markets can keep a free trader
>(providing he makes the right decisions (Sorry for the "He" all the
>time, its to save effort, not cause I'm sexist)) above water, or very
>wealthy .

You have to be wealthy just to buy a ship (MCr7+ down payment on a
free trader).  Most wealthy people don't get that way by investing in
things that lose money.  And if my use of the word "guys" bothers
anyone, please do a Find and Replace to change "guys" to "entities".
Thank you.


>The bank repayments are large on a free trader (About 175,000/Month),
>but remember banks, as they are today, are geared up to make their
>money off the big companies . Compare interest rates today, something
>like 13% for the average small business, and 20% for the corp) . A
>bank lending money to an independant is risking it . Space travel is
>hazardous, money consuming, and stressful . There is a very good
>chance they will not see their money again . Consequently the large
>interest rates, high repayments .  (I mean theres none of this just
>having to pay the interest each year) .

Interesting.  My calculations show that starship loans run 5.575%
annual interest.  Hardly back-breaking.  And, last time I looked, big
corporations usually pay LESS interest than little guys.  Last time I
tried to get a loan, the Prime Interest Rate was 11%, but the bank
wanted 17% from me.  If the loans are riskier, you usually charge MORE
interest, not less.

>Why become a free trader . Throughout history people admire the
>underdog, and people want independance . Having to rely on others or
>work for others is not as good as relying on yourself, or working for
>yourself .

I dispute the "underdog" notion.  But being independent is something
many people strive for.  But buying a starship that MAY make money, if
you are lucky, isn't the way to achieve independence.  Buying a
starship that makes money hand over fist is.  Or dropping MCr6 of the
down payment into a bank at 3%, and buying a Travellers' Aid Society
membership with the other MCr1 is a good way to achieve independence.


>The Free Traders are a very hardy and select breed . There is no grey
>areas in the free traders, you either survive or you dont, those who
>do, successfully prosper in the dog eat dog enviroment of merchantile
>space .  These people are reveared, admired . They have adventures
>beyond comparison (well to the average planet bound factory worker) .
>There is a definite romantic appeal to the free trader . Also free
>traders (the really good ones) can survive and prosper, just like any
>profession with high risk, and possible high gain, there will always
>be someone working in it .

Well, if most free traders are merchant captains who want out of the
rat race, then THEY aren't affected by the romantic appeal.  And the
average factory worker (even the exceptional one) is unlikely to see
the MCr7+ required to get into the business.  But there will certainly
be people who want to do it, just to prove that they can  beat the
odds.


>I hope this helps accept the high cost and running of independant
>merchant vessels, and the rather large repayments due . It helps to
>remember though that in merhantile space, a free trader is an
>exception, not the rule, but the free traders that exist, are
>exceptional .

No, it doesn't.  Starships are still too expensive.  Remember, most of
the discussion about the costs of those ships doesn't include mention
of ownership.  A free trader (type A) owned by Tukera STILL won't make
any money.

But the point about free traders being the exception, rather than the rule,
is a good one.

Later...

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I have learned to use the word "impossible" with the greatest caution.
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