[Beck]

The problem with trying to equate the game's maintenance to RL is you have hundreds if not thousands of uses for money. In the game, there are only two basic uses for resources, building ships and facilities and maintenance. To get the same RL effect of your monthy car payment and insurance as well as the hundred other things you could spend money on it needs to be distorted to cause the same pause and consideration you make spending your money. The fact that so much is being written about it shows that it is working pretty well. If it mirrored RW costs there would be little concern over whether you build this or that and what it costs as we have nothing else to spend it on. With it as it is there is RL concerns over costs exhibited by the amount of space used discussing mothballing and other tactics to reduce or keep costs down.