Shipwright Archive

the Wal Mart argument does NOT work for this thread, or shipwrights, period.

why?

mass production.

architecct profession was ruined because everything could be factory produced. mass produced. in huge quantities.

shipwight components and parts (except for paint kits, texture kits, missiles, and the SUB components) cannot be *mass* produced.

i timed myself of a crated run of Mk5 Shields. (thats 25 shields, ya'll). 25 minutes. i timed myself on a crate of MK5 reactors. 25 minutes. there isnt enough time in the day for any one guy, or any conglomerate of guys, to make EVERY single thing in mass quantities. period. not gonna argue with anyone on this FACT because that is exactly what it is. a fact. the *mom and pops* type shipwright shops will NEVER go out of business. they CAN compete with volume-cross-sever-billionaires because those same cross-server-billionaires will (if your theory is correct) try to lower the cost and drive everyone else out, without realizing this simple fact: no one can harvest ALL of the resources ALL of the time, nor can they make all of the parts in mass produced quantities to keep their vendors stocked. eventaully, even some of these cross-server-billionaires will get tired of having to actually *craft*.....

which leads me to a secondary rebuttal of the Wal-Mart theory (and yes, i understand macro-economics, ima corporate sales guy for a nationwide company, and my territory covers 4 states, california included so im not blowing smoke): the *masses* shop at wal-mart/best-buy/auto-zone/home dept......etc. however, the masses do not hold a majority of the money, they never have and they never will. the top 1% of money holders own 95% of the wealth. always have and always will. its a fact that has been un-escapable since before the middle-ages, since before rome, since before abraham and isaac and jacob, and probably since Cain killed Abel. its just the way it is. that being said, the wealthiest people do NOT shop at those places. they buy custom. custom everything. heck, im not even in that category and when i shop for certain things (stereo equipment, wood used in my woodworking shop, kitchen utensils, and lots of other things).......i buy custom or as close to custom as possible. there is NO replacement for quality. as people become moderately wealthier, they tend to purchase things within the realm of their wealth. they stop shipping at Wal-Mart for clothes or stereos or whatever, and move on to better quality products. if their wealth increases to a level where they can afford custom items that most people would buy at a retail store, they do so. Motorcycles are a PRIME example of this. the explosion of custom chopper shops across the nation is indicative of the wealth of the masses becoming great enough to afford custom items rather than mass produced items. why buy a 20k harley when you can own a 25k custom chopper? why buy a 10k honda or yamaha or kawasaki when you can buy a 15k custom? when Mom and Pops fold up their shops, they either survive by figuring out a new angle, or die off and go to work at the store that replaced them. my unvle is a victim of this trend. but he didnt give up, and eventually worked his way to the top (at the age of 58 mmind you), and became the manager of the store. there are reasons Mom and Pop stores were successful, and usually the cream rises to the top, as in the case of my uncle.

now, you ask why you typed all that? there's why. because you have a philosophy that has flaws, yet you believe it enough to write it down. there's some rebuttal to your philosophy. and remember, cross-server-billionaire's WONT put your mom and pops shipwright or you or me (and yes im a mom and pops shipwright) out of business. not enough time. not enough resources, even if they're harvesting off 10000 machines....cuz if they're harvesting that many machines they dont have any time left to make parts. its a give and take situation with shipwrigt. there is only so much input, therefor only so much output.

attico
Master Account Canceler
No more anything at -1935 -6522 in Helios, Tatooine
Luke Skywalker's Description of the NGE

I found the perfect solution for me.

I've just subbed work from a master. I get the money I need to continue getting better at SW, he gets cheap, mass chassis. The arrangement won't last forever, but for the time being, we both win.