A COUPLE OF THEORIES ...
FIRST, when you buy a new ship or module, most of the money you spend (95%, in fact), is the cost of a license to own and operate a ship of that type.
When you rebuy after destruction, you're actually paying the physical replacement cost.
Evidence: Any station can actually produce any ship or module - evidenced by the fact that if the ship you're in is destroyed and you eject, you have a new copy of all your ships and modules in a station THAT MAY NOT EVEN STOCK THAT SHIP OR MODULES.
So, while any station can produce any ship or module, they are limited by licensing to which owner/operator licenses are able to operate. If they claim they're out of stock (as occasionally seems to happen with some modules), they're negotiating for more licenses.
Also, did you ever wonder how a station always has enough supply of whatever obscure ships they have in stock that people want to buy? They don't ... they just 'print' one as needed. If you sell a ship there, it's disassembled to components ready for the next ship printout.
The robotic assembly system is so efficient it can reproduce a Cutter, Corvette or Anaconda in seconds.
SECOND, the Elite Universe has teleport.
Evidence: (1) When you eject, you find yourself immediately back in a station, even if it's 64 kly away. (2) When you want to activate an inactive hired crew member - that you last saw some distance away, they're instantly available at the current station.
Problems: Why are there so many transport missions available if people can simple teleport from one place to another?
I propose that the technology/intellectual property for the teleport is closely guarded by the Pilot's Federation (with the co-operation of Remlok), and can only be requested by Pilot's Federation members (i.e. CMDR's.). They have a teleport receiving unit in each station that monitors for Remlok suit signals that will safely retrieve an ejected pilot. CMDR's can also request transfer between stations by teleport of a limited number of hired crew. Strict PF laws prevent CMDR's abusing this system for instantaneous travel themselves.
(Yeah, I know the above are actually for gameplay, but I was trying to come up with some way to explain them ...)
FIRST, when you buy a new ship or module, most of the money you spend (95%, in fact), is the cost of a license to own and operate a ship of that type.
When you rebuy after destruction, you're actually paying the physical replacement cost.
Evidence: Any station can actually produce any ship or module - evidenced by the fact that if the ship you're in is destroyed and you eject, you have a new copy of all your ships and modules in a station THAT MAY NOT EVEN STOCK THAT SHIP OR MODULES.
So, while any station can produce any ship or module, they are limited by licensing to which owner/operator licenses are able to operate. If they claim they're out of stock (as occasionally seems to happen with some modules), they're negotiating for more licenses.
Also, did you ever wonder how a station always has enough supply of whatever obscure ships they have in stock that people want to buy? They don't ... they just 'print' one as needed. If you sell a ship there, it's disassembled to components ready for the next ship printout.
The robotic assembly system is so efficient it can reproduce a Cutter, Corvette or Anaconda in seconds.
SECOND, the Elite Universe has teleport.
Evidence: (1) When you eject, you find yourself immediately back in a station, even if it's 64 kly away. (2) When you want to activate an inactive hired crew member - that you last saw some distance away, they're instantly available at the current station.
Problems: Why are there so many transport missions available if people can simple teleport from one place to another?
I propose that the technology/intellectual property for the teleport is closely guarded by the Pilot's Federation (with the co-operation of Remlok), and can only be requested by Pilot's Federation members (i.e. CMDR's.). They have a teleport receiving unit in each station that monitors for Remlok suit signals that will safely retrieve an ejected pilot. CMDR's can also request transfer between stations by teleport of a limited number of hired crew. Strict PF laws prevent CMDR's abusing this system for instantaneous travel themselves.
(Yeah, I know the above are actually for gameplay, but I was trying to come up with some way to explain them ...)
