It is one of those things where the cost could easily vary with player level or the tier of the ship. It ought to be cheaper for an Lt to rename his ship than an LG, as he makes considerably less honor/merit per mission than a level 51.
3k is no big deal once you get past a certain level though.
Luckily, the first ship rename is free, so not a huge issue.
1. First rename is free.
2. Game-wise, it's not a big deal, especially at later ranks. If you really want to rename your ship that often, then you're the reason the price is there.
3. Fluff-wise, constantly renaming a ship would put extra workload on the secretaries of Starfleet. They don't like it, so they charge you every time.
Unless its a VA ship you don't have a token for, it's always cheaper just to decomission the ship and get a new one, then use its free rename. I've *never* seen the need to use merits to rename a ship when EC are so much easier to come by.
Comments
3k is no big deal once you get past a certain level though.
Luckily, the first ship rename is free, so not a huge issue.
2. Game-wise, it's not a big deal, especially at later ranks. If you really want to rename your ship that often, then you're the reason the price is there.
3. Fluff-wise, constantly renaming a ship would put extra workload on the secretaries of Starfleet. They don't like it, so they charge you every time.