Background
Ship maintenance is a continuous job that requires time and currency of private ship owners, but no emprirical data has been recorded.
Objective
- To find the relationship between the time and cost of repairing private ships at the Docks and Shipyard.
- To identify key efficiency strategies regarding the time and cost of ship repair.
Method
Collect the repair time and cost of ships that need repair considering (a) at least one measure with all three types of currently available private ships, (b) damage to each ship above and below 85 %, (c) repair in Stations with and without shipyard (ship condition below 85 % only), and (d) in at least in three different Systems.
With all the University courses done, and Revered reputation in all affiliations, the following variables were considered:
- GCT cycle and day
- System
- Station
- Station level
- Fuel price
- Economy factor
- Selling factor
- Ship (Mantis Class Private Cruiser, Private Shuttle, Razorback)
- Fuel level
- Total repair to 85 %
- Total repair to 100 %
- Docks patch up time
- Docks patch up credits
- Shipyard patch up time
- Shipyard patch up credits
- Shipyard immediate refurbish1 units
- Shipyard immediate refurbish credits
- Patch up time
- Patch up credits
- Immediate refurbish time
- Immediate refurbish cost
- Post-patch up immediate refurbish time
- Post-patch up immediate refurbish cost
Results
Table 1
Overall Data Collection
Patch up Time
The time required to patch up is always the same, taking about 83 units per repair % — regardless of day, factors, station, area, ship, and repair %.
Patch up Cost
The credits required to patch up are always the same regardless of day, factors, stations and ships, but different between the Docks and Shipyard areas, by approximately about 20 credits and 36 credits per repair %, respectively.
Immediate Refurbish Time
The time required to immediate refurbish is always the same, taking about 83 units per repair % — regardless of day, factors, station, area, ship, and repair %.
Immediate Refurbish Cost
The credits required to immediate refurbish depends on the repair %. The higher the repair %, the higher the credits to refurbish to 100 %. If the credits required to immediate refurbish are corrected by subtracting the 1000-credit fee, the cost is always about 50 credits per repair %.
Post-Patch up Refurbish Time and Cost
Refurbish after patch up (in this experiment always from 85 %) seems to have a fixed time of 3750 units and 3250 credits, which means the same 83 units, but 72 credits per repair % (only three data points support this, but they are consistent). As above, when the price is corrected by subtracting the 1000-credit fee, the cost remains at about 50 credits per repair %.
Conclusions
- Patch up time and cost seems independent of any other condition. Repair when and where needed.
- Patch up always takes the same time regardless of any other condition. Repair when and where convenient.
- Patch up is cheaper at the Docks than at the Shipyard, but at the former 50 % Focus and Stamina is consumed, and you are "confined to the Docks until repairs are complete" (with cut wait time by 50%" available for 10 bonds), so the savings might not be worth it if you can actively make credits doing career tasks, for example.
- Immediate refurbish always takes the same time regardless of any condition. Repair when and where convenient.
- There seems to exist a baseline cost of 1000 credits to immediately refurbish on top of which is added 50 credits per repair %. So the higher the repair %, the cheaper it is to refurbish at a Shipyard — but could a ship with more repair % needed be more likely to become non-operational?
- All current available ships (Mantis Class Private Cruiser, Private Shuttle, Razorback) have the same maintenance cost. Fuel consumption seems to be the only relevant cost variable.
- The most time-efficient strategy is to immediately refurbish at any Shipyard, but it costs more.
- The most cost-efficient strategy is to patch up at the Docks, and then refurbish at the Shipyard, but only if no other action is intended to be taken, and also if there's no risk of remaining at the Docks after the patch up, making the player vulnerable to PVP.
- Immediate refurbish with a 1000-credits fee in addition to the 50 credits per repair % seems an easy solution for a robust bank account.
Major Limitations
- Only one data collector was used.
- There were no variations in University courses and Reputation.
Further Questions to be Tested
- Does a ship take more damage per unit of travel when it has a higher repair %?