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New EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter discusses PvP
Four times per year, CCP's lead economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson publishes the EVE Online Quarterly Economic Newsletter (QEN). Each report provides a snapshot of the in-game economy, with graphs showing market trends over the previous quarter and some speculation on the reasons for them. The third quarter 2010 QEN has just been released, and it contains some interesting information. This report has a special focus on PvP and death, starting off with statistics on ship kills by race and deaths as a function of skillpoints. Dr Eyjo suggests that players tend to progress from high security space, through low security space and eventually on to nullsec PvP. He goes on to suggest his data shows that an average player needs two years worth of skillpoints to be competitive in nullsec PvP. The QEN shows the effect of recent nullsec wars, with a mass exodus of players from the eastern regions of nullsec to those in the south and west. Following up on the previous report's look at EVE's ISK sinks and faucets, this quarter's report indicates that the total amount of ISK in the game has been rising steadily over the past year. Most of this can be attributed to a 16% rise in total bounties paid out on NPC ships. Dr Eyjo believes this rising trend began with Dominion as system upgrades made ratting more profitable in nullsec. The ISK sinks designed to counteract the massive influx of liquid ISK bounties provide are not adequately tackling the issue, with the top five ISK sinks combined taking only 31% of bounty income out of the game. The rest of the report contains the usual snapshots of various market items in addition to a special statistics segment on ship deaths and killing blows.
EVE Evolved: ISK sinks and faucets
In EVE Online's player-run economy, the flow of ISK is a vital concept. While there are many ways to make ISK in EVE, most of them only move it around from one player to another. When you mine ore and sell it on the market, for example, the mining process doesn't introduce any new ISK to the game. Only a few game mechanics can be called ISK faucets, as the game mechanics actually create ISK from thin air. Similarly, the ISK sink mechanics destroy ISK or remove it from the game in some manner. To the individual player, the difference between something being an ISK faucet or not is largely immaterial. When you sell something on the market for a few million ISK, or get the insurance payout on a lost ship, it doesn't really matter to you where that ISK came from. Where the concept really matters is in discussions on inflation and how the game chooses to reward us in PvE. Are ISK bounties and rewards always a good idea, or could their over-use eventually lead to runaway inflation? In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the various ways in which ISK flows in and out of EVE Online, and why we should care about inflation.
EVE Evolved: Gambling away all your ISK
EVE Online is said to be a game in which you can do literally anything you set your mind to. It doesn't matter whether your ambition is to climb the alliance ranks, become the scourge of low-security space or even just fly around space telling jokes. If you can conceive of an idea that can be carried out in-game, it's probably a perfectly viable way to play the game. Over the years, players have come up with a number of unique and unconventional gameplay styles. Most of them began as ways for the pilots involved to make ISK or gain notoriety, but some were created just to see if it could be done. I've seen everything from player-run graveyards for the victims of piracy to players renting kill-boards for ISK, and yet the EVE community never ceases to amaze me with the new ways people find to play the game. The most recent development to blow me away is SOMER.blink, a website where players can gamble their ISK to win fabulous prizes. Gambling in EVE is nothing particularly new; players have been wagering ISK on everything from lotteries to hands of poker for a long time. What makes SOMER.blink special is its absolutely flawless execution. Almost everything is automated, from the transfer of ISK into your account balance to the prize lotteries themselves. The website itself is even accessible from outside EVE once ISK has been deposited in your wallet. I've spent hours so far blinking away on lotteries and losing quite a bit of ISK, but I'll be damned if it hasn't been fun. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look into the addictive phenomena of Somer.BLINK and try to explain where all my damn ISK went.
Questionable EVE attack deals 30 billion ISK in damage
reddit_url = "http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/10/questionable-eve-attack-deals-30-billion-isk-in-damage/"; reddit_target="gaming"; Tweet It's often said that EVE Online is a game that revolves around PvP. Even people who engage only in PvE aren't safe from the wrathful influence of other pilots. Players are almost forced to compete with each other in a ruthless open sandbox where all the rules are thrown out the window. Even in the relative safety of high-security space, the threat of harm isn't completely removed. Scams, spies, corporate infiltrations and suicide attacks are a common occurrence in New Eden, forcing players to stay aware of their surroundings and exercise good judgment. This week, a player by the name of Solarius became the unfortunate target of EVE's more ruthless player element. Solarius, CEO of Quantanamo Corporation, was running missions in high-security space in his Paladin when players destroyed his ship in a coordinated suicide attack. What makes this particular suicide attack special is the sheer magnitude of the loss. Solarius had fit the ship with an impressive array of rare and expensive officer modules, putting the total value of his ship at over 30 billion ISK. Since a destroyed ship drops around half of its modules as loot, flying a ship with such an expensive setup is almost guaranteed to draw some unwanted attention. Pilots from the corporations Honorless Internet Jerks, Ex Obscuritas, Suddenly Ninjas, Alarm Clock Corp and Defner.org jointly participated in the attack and split the proceeds from the loot. To put the magnitude of this kill into perspective, 30 billion ISK could currently buy over 80 PLEX, which is around seven years of game time. To buy the same number of PLEX with cash would cost over $1200 U.S., making this a costly warning to all EVE players that you're never completely safe in New Eden.
EVE players able to donate in-game ISK to Pakistan flood relief
Back in January, the Republic of Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake. Several MMO development studios responded by coming up with ways to help their players donate to the aid relief campaign. EVE Online developers CCP Games came up with an innovative scheme that allowed players to donate in-game ISK to help the people of Haiti. Players bought PLEX in-game with ISK and donated them to CCP's sponsored relief fund. As PLEX are worth 30 days of game time each, every one donated represented 30 days of EVE game time that someone somewhere purchased. Although CCP had to absorb all tax and administration costs, the company managed to donate the full value of donated game time to charity without taking a significant loss. In total, players donated over $40,000 worth of PLEX to the fund, which was given to the Red Cross to help the people of Haiti. With the recent flooding in Pakistan, a huge need for donations has arisen and CCP is once again allowing players to donate in-game PLEX to charity. In a new devblog, CCP Fallout has urged players to contract unused PLEX to the EVE character "CCP PLEX for Good." The full cash value of each donated PLEX will be passed on to the Pakistan Red Crescent Society, regardless of whether you bought the PLEX for cash or ISK. If you want to donate, the deadline for sending your PLEX is the 6th of October. As with the previous fundraiser, any players perpetrating scams around this donation drive will receive harsh punishment. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity for Bad Bobby, the player who recently confirmed that he'd made over 850 billion ISK with investment scams, to do something worthwhile with his accumulated wealth.
EVE Online player steals $45,000 worth of ISK in massive investment scam
It seems like every few months we hear about another major theft or scam in EVE Online. In most MMOs, acts of theft could earn the perpetrator a permanent game ban. In EVE Online, however, it's an accepted part of the game that people are strongly encouraged to protect themselves from. Even the game's developers have acknowledged that corporate infiltration, scamming and theft are just another part of the harsh criminal underworld of New Eden. With its latest official game trailer, CCP Games told an impressive tale of corporate theft and revenge, showcasing some of the emergent gameplay that typifies EVE. Last week, the latest big scam to come out of the criminal underworld of New Eden came to completion. The popular investment scheme Titans4U turned bad, with the creator "Bad Bobby" stealing all of the company's assets. The theft was the ultimate conclusion of a plan that was set in motion years ago. Bobby began his investment career by running several smaller schemes to build up a positive public image. Over the years, he ran increasingly larger and more popular schemes and always returned on investments. Just over a year ago, his reputation-building efforts paid off as his good name secured the successful launch of the massive Titans4U investment fund. Skip past the cut for the full story of how this apparently secure investment scheme turned into one of EVE's biggest scams to date.
PAX 2010: CCP unveils EVE Online's latest expansion
Tweet var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/story/r/pax_2010_ccp_unveils_eve_online_s_latest_expansion_massively'; At PAX Prime, we caught up with CCP's lead game designer Noah Ward, who paused helpfully between the roaring crowds on all sides of the booth to fill us in on the "secret sauce" to EVE Online's continued growth and success. Ward said it was simple: CCP's steadfast commitment to the game for the long haul. The dev team strongly believes in the growth of EVE and works hard to expand it both inward and upward. Part of that growth includes continued expansions to the title, and Ward was excited to reveal the next one on deck. While it doesn't yet have a name -- at least, nothing CCP could put in print -- the team is hyped up about its latest expansion to the EVE Online franchise. Set to debut later this winter, the expansion looks to build on many of the key foundations that Tyrannis began. Hit the jump to hear about the four new features that EVE fans will find themselves crowing about by the time Santa comes a-callin'!
Unintended source of passive income to be removed from EVE Online
There are many of ways to make ISK in EVE Online, from mission-running and ratting to trading and research. Some methods, like mission-running, are very active processes in which the amount of ISK made is directly proportional to the amount of time spent playing. Other processes, such as trading or moon-mining, are largely passive endeavours in which ISK is made even while the pilot is offline. One such source of passive income, which has been around since the tech 2 invention system came in, is datacore collection. Players with high enough standings and the right skills trained in the science field can sign up to do research with various R&D agents throughout EVE. The agents automatically give players research points every day for free, which can later be redeemed for datacores to be sold on the market. Datacore collection itself is an intended game mechanic, and this system for supplying datacores doesn't look like it will be changing any time soon. The issue is that characters on expired accounts will still accrue research points every day. Using this so-called "ghost research" loophole, some players have been farming datacores with an unfair advantage over active pilots. Abusers typically set up accounts with three research characters each, then let those accounts expire. Several months later, each account will be re-activated to harvest the datacores. In a recent devblog, CCP Soundwave explained that this issue came from a list of important player-voted issues that was presented to CCP by the Council of Stellar Management. The unintended loophole will be closed in a hotfix in the near future.
Latest EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter highlights Tyrannis insurance changes
EVE Online is a game with complex economic activity that often mirrors real-world economic systems. The similarity is so pronounced that CCP even hired its own Lead Economist, Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, to examine the in-game markets in detail. Each quarter, the economist and his team of researchers publish the EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter (QEN). The report provides a timeline of market indices and major economic changes over the past several months. This quarter's report focuses on the effect of the insurance changes that came with the Tyrannis expansion. It also has a special segment on ISK sinks and faucets, and their changes following the release of planetary interaction.
EVE player destroys over $1000 worth of game time
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/EVE_player_destroys_over_1_200_dollars_of_in_game_time'; Like many MMOs, EVE Online has a problem with players buying ISK from shady websites to short-cut the ISK-making process. On the other end of the spectrum, many players are great at making ISK but unable to afford the monthly subscription. To kill two birds with one stone, CCP created PLEX. Sixty-day game time codes purchased for cash can be converted into two 30-day Pilots License Extensions, which become items in the game. The PLEX can then be traded to other EVE players for ISK, creating a legitimate way to buy ISK without fear of being hit by the ban-hammer. Players with some ISK to spare can buy PLEX from the market and redeem them for game time, essentially playing for free. It's an innovative system, and until recently it was a completely safe market to deal in.
EVE Evolved: First impressions of planet industry
As I sat down to write a guide to planetary interaction in EVE Online, I realised that I hadn't explored the system fully enough to come up with any definitively good deployment strategies. A few great guides to planet industry have been circulating since the expansion came out, but it will be some time before people really start to figure out the best ways to use EVE's newest feature. It's a complicated business and since a lot of the products made on planets are still currently available to buy from NPCs, the market potential hasn't yet been fully realised. In this short opinion piece, I give my first impressions of planetary interaction and the Tyrannis expansion.
New EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter talks wormholes and tech 3
Four times per year, CCP Lead Economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson and his team of researchers publish the Quarterly Economic Newsletter (QEN). In addition to providing trackable statistics on EVE Online's in-game market, each issue focuses heavily on analysing one particular topic. This quarter's report focuses on wormhole systems and the state of the tech 3 market. Updated player demographics show more and more players entering wormhole space, with a drop in the number of characters in high-security space. Statistics for the number of jumps in wormhole space over the past year show a similar trend of growing activity. This QEN provides some enlightening graphs on the popularity of various tech 3 offensive subsystems and how tech 3 material costs have changed in EVE over the past year. Perhaps most illuminating is the sharp rise in the use of tech 3 strategic cruisers in locations that put them at risk. While the majority are being flown in mission hubs and market systems, over 35% were found outside the safety of high-security space. In addition to this quarter's focus on wormholes, the report contains the usual graphs tracking in-game prices, trade volumes, ships in use and other useful metrics.
EVE Evolved: Ratting, part 2: Flying safe!
Last week I discussed the basics of the "ratting" profession in EVE Online, from picking a good system to three popular ratting strategies. If you're planning to hunt NPCs in nullsec, of course, you'll need to get there first. Pilots who aren't in an alliance with secure access to nullsec will have to run the gauntlet from empire space to their chosen ratting system. The entry points into EVE's nullsec regions are often camped during peak hours and you can expect to run into roaming gangs. Things get a little easier once you're at your destination, but you can still expect to see the occasional pilot or gang passing through the system. Your ability to get into nullsec safely and your efficiency at ratting will be determined largely by the ship you're using and how it's set up. For someone who's never been to nullsec before, setting up a ship for the task and heading into the void can be a daunting task. In this article, I look at selecting the appropriate ship for ratting, some popular ship setups and important safety tips that will help keep your ship safe in hostile territory.
EVE Evolved: Ratting, part 1: Strategies
There are plenty of ways to make ISK in EVE Online, from exploration and mission-running to trading or any number of alternative professions. One of the oldest and most popular ways to make a reliable income in EVE is hunting the pirate NPCs that spawn in asteroid belts, an activity known as "ratting". Ratting is probably the best way to repair the low security status you'll be left with if you engage in piracy or suicide ganks. For those who live in nullsec, it's often the primary way to farm ISK for replacement ships to support PvP activities. Some players who don't have access to nullsec through their corporation or alliance even sneak characters in for the sole purpose of ratting. If done properly, it can make more ISK than level 4 missions and there's always that chance of finding rare faction and officer NPCs with valuable loot. In the first of this two-part guide, I look at where to find the best NPCs, how to find a good system for ratting and the three most popular ratting strategies.
EVE Online devblog discusses account security
Every MMO suffers the horrors of gold spammers and EVE Online is no different. The RMT (Real Money Trading) industry is massive and EVE's developers CCP have waged a constant war against it in recent years. The PLEX initiative gave players a way to safely buy ISK for cash while at the same time helping players who couldn't afford their subscriptions pay with ISK. The result was a dramatic hit to the RMT market, who had to drop their prices to compete with a legitimate service replacing their own. As part of Operation Unholy Rage in August of last year, EVE GMs also banned over 6200 accounts belonging to farmers known to be supplying the RMT industry. The effect on the market was instant, with the population in farmed mission systems like Ingunn disappearing overnight. Almost immediately, the farmers reacted with a spate of account hackings to claw back some ISK.
Latest EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter shows effect of Hulkageddon
EVE Online is a game that's often lauded for its sandbox style and realistic economic structures. Every quarter, CCP Lead Economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson and his team of researchers wade through mountains of EVE usage logs to find some interesting economic statistics. In their Quarterly Economic Newsletters (QEN), CCP deliver graphs tracking in-game prices, trade volumes, ships in use and a whole host of other useful metrics. Read on for an overview of this QEN's main highlights.
The Daily Grind: Hey big spender!
Gil. Gold. Adeena. ISK. Influence. Infamy. Chips. Crowns. Whatever the game calls it (and there are a lot more words aside from those) money is an important part of most MMOs. Much like money in the real world, it generally follows three simple rules: you need it, you don't have enough of it, and you can't get it fast enough. And we all deal with it in our own way. But when the time comes, almost every one of us will pony up seemingly astronomical sums for that one thing. It might be a mount, maybe weapons or armor, perhaps a piece of furniture in a game with player housing. Whatever the item is, the cost of obtaining it becomes a non-obstacle, and your cash display turns into a new experience bar that you need to fill for your precious treasure. So, what was your biggest purchase? Was it something that was once expensive but now cheap, or is it still pricey as ever? Were you happy to have it or regretful at blowing your bankroll? And perhaps most importantly, do you still have it and use it, or has it long since been replaced?
CCP Games 'PLEX Aid for Haiti' initiative to help Red Cross relief efforts
The devastating January 12 earthquake which struck the Republic of Haiti claimed many lives, and has left even more people homeless. It's a terrible situation, but at the very least there are numerous aid efforts underway, and some companies in the MMO industry are finding ways to help as well. CCP Games now ranks among them, with their PLEX Aid for Haiti initiative. The company is offering a way for the EVE Online playerbase to get involved and help with donations. Here is the message from Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games, in its entirety:
EVE Evolved: Trading: Tips and tricks, part 2
If you spot a market manipulation in progress and have some of the item yourself, take advantage of it by repeatedly listing the items on the market in small amounts. When small and medium rigs came out, the first producers made an absolute killing on them too.
EVE Evolved: Trading: Tips and tricks
So far in this guide to trading in EVE Online, I've covered the jobs best suited to new players and some of the more advanced trading techniques like margin trading, market speculation and price manipulation. This is by no means the entirety of what can happen in EVE's marketplaces, but serves as a good foundation for those trying to break into the trading game. In the hyper-capitalistic world of New Eden, the markets are hugely competitive and any edge you can get will help. With that in mind, this final part of the guide will cover a few of the tips and tricks I've learned over the years that have given me an edge in the marketplace. Some are common sense rules that most traders will learn eventually and will be invaluable to newer players. Others are more closely-guarded secrets that I've gleaned from years of gameplay. What is a cyclic product and what do you do when you spot a price manipulation? In this final part of the trading guide, I dish out some of my personal top tips for budding marketeers.
