The Economics of Empire

[locarno24]

Refueling in a gas giant as a commercial starship is actually a certainty to send you broke - the time it takes you to get there, skim and refine the fuel is time you arent making money.

Depends on the system - if it's principally a 'through road' rather than a destination in and of itself, it may be more attractive to head directly to the jovian.

Equally, this is a 'warp drive' universe under discussion - once clear of the mainworld's 100D limit I can fire up the warp systems and be at a near gas giant's 100D in (if I'm working this out right) 11.7 seconds, even with a rating-1 warp drive.

 

[Darzoni]

Equally, this is a 'warp drive' universe under discussion - once clear of the mainworld's 100D limit I can fire up the warp systems and be at a near gas giant's 100D in (if I'm working this out right) 11.7 seconds, even with a rating-1 warp drive.

It ends up happening with warp drives that most commercial flights aren't going to refuel at a gas giant. They usually fuel up at port because they are also undergoing monthly maintenance; they may as well fuel up during the downtime and save some time. Warp drives mean there's a lot more straight line routes than little zig-zaggy ones, even though four parsecs is still the practical trade route limit due to most commercial freighters employing Warp 1 drives to cut down on costs.

Basically I've found that with warp drives, the range of a ship is limited by its maintenance cycle, not how much fuel is carried. A Warp 6, Maneuver 2, 100t X-Boat can have 49 tons of fuel, and ends up with a range of 48.99 parsecs. Meaning it can operate for around 8 weeks at warp. It's going to need maintenance long before that. Hence why commercial flights will tend to fuel up in port.

 

[locarno24]

Basically I've found that with warp drives, the range of a ship is limited by its maintenance cycle, not how much fuel is carried. A Warp 6, Maneuver 2, 100t X-Boat can have 49 tons of fuel, and ends up with a range of 48.99 parsecs. Meaning it can operate for around 8 weeks at warp. It's going to need maintenance long before that. Hence why commercial flights will tend to fuel up in port.

Fair comment.
Equally, given that, and given the fact that you have fuel space 'free', it might well be that taking High Guard maintenance spares are more attractive:

Ships are able to operate for one month without needing to go into a spaceport for maintenance, assuming an adequate supply of fuel. This is increased by one month for every 1% of total tonnage dedicated to cargo.

For a low(ish) warp ship, having that extra month without putting in allows you a six-seven parsec range, and using 1% of your hull for spares is going to be much cheaper - and allow more space for profitable cargo - than increasing both your j-drive and p-plant rating.

In that case, pirates are going to have to intercept ships within the mainworld's 100D limit, and it's very unlikely you'll ever catch a target with dry tanks. I suspect jumpbreaker missiles are going to be much more important to a pirate.