Well it might be that the Vasari can't be quite as competitive economically with their starbase as other races.  How much do the TEC tradeports bring in? Also the neutral tradeport link is very important, as a starbase is the only way to complete those trade routes and that is very valuable.

Yes, it is definitely worth it - in some games. 16 minutes to pay off for a new economic addition to the game that can be built everywhere (should you so choose) is a fairly short time in long games on large/huge maps. In a short MP game it wouldn't be worth it, but that's fine with me - not all things need to be equally good in long and short games.

Second, in a shorter game and thinking of using economic starbase to get most bang for the buck rather than building them en masse, if we ignore the Vasari only colonists, the trade upgrade available to all is really good at extending the length of your trade network since it can bridge any gap by turning an empty system into one with a trade node. In some of my SP test games, this has made a significant difference to my overall income with just one or two strategically placed economic bases. In other games it has not made economic sense given other ways to spend money or has only made a small difference - it is all about the situation you find yourself in and how long time the game will take.

-- I have found them to be very good in large/huge games vs. unfair AIs since those are endurance matches and digging in in chokepoints has always been part of my strategy when having to fight off 5-6 AIs at once. With Entrenchment it got so much easier (and cheaper due to needing less ships at the chokepoints) but the games take so long that not putting in all economic starbase upgrades in interior systems would be silly. I suspect there are many other players who like trying the larger maps with a heck of a lot of unfair AIs stacking the deck against the player.

And, who knows - with Entrenchment it is possible that some MP games will be longer anyhow as players come to enjoy digging in rather than quick raids/skirmishes, you never know.

in terms of credti income starbases are based on the rest of the game mechanics so far.

its vasari < advent < tec

as tec i could easily push every starbase I had to 8.5 credits/sec even on neutral worlds and the sun.

giving me about 100 c/s in late game with 56% fleet upkeep, just awesome.

yes the vasari ones give much less than tec, about 3 c/s when i remember correctly, but this is still more than enough to be profitable.

even if it takes 20 minutes to get all your cash back, it's still worth it because usually sins games take much much longer than that.

ah and one more thing, the vasari starbase doesn't just improve tax income on the planet build but on all planets on the trade-route.

Definitely belive they are worth it in the economical sense.

The TEC (my fav) can triple your trade route income (had one instance of 60 to 180 )

The Advent may not move your credits up much but they can raise your loyalty factor by 30% which gives you better resource collection and taxes.

The Vasari is probably the least useful in eco but it moves.

I agree with Peter Ebessen.  You should look at these upgrades situationally.  All else being equal they really shouldn't be cost competitive with trade ports given that they are mounted in a massive weapons platform and dont cost logistical slots.  But if you use trade upgrades to extend your trade net, you can get disproportionate gains from it.  Similarly you should look at upgrading population at worlds where you get more benefit from it (high allegiance.)  Cut the rest of the starbases and upgrades as fat, and you should get the majority of the benefit while having lots of $$$ to spend on fleets.

Sometimes when logistical slots are short I even scrap trade hubs and use starbases to keep the route long.

Another efficiency note: Induced Reverence will get you the most bang for the buck used at low-allegiance planets. 30->45% is a 50% increase. 100->115% is only a 15% increase.