Economics 101

Prominence.  Reputation. Fame.  Honor.  All of these are great and sought after.  But without a couple thousand well earned c-bills, all those other things will get you is a free coffee in the local Starbucks (yes, they are still around).  The more you win, the more cash you gain.  The more cash you have, the more toys you can afford. While money may not buy happiness, it certainly makes misery easier to live with.

Something that should be understood up front is that there will be a lot of characters that go bankrupt, especially ones just starting out.  Solaris VII, and Solaris City in particular is not a forgiving place, and those that cannot pay their own way rarely survive.  If this happens to one of your characters, you may start fresh with a new character, retiring the old.

 

ComStar Accounts

Each character has a single ComStar Account. This account holds all moneys that the character has access to for the purchasing of ‘Mechs, making bets, repairing damaged ‘Mechs, paying Solaris Fees and all the other little expenses that come with living on Solaris VII.  ComStar will only guarantee a limited amount of funds for each character.

Money is primarily gained through participation in Solaris matches.  Everyone who participates has the opportunity to make money, even the losers. The better one does in a match, the more they will make. Another way of acquiring cash includes betting on matches (betting right is the preferred method).  Wealthy characters may also receive a weekly income from home or from previous employment due to traits gained during character creation.

You may transfer funds to another character that needs cash, but only if that character is a current member of your Stable.  There is base Transfer Fee on all character transactions.

  • Maximum Funds - 7.5 million + (Solaris Rank x 1.5 million)
  • Transfer Fee - 5% of amount
  • Weekly Income - Depends on level of Wealth trait

 

ComStar Loans

Some characters come to Solaris VII with only the shirt on their back and a name.  Some don’t even have that.  But all have the dream of participating in Solaris battles.  ComStar has ‘kindly’ setup a banking system that enables even the poorest character to get setup on Solaris VII and ready for combat.  Whether this is used when entering your character into NBT-Solaris (initial cash); or you need to dig yourself out of a serious losing streak and fix that damage on your ‘Mech; or you just need a boost in order to purchase that next pretty ‘Mech; ComStar Loans can both solve and present a whole host of problems.

ComStar Loans are granted in increments of 500,000 c-bills.  While 15 million is the normal ceiling for a loan of this type, ComStar may offer you more depending on your current Solaris Ranking.  Only one loan may be open at any one time, and all loans must have collateral (a ‘Mech) presented for acceptance of credit. A loan may be paid off at anytime, but no later than 10 weeks after loan origination.  At that time all funds are due, plus interest.  Interest is due, regardless of when the loan is paid off, from 10 hours to 10 weeks.

  • Maximum Loan Amount - 7.5 million + (Solaris Rank x 250,000)
  • Open Loan Fee - 1% of remaining loan amount per week
  • Loan Payoff Fee - 20% of loan amount

ComStar ‘understands’ that sometimes the weekly interest payments may be hard to meet, especially after a bad week in the arena.  As such, they will not come for your ‘Mech (or other body parts) right away, but give you time to correct the oversight of your late payment.  They are patient. Up to a point.

  • Payment Default, 1 Week - Following week 2 payments are owed, plus 5% late charge.
  • Payment Default, 2 Weeks - Following week 3 payments are owed, plus 10% late charge.
  • Payment Default, 3 Weeks - ‘Mech repossessed; some “Character Development” to occur
  • Final Payment Default - ‘Mech repossessed; “Character Development” as well as chance of a ‘tragic accident’

Repossessed ‘Mechs are sold immediately and the proceeds applied to the character’s debt.  Defaulting on a loan does not relieve the character of the responsibility to pay off the loan. If a character is incapable of doing so by other means (stable member providing funds for example), then he will be forced to flee Solaris VII, retiring from the public eye.

Bad Credit

A character that suffers from bad credit will find it very difficult to secure a future loan, or even to temporarily float weekly expenses when necessary.  A character may acquire up to 3 negative marks on their credit report.  After that, no further credit will be extended.  Marks are earned by defaulting on a loan (final payment), or not meeting weekly expenses.  A mark may be removed by paying a Credit Improvement Fee to a so inclined official who will wipe a mark off of your permanent record.

  • First Mark - Loans suffer from an additional 5% closing fee.
  • Second Mark - Solaris Auction House is closed off to the character. Loans suffer from an additional 10% closing fee.
  • Third Mark - Loans will no longer be extended to this character. No further extensions of weekly maintenance will be granted.
  • Further Credit Problems - The character’s ComStar Accounts are shut down and all funds and resources confiscated. The character will be forced to flee Solaris City and find employment elsewhere.
  • Credit Improvement Fee - 5 million c-bills

 

Fees & Maintenance

There are quite a number of fees, dues and maintenance that are paid out regularly by all characters that live on Solaris VII. From the simple like ‘Mech Maintenance, to the pricey like ‘Mech Repair or Character Training, all take a bite out of your winnings. The following is a list of all the major fees that can (and probably will) apply to your character during his career in NBT-Solaris.  Some are automatic, taken out each week, while others take effect if you do something specific, like auctioning a ‘Mech, or transfer funds.

Action Fees:
  • Transfer Funds - 5% of amount; only to member of same stable
  • Loan Payoff - 20% of loan amount (plus original loan, of course)
  • Credit Improvement Fee - 5 million c-bills
  • Base Auction Fee - 5% of ‘Mech value or 5% of closing bid, whichever is higher; nonrefundable
  • Battle Signup - 6,000-25,000 c-bills x Solaris Rank for each battle
  • Purchase ‘Mech - See ‘Mech Bay for details
  • Character Training - To be determined
  • Stable Registration - 250,000 c-bills x Solaris Rank
Automatic Fees

ComStar is a friendly banking system, and is more than willing to auto-deduct the following expenses from your account each week, or after a match as needed. Expenses are deducted each Sunday morning. If at any time your character is unable to pay the required weekly fees, you character will receive a negative mark on their credit report.  The following week the late fees will be owed, plus 5% of the late amount.

  • Cost of Living - 3,750 c-bills x Solaris Rank per week
  • Light Maintenance - 20,000 c-bills per week, per Light ‘Mech
  • Medium Maintenance - 25,000 c-bills per week, per Medium ‘Mech
  • Heavy Maintenance - 37,500 c-bills per week, per Heavy ‘Mech
  • Assault Maintenance - 500,000 c-bills per week, per Assault ‘Mech
  • Clan Tech Maintenance Modifier - x1.25 above fee for the Clan Tech ‘Mech
  • Stable Membership - 50,000 c-bills x Solaris Rank per week
  • Open Loan - 1% of remaining loan amount per week
  • Repair ‘Mech - 250-500 c-bills per damage point

 

Proud sponsors of the NetBattleTech League System
Return to NBT-Solaris HomePage