How many...
Christopher Sean Hilton
(17 Aug 2017 04:00 UTC)
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Re: [TML] How many... Rupert Boleyn (17 Aug 2017 06:38 UTC)
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Re: [TML] How many...
Bruce Johnson
(17 Aug 2017 17:53 UTC)
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Re: [TML] How many...
Rupert Boleyn
(17 Aug 2017 22:09 UTC)
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Re: [TML] How many...
Richard Aiken
(17 Aug 2017 22:44 UTC)
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Re: [TML] How many...
shadow@xxxxxx
(23 Aug 2017 16:10 UTC)
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Re: [TML] How many... Rupert Boleyn 17 Aug 2017 06:38 UTC
On 17Aug2017 1600, Christopher Sean Hilton wrote: > Here are some questions that should have jumped out at me 20 years ago > when I did programming/industrial engineering for a medium sized car > company? [1] > > What's the operational lifespan of a starship? > > How many Type S Scouts have ever been made? > > At the time of the typical Traveller campaign, how many Type S scouts: > > Exist? > > Are operational? > > My point is that I'm thinking that there's a fairly large amount of > handwavium keeping player characters away from starships in > Traveller. Or, when one considers that the Type S is both ubiquitous > and really really old. A group of player characters should be able to > acquire a handful of them from which they could build a working > example for a lot less than the 27 MCr that a brand new Type S costs. Type S scouts remain the property of the IISS, so far as I know (which does raise the question of where prospectors get the hulls for their Seekers), so the IISS may recycle or destroy most of the older Type S ships, if only to keep value in their retirement incentive program ("Be as good little Scout and you'll get your own Type S when you 'retire'!"). Now, Type A and A2 Free/Far Traders, those I can't explain away like that. Even with the apparently quite low expected ROI banks and other businesses accept in the 3I they have to retain a fair bit of their value by age 40, given the terrible profitability they have while making the mortgage repayments. If the buyer of a new ship makes no net profit or loss over the 40 years the loan lasts, for their initial 20% down payment to be worth as much as if they'd just invested it into starship loans for other people the ship would have to still be worth 50% of it's initial value at 40 years age, assuming it was properly looked after, etc. -- Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com> Chief Assistant to the Assistant Chief