F33D said:
Okay, so outside the 3I, pls itemize what the Cr2000 (3I tax) pays for considering an empty stateroom.
I'll wait...
I think you know what the rules say, or more likely what the rules don't detail so I assume you are now taking me up on
CosmicGamer said:
If you want, I can yet again give some examples so that the rule is more palatable, if you are so inclined.
DISCLAIMER: The following is just me using my imagination to come up with some plausible reasons to explain why life support costs $2000/mo even when a stateroom is not occupied. In no way am I saying this is what the rules intended nor am I suggesting that anyone should use any of my ideas in their games; I don't. The type of games I play are not detailed ship operations simulations so they usually don't even include any accounting of revenue and expenses because nobody thinks it's fun to do.
So, I won't be giving an itemized list or giving exact costs but perhaps I can spur your imagination and you can come up with details, if you so desire, yourself.
Ship maintenance is broken down to a monthly cost even though some may be yearly, quarterly, semi annually... so why not the same for life support. Try not to get caught up in the per trip or passenger aspect of life support. Think of it more as the total average annual costs divided into a monthly amount for ease of accounting. Many of us gamers want to role play and not do accounting.
Now on to some thoughts that might make the rule more palatable.
- Here is a quote from an RV site "infrequent use can cause bacteria buildup resulting in bad tasting or smelling water or even a bug that may make you ill." The site goes on to discuss dumping the tank, flushing the lines, chemicals, and so on. Is it possible that not having passengers and having to treat unused water could make costs go up?
- Replace the water filter every...month? Even if it is once a year, the cost is differed across 12 months. We had less passengers this month so those filters will last an extra 6 days - do you really want to keep track of this?
- Sometimes ships stop in questionable places. Do you always trust the water you are taking on or do you always treat it? While you could figure this out every stop and add or subtract costs, I'd prefer to use an approximate cost.
- Not all supplies are non perishable. Were not dealing with passenger liners that have advanced booking and know how many passengers there will be. The ship would need to order supplies hoping that they fill the staterooms.
- Some supplies have a shelf life once opened. Not all supplies are purchased in per person per use sizes. If you might need X number of something over a month a bulk package might be bought and once opened it might have a limited shelf life.
- I've used dishwashers that use a tablet and it doesn't matter if the washer is full or not, it heats up the same amount of hot water, uses the same amount of electricity, and uses the same amount of detergent. The concept is that some things may need to be cleaned or replaced and have a cost for use that doesn't vary much based on an exact count of used staterooms.
- Maybe staterooms are not individually maintained. The size of the central air/heat/water and other systems is dependent on max occupancy and components in these systems need proper replacement no matter how many people are occupying the staterooms.
- When I was in the military, inspections of systems were done on an interval. It didn't matter if the system was used between intervals or not. Testing systems may require certain supplies. You'd get in big trouble if systems were not properly inspected and tested.
While it is realistic that certain costs would go down if you are carrying less passengers, it is also realistic that some costs would still be the same or might even go up. Using a general rule as an average for the total annual life support costs is ok with me because I don't need every bar of soap, bandage, air freshener and so on to be accounted for.
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