Please change how the insurance/loan mechanic works.

[mugendo]

I still remember the PvP crowd crying for ship insurance in 'pirates of the burning sea'...they got it and traders were easy targets with no risk of loss to the attacker....that change killed the game.

 

[Pile_O_Gunz]

Well I don't like the insurance concept here.

Where have you seen you crash your car and afterwards you get an insurance??? You always have to insure it upfront, and keep it insured according to the value you want, up to a quantity that is a fraction of the value.

Ships should be given the value they deserve. Currently you just crash it and get another at a great discount just because some nice guys give you an insurance value afterwards. Up to a Cobra I feel like I'm just flying for free. I am maybe missing something here.

You are missing something. The cobra is a cheap ship the system is biased towards the cheap ships basically ensuring you don't loose it because the loan offered is enough to cover your rebuy if you can't afford it.

The loan they give you isn't the insurance value it is a value calculated based on your pirates federation rank e.g. An elite ranked pilot would get a large loan. However that loan does not scale well with insurance costs of large ships.

My t9 for example costs 5m credits to insure the loan I'd get if I loose it will only be for a couple million max - if I can't make up the rest I won't be able to rebuy it and it's gone. It's only with ships worth over 10m credits that you start having insurance problems.

 

[Bran Tse Mallory]

Here's a similar REAL WORLD event:

Recently a friend of mine started a new motorbike business, selling and repairing bikes and selling all the clothing too. He and his wife put everything into the business. After being open for two weeks his garage on the side of his house was broken into by yobs. They didn't take a lot but the things they took were of sentimental value to him and his wife.

In order to start the new business they had let the house insurance slip and not renewed the policy when it was due. They are now out of pocket and have lost many items which can never be truly replaced such as a fishing rod given to him by his now passed away dad.

He's not complaining that the insurance business has to change, he accepts that he got caught with his pants down. It was not his fault that the robbery happened just that he had chosen not to be covered. Just like the OP chose not to be covered by the in-game safety net.

 

[Von Shadow]

I like the example Bran, but we're talking about a very extremely simple game mechanic thats documented in the manual, has had countless threads dicussing it and still people want it changing.

I'm at the point where i'm happy with what i have, i have plenty of money for rebuys but even then i fly careful .... simple reason the Anaconda when fully kitted has a rebuy of 20m Cr .... even though i have 110m in cash i don't wanna lose it ..... People just get to that tipping point where they have JUST enough to get the ship they've been working towards for weeks/months (it took me 7 months of game to get my conda) and the temptation is strong to "just one mission .... what harm could it do" go and hit up a res with the new hotness

 

[bootsam]

The only people who want it changing are those who got caught out and are hurting from it. Everyone else meanwhile manages fine with it in place. I lost a T9 on Sunday and lost 10M. It could have been 100M Cr had I not had enough to cover my losses. When I first bought my T9 I traded without using my full cargo capacity as I needed to ensure I had enough for insurance. Its a relatively simple concept and requires no changing. What it does need perhaps is an alarm to tell peeps they havent enough cash reserves to cover their insurance and that if they die thats it chummy. Then if they choose to continue and the worst happens they have no-one to blame but themselves. Its easy to forget about the insurance in the heat of the game and maybe some indication is required but that would be it. No changes.

 

[serolrom]

It's only with ships worth over 10m credits that you start having insurance problems.

This sounds reasonable to me, and the way it should be.
I would anyway change the system to something more 'straightforward', the way we are used to see insurances: You buy your ship, and you insure it in a later step, up to the amount you want to invest, and never being able to cover the whole price.
Only a change in the way things are done, not necessarily in any way to make it easier.

EDIT: Thanks for the explanation!

 

[dayrth]

I bought a Python once. Didn't have enough money to kit it out properly and didn't have enough to fully cover the insurance. Guess what, I lost it. I knew the risk I was taking, so totally my fault. What I did was take a loan to re-buy it with all modules, then sell all those modules and the ship. Then I had enough to buy a Vulture and kit it out properly. I have been flying the Vulture ever since.

I still wanted the Python though and I am still impatient, so I built up my cash to 55 million and went and got one. Then I got back in my Vulture and few off again. When I had another 51 million I went back and bought an A7 power plant. Then back in the Vulture. I have been doing this for a while, gradually adding modules. Once I have it fully kitted and have enough for the insurance I will start flying it, but not before then.

I'm sure almost everyone is tempted in to buying a ship before they have enough credits to run it properly and I'm sure a lot of them loose it. What you should do then is learn the lesson and do it right next time.

 

[tosto]

Wait, what was the first rile of Elite: Dangerous?? Ahhhh now I remember - DON'T FLY SHIPS YOU CAN'T AFFORD AND ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST 3X OF SHIP'S INSURANCE + 3X FULL CAGROHOLD OF WHAT YOU ARE CARRYING IN CASH + HAVE A BACKUP SHIP.
Was it something like that or did I missed something?

Yeah, you did miss something.... Like buying 80mil. cr ship and being unable to even leave the hub b/c some stupid creep repeatedly destroys your ship just for fun of it right after you get out of No fire zone. How many CRs do you think I should have to keep buying insurance when you don't even have time to lunch Chaff not to mention escape?

 

[Yaffle]

Wow. Much necro.