Has, anybody else noticed that the formula for Holds ‘(B*H+(20*H*(H*-1)/2’ is always off by 10-20 thousand, or am I just doing it wrong? I have been trying to figure this out for several hours and have been completely unsuccessful. During this process I noticed that the costs of Holds goes up and down by 1-2 credits on the hour, throughout the entire day, (I notices the price was changing and thought I finally had lost it! So, I kept changing my system clock and realized that the prices were actually changing hourly.) [}:)]

I have come up with several different formulas that are anywhere from 8-300 credits from being correct, but they only work during the purchase I was making; so there is something I am missing, I just can’t figure it out. Is it not possible to determine the cost of Holds ahead of time? I know I am not very good at math, but it seems purchasing something, would be one of the easier mathematical functions to perform. Any help would be great!

I asked a similar question on 02/17/04 and this is response I got then...

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Originally posted by Father Cajone

Just mentioning that in a small game I have been watching hold prices go down for the past 3 days while buying furbs. It seems only natural that would happen also just as fig and shield prices change and wondering if anyone else has noticed that? After all it is just another aspect of the class O options in the shipyard.

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It is natural and it does happen. It doesnt appear to happen based on the same formula that sheilds&figs work off of however..

<<Doctor Who>>

Ok, I believe I have found the correct formula down to the exact Credit. If there are any problems with this please let me know. I have tested it with both 0-Holds initially and with Holds purchasing more holds, using both odd and even numbers. As far I can tell this formula works perfectly.

Total Cost = (C*H)+((20*(H-1)*H)/2)

C = Current Cost (of next installation)
H = Holds purchasing


Now looking back this is almost identical to the previous formula, I was dividing after I had done the adding, which was giving me off-ward answers each time. Original formula: 'Cost = (B*H)+((I*H)*(H-1))/2', the division outside the brackets, threw me off, I guess.

Yea, FC in my testing I have noticed the Hold costs will raise throughout the day after each hour, every hour, or every few hours (I have noticed it will occasionely keep the same price after a new hour has passed, on occasion, I would suspect that it would divid the total change in that days cost by 24, or something to that effect?) How much change in cost, though I suppose depends on where it is at in its 9-day cycle, anywhere from 1-18 credits per Extern. At Extern it will reset and setup for its new starting cost for the day. I hope to one day, figure it out! [:)]

There is a built in random factor in tw, on most interactions. It is usually trivial. It can bite you in the Butt from time to time however.