Crew cost

All crew cost related information from the game source:

• Crew costs 3 resources at the start of the game.
• When you've recruited 1000 crew or more (minus the amount you've returned), the crew cost is raised by 2. If the total later comes below 1000 (by returning crew), the crew cost goes back down by 2.
  There is no actual limit to the amount of crew you can buy; the commander mentions that there are "almost 2000 highly-motivated, skilled professionals aboard this starbase" available to you, but appearantly there are also an infinite number of the unmotivated, unskilled and amateur kind at your service.
• When you've made an alliance with the shofixti, the crew cost goes down by 2. Also, the number of crew recruited is set to 0 and will never be raised (or lowered) again.
• When you've sold crew to the Druuge, but no more than 100, there's no change in the crew cost. The commander talks about "rumors".
• When you've sold more than 100 crew in total to the Druuge, but no more than 250, the crew cost goes up by 7. The commander talks about "evidence".
• When you've sold more than 250 crew in total to the Druuge, the crew cost goes up by 15. This is in addition to the cost increase when you crossed the 100 crew boundary. The commander talks about you being a "heinous slave-trader".

If you do your shopping at the Druuge with crew as semi-hard currency, here is the price list:

• Mauler ships: 100 crew a piece
  The ship is worth 1700 resources and comes with 14 crew.
• Artifacts (Wimbli's trident, Glowing Rod or Rosy Sphere): 100 crew a piece
• Fuel: 10 per 10 units of fuel
  The normal fuel cost is 20 resources per unit, or 10 Credits at a Melnorme trader.