11-18-2017, 08:22 PM | #21 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Does Interstellar Trade Make Sense For Realistic Science Fiction?
I do not think that a spacecraft without armor on its sections will be capable of gaining insurance at any reasonable rate and I also doubt that a bank would be willing to give a loan for a spacecraft without any hull. Even Stone Armor would be better than nothing from the point of view of an insurer or a lender, though I would think that most insurers and lenders would give better rates to the spacecraft with better armor (all other things held constant).
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11-18-2017, 08:33 PM | #22 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Does Interstellar Trade Make Sense For Realistic Science Fiction?
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TL11 freighters with 1 layer of steel armor don't have it because it actually provides useful protection, they have it because they're designed on a tradition that ships are not thin-skinned.
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11-18-2017, 08:44 PM | #23 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Does Interstellar Trade Make Sense For Realistic Science Fiction?
A dDR 50 protects completely against a 10 MJ laser or protects somewhat against a low velocity collision (0.1 mps) with a small spacecraft, which is better than nothing from the point of view of a lender or an insurer.
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11-18-2017, 08:50 PM | #24 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Does Interstellar Trade Make Sense For Realistic Science Fiction?
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If you use the Anthem-class instead, at $25.9M and 450 tons of cargo capacity things will look much better. Also, that very expensive trader you chose should be doing three times the speed in hyperspace, though that won't improve things much for it (see below). Quote:
Using the Anthem and your 2.5%/month cost and your profit margin, each ton of space has to make ~$2750 per month. Assuming an average flight of 10 parsecs, one day in-system at each end, and a 2-day turnaround, and thus two trips a month, each ton needs to earn $137.5 per parsec. Passengers do not need to cost ten times as much. A 'cabin' consumes 7.5 - 8.33 tons, and can carry a luxury/first-class passenger or two normal passengers. The weight of consumables is 4 pounds per passenger per day, and costs $2/day ($20/day for a luxury passenger). The stewards are probably the biggest cost and weight, at one per two luxury, five 1st class, or 20 normal passengers (plus their accomodations, etc.). A normal passenger is about 5 tons worth of cargo lost, a 1st class about 10, and a luxury passenger about 12. Even gourmet rations for high-paying passengers are a minor cost compared to the transport cost of their tonnage, and a luxury passenger probably should pay about $1850/parsec, a 1st class about $1500, and a normal passenger ~$700. That includes their share of the steward's wages, etc., BTW. So, using the ships in the book, it's not nearly as bad as you suggest, and with really bare-bonus ships (especially larger ones, so minor system like a few shuttles or whatever take up a smaller percentage of the mass) costs can drop even more. Oh, and you left out the cost per AU that's normally charged for normal space trips (so did I), though they're really negligible anyway.
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11-18-2017, 09:04 PM | #25 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Does Interstellar Trade Make Sense For Realistic Science Fiction?
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It's far more than you need for micro-meteor protection, far less than you need for any serious collision, and reduces the ship's revenue gathering capacity by ~17%.
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
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11-18-2017, 09:22 PM | #26 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Does Interstellar Trade Make Sense For Realistic Science Fiction?
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Under what insured circumstances are you going to be taking 10 MJ laser hits but not anything else that means your ship is doomed? And an SM+5 ship collision at 0.1 mps is (A) something very unlikely and (B) going to do ~126 dDamage - that's going to cause serious damage with or without DR 50. Maybe the repair payout is a bit smaller, if nothing goes further wrong, but you're eating a huge expense.
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
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11-18-2017, 09:42 PM | #27 |
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
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Re: Does Interstellar Trade Make Sense For Realistic Science Fiction?
It looks like you're using the Dark Horse from SS2. If so, using that as your basis of comparison is akin to basing a calculation of international trade on the cost to operate drug cartel go-fast boats.
To maximize revenues, you want your equipment operating as continuously as possible. Have interface craft hauling cargo to and from the edge of the hyperspace exclusion zone, where the big ships just drop out of hyperspace, drop off their cargo containers, pick up the next batch, and leave. Why waste so much effort hauling hyperdrives up and down gravity wells?
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RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. |
11-18-2017, 09:56 PM | #28 | |
Join Date: Oct 2008
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Re: Does Interstellar Trade Make Sense For Realistic Science Fiction?
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If you are in a situation where it is common to be attacked and thus need armor and weapons, then you are not looking at normal base shipping rates, you are looking at the wartime rates. |
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11-19-2017, 07:11 AM | #29 | |
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Re: Does Interstellar Trade Make Sense For Realistic Science Fiction?
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Compound interest is exponential. If you didn't come back filthy rich it just means you didn't stay away long enough. Or your bank failed or society collapsed while you were gone or the communists won or inflation went crazy because too many people went away and came back just like you did. Alternately you can fill your ship with the things you'll need to rebuild civilization and wait until it collapses to come back. DGP's AI used this premise.
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11-19-2017, 07:30 AM | #30 | |
Join Date: Mar 2014
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Re: Does Interstellar Trade Make Sense For Realistic Science Fiction?
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This is also ignoring factors such as hospitals becoming better at treating injuries and cars becoming safer etc. Last edited by Andreas; 11-19-2017 at 07:34 AM. |
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