Please add ship cost to ship comparison tool

[Falcrack]

The ability to see differences in stats between several different ships is useful, but what would make it even more useful would be to also directly compare the costs. I'm not always interested in knowing what is the best ship, but also knowing what is the best ship for its cost. The current implementation of the ship comparison tool does not compare cost of ships, either in terms of credits or wares, which I consider to be a major shortcoming.

[Rastuasi]

Well the hardest part here is that ship costs are variable. The same ship built at one station can be 30% more than at another station. Then if the price on the compare screen differs from actual bought price, players would complain. So I'm not sure how they could do it and not cause confusion

[geldonyetich]

Probably do it in wares with a check to convert it to credits if the wares were all at average price.

That said, might not be a very high priority considering a workaround exists of ordering at the wharf and writing down what you see.

[Falcrack]

Well the hardest part here is that ship costs are variable. The same ship built at one station can be 30% more than at another station. Then if the price on the compare screen differs from actual bought price, players would complain. So I'm not sure how they could do it and not cause confusion

My idea was to simply use the average (or middle) ware cost. That way it would not be dependent on the stock levels of the wharf it was being ordered from. I really just want to be able to conveniently compare a few different ships both in terms of capability (which we have now) and cost (which we do not).

[Zloth2]

That does sound good, and (at least on my PC) there's plenty of vertical space for more info. Just make sure the label for the data says "comparison price" or something, then explain how it was calculated in a tooltip/help bubble/whatever we're calling them this decade. If it just says "price," people are going to be upset if the price they pay turns out to be higher.

[Falcrack]

That does sound good, and (at least on my PC) there's plenty of vertical space for more info. Just make sure the label for the data says "comparison price" or something, then explain how it was calculated in a tooltip/help bubble/whatever we're calling them this decade. If it just says "price," people are going to be upset if the price they pay turns out to be higher.

Just call it "Average Price".

[Rastuasi]

My idea was to simply use the average (or middle) ware cost. That way it would not be dependent on the stock levels of the wharf it was being ordered from. I really just want to be able to conveniently compare a few different ships both in terms of capability (which we have now) and cost (which we do not).

Yeah I understand that, I'm just thinking of the fact that many users had a conniption with a logical move of menu items, so not sure if, even labeled properly as "average price", that it'd be understood.

[Koizuki]

I'd imagine most players understand what an "Average Price" is, especially if they also know that Wharves have dynamic pricing depending on stock levels. It would give a good indication as to whether a particular Wharf/Shipyard is selling a ship for above or below average price, but more importantly to the comparison tool, lets you see if certain ships are more economical than others for the stats they provide.

If you really wanted more specific info, the game could easily also add in the pricing range like, say, "Average Price: ### (Range: ### - ###)"

I feel like there was a similar request recently for player shipyards displaying the total resource cost of all components (instead of individually) in a similar way, which I'd also support.

[geldonyetich]

From the purpose of a ship comparison tool, it probably doesn't matter if it's the average price or the highest price. The point is to compare the relative value of the different ship load outs so you have a concept of how much it'll set you back when you actually decide to commit.

Along those lines, simply comparing wares would have a similar (or in the case of owning a wharf or shipyard, superior) result of providing a fair estimation of cost to the player.

That said, it might actually be more accurate to base it on the highest price of the wares anyway. Because the ship comparison screen currently doesn't let you add crew or consumables. The highest price is the most conservative guess, making sure you're most likely to afford the ship if you try to commit.

[Falcrack]

You could go so far as having a slider to adjust the price for each of the wares, but that might be overkill.

I find it just a bit annoying when ordering ships at my own wharf that I have no easy method to determine the relative value of the ship I am ordering, as there is no listed price.

Maybe when ordering at our own shipyards there could be an estimated cost to the player for the ships being ordered based on the current stock levels at the shipyard. We wouldn't actually pay that much, but it would give me an idea of what the wares to make the ship likely cost me.