price-index
Latest
EVE Evolved: Has the industry revamp worked?
When I was first introduced to EVE Online back in 2004, a big part of the attraction for me was the promise of a huge player-run economy in which the only real laws were those of supply and demand. With only a handful of tech 1 ships and modules available to build and everything made out of the same basic minerals, science and industry were pretty easy for new players to figure out. Over the years, more complexity has slowly been added to industry via features like Starbases, Salvaging, Capital Ships, Tech 2 Invention, Planetary Interaction and Tech 3 Reverse Engineering. Today's industrialists have to contend with hundreds of different items that are often arranged in sprawling component manufacturing chains, which can make it hard to figure out exactly how to make a profit. The recent industry revamp attempted to solve this problem with a full user interface overhaul and a revamp of material costs and manufacturing prices. All of the relevant information for using a blueprint was packed into a slick new combined Industry UI, allowing new players to find the info they're looking for in-game rather than through websites or opening dozens of item info windows. It's now been almost two months since the industry revamp went live, and while the market for many items is still going to take several months to fully stabilise, the dust has finally begun to settle. So what's the verdict? Has the industry revamp worked? In this edition of EVE Evolved, I consider whether the industry revamp has been successful, how easy it is to make a profit in the new system, and whether it's worth setting up your own industrial starbase.
EVE Online posts financial data for the past several months
When you think about the economy, is your primary concern whether or not the latest updates to combat have impacted mining operations and mineral prices? If so, you're probably an EVE Online player, and you'll be happy to know that CCP Games has released a full blog post detailing the economic trends for the game over the past several months. The good news is that the heavy inflation that's been at work for several months is starting to subside; the bad news is that the market is having issues with mineral prices. In short, following the announcement of loot drop changes, several players stockpiled minerals for resale after the change. This wound up dovetailing with the player-run Hulkageddon event, which resulted in several mineral stockpiles and a dearth of ongoing mining operations. The overall outlook is still positive, but mining operations are still recovering from these effects, meaning that movement will likely be tepid for a while.
HDTV prices rose last month?
We've been used to HDTV prices sliding in one direction, but data from Retrevo's CE Index indicates a slight uptick in average prices, with a 10% jump from January to February. Of course it's seen as an unlikely trend, with Retrevo CEO Vipin Jan attributing the shift to Super Bowl sales and the liquidation of Circuit City helping to push prices down January before rising again, but with the caveat that (as always) you'll want to hunt around for the best price. At the least, double checking that "sale" price to make sure it's not actually a bump up from last week's circular certainly seems to be in order.
