Callin Vandyx
   |
Posted - 2010.03.30 17:15:00 -
[1]
I think the insurance changes, while a good start, rather miss the point.
Calling this "insurance" at all is a misnomer. A real insurance market (such as in the USA, the unemployment insurance market, or all over the world, the life insurance market) varies its rates depending on an actuarial estimate of the likelihood of loss.
Hence, each character (or account? or corp? or combination thereof) should be given an "experience rating," based upon the likelihood of that character's losing a particular kind of ship within the insurance window (currently 12 weeks).
Additionally, statistics overall should be kept, in a variety of ways: universally, by region, by security, etc.
Then, the base insurance payout (which is what's being changed here) should be modified on an individual purchaser's basis. If you just got into a ship and have never lost it, your rates will largely mimic the overall rate. If you have flown your Raven for an insurance period and never lost it, the next time your insurance cost is lower. If you fly your Rifter and it keeps getting destroyed, eventually your insurance cost will be 100% of the payout. The insurance window could be lowered from 12 weeks to something shorter to allow building up an "experience rate" faster; auto-renewal of insurance could also be implemented similarly to the way corporation hangar renewals are handled.
This is how a real insurance market would work. Right now, the "insurance" EVE offers is uneconomical and unrealistic to the point that it breaks the suspension of disbelief.
Then, layer on top of this basic actuarial/experience rate system the perks that the government (CCP) likes to add: a premium discount that depends on the age of the avatar (or account) to help new players adjust; exclusions to the policy in certain cases (such as being destroyed by CONCORD or self destruction or corpmates?), and so forth.
I personally don't insure my ships unless I know I'm going to lose them. This is exactly the situation that real insurance seeks to avoid through a variety of means. In the USA, for example, the new (future) requirement that all persons buy health insurance seeks to balance this "self-selection" problem that healthy people would otherwise just not buy insurance - in effect forcing them to subsidize the healthcare of sick people - but also knowing that one day they will get older and sick and need others to subsidize them at that time.
So, all in all, I don't like the changes. That is in part because I am always happier with the devil I know, but also in part because the changes still don't go far enough or make enough sense.
Personally: I don't insure my ships, because my experience rate is darn near zero. But if I went into lowsec or nullsec with any regularlity, I definitely would, as my carebear ships would normally be killed 100% of the time, or at least, 100% of the time in any 12 week period.
Cheers,
Callin |