QUOTE (Kerenshara @ Aug 27 2009, 02:09 PM)

THIS is what I have been trying to get at. In terms of price, I would say it's just the diference, and in any case, you're not particularly "removing" anything. Recovery time probably would be pretty close to the original because radical changes are harder to accept than lower order changes, even while similar. The GM may decide to let the recovery time slide some, but most BioWare is pretty quick to recover from (Bone Density being a notable exception, saying it's quite lengthy and painful). Price I just see it as "more of what's already inside", so I would just go with the difference. But I think you're on the same page generally, even if your "extents" may not match mine (done to keep things a little simpler - BioWare is already expensive enough as it is.).
I tend to think that upgrading is going to be more expensive over the long run while cheaper up front.
For example, let's use Muscle Toner @ 8,000 per level with say 10% of the base cost plus the difference...
You start out at Muscle Toner 1 for 8,000.
You upgrade to Muscle Toner 2 from 1, 8,000 + (8,000 * .1) = 8,800 to upgrade, 16,800 total.
You upgrade to Muscle Toner 3 from 2, 8,000 + (16,000 * .1) = 9,600 to upgrade, 26,400 total.
You upgrade to Muscle Toner 4 from 3, 8,000 + (24,000 * .1) = 10,400 to upgrade, 36,800 total.
You start out at Muscle Toner 2 for 16,000.
You upgrade to Muscle Toner 3 from 2, 8,000 + (16,000 * .1) = 9,600 to upgrade, 25,600 total.
You upgrade to Muscle Toner 4 from 3, 8,000 + (24,000 * .1) = 10,400 to upgrade, 36,000 total.
You start out at Muscle Toner 3 for 24,000.
You upgrade to Muscle Toner 4 from 3, 8,000 + (24,000 * .1) = 10,400 to upgrade, 34,400 total.
It also makes it more cost effective to upgrade more than one level at a time.
You start out at Muscle Toner 1 for 8,000
You upgrade to Muscle Toner 4 from 1, 24,000 + (8,000 * .1) = 24,800 to upgrade, 32,800 total.