Sidewinder shop price if it existed

[Vasious]

This. I also don’t think we can take the in-game passenger lounge too seriously, just due to gameplay limitations.

We can probably safely assume that the economics of Elite are pretty similar to that of Firefly and The Expanse if anyone here has watched those excellent shows. As in:

- Most people (in developed countries/planets) cannot afford even a “cheap” spaceship. They CAN however afford to rent an apartment, maybe own a car, etc.

- The middle class, as a percentage of total population, has shrunk because dystopia. This probably fluctuates wildly depending on each planet or star system, just like modern towns and countries. Belters versus Mars. Or Firefly’s capital worlds versus “Jaynestown.”

- There are wealthy pilots and those who can barely pay their bills. On the lower end think Mal Reynolds and James Holden. That is how we (the players) start out.

So how much would a Sidewinder cost? Putting a RL number on it is impossible and doesn’t really matter. It would be high enough that most people can’t get one, but low enough that it’s still considered a piece of crap.

Another considerations is how much does the Pilot Federation control membership and Private ship ownership by licencing fees.
I feel the Pilots Federation exists to exclude membership as opposed to encourage it

 

[insanephoton]

The trouble with the price of Mars bars, even if they existed in the Elite universe, is that in game we don't buy individual units of things like a bar of chocolate, a can of beer or a bottle of wine. We buy something like a tonne equivalent container of whatever. With Mars bars I guess that would be something like a pallet's worth. Some sources suggest that there are 240 cases to a pallet and each case contains 48 Mars bars. According to Amazon the RRP for a case of 48 Mars bars is £23.52. If you ever find a station selling Mars bars I'll let you do the conversion.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

A soda, or a candy bar in my time was fifteen cents. Now, it's $1-$2 USD.

The purchasing power of the US dollar has declined by a factor of at least ten, in my lifetime.

As for starships, if you have to ask what it costs, you can't afford one (old nautical and aviation joke).