Feronia
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Posted - 2005.08.16 07:51:00 -
[1]
Its not really a bug.
Ever since game release new players had been having problems to find free factories/labs. The reason was people used to rent all the available ones, so other players/corps couldn't be active in the same station. To prevent this CCP introduced a "anti-hoarding"-rule. The idea was that a lab/factory must be used in every rental period, if not the lab/factory would unrent itself at the end of the period, even if you pay the bills.
Some people still think, if they use the lab/factory once every rental period and they pay the bills on time, everything is fine. But its not, here is a fragment from EVE questions and answers:
 Quote:
When a new bill is issued you will get an evemail from the slot's owners and will have one rental period to pay up. If you do not, the slot will become publicly available at the end of the period. If you are manufacturing an item and don't pay the bill, your blueprint will be ejected and you'll lose half the minerals you were using - so be very careful about watching your bills and paying them in time. Note that the slot MUST be active at the time the billing period changes. If not, the slot will be released and be available to the public.
What really happends is, the server checks your factory at the moment you receive a bill. If your factory is unused at that time, it will unrent itself at the end of the rental period, even if you start using your factory a minute later for a long batch and even if you pay all your bills on time.
The "anti-hoarding" rule used to be very effective to free up unused labs/factories, but because the number of labs/factories in each station has been upgraded, its a bit outdated now.
If you know how the "anti-hoarding" rule works, its not that difficult to avoid unexpected unrentings, here are a few tips:
- Never rent more factories then needed, its better to use 2 labs fulltime, then 4 labs half the rental time. It might involve some more planning, but it reduces the chance of unwanted unrentings. Its also more cost-effective.
- If you get a bill, check the factory first. If its unused and you don't know when the last usage was ended, this factory might be infected with the "anti-hoarding"-virus. You can still use the factory for short batches if they don't exceed the rental period. Longer batches are a big risk. My advise is to unrent this factory and rent it back again.
- If you want to start a long/expensive batch and see you still have a factory rented, but can't remember if it was used or not. Don't use it. Unrent it and rent it again. Its better to spend 40k extra, then to lose 500 mill.
I know it sucks to lose 1/2 of the materials involved, especially when its a freighter. 
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