Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Accounting for the fact that EVE is a sandbox game, and that everyone is therefore obliged to find value in their EVE time on their own terms, I'd suggest that CCP exercise its godly dev muscles to make the rarest ores more valuable—by increasing demand for them in manufacturing. Or make them rarer than they already are.

My desire for this is, I admit, selfish. As a solo player, I simply don't want to assume the risk of going after the rarest ores without the potential for a substantially-higher-than-mining-in-high-sec profit. Yes, I could adopt someone else's I-get-my-EVE-joy-by-doing-things-for-their-own-sake happiness metric (or another metric like the one just noted), and there will not doubt be some who post here (or who think about posting here) that very sermon. But I'd rather just see happen what, quite frankly, makes a great deal of sense in the first place. For there is no reason the rarest ores, which come with greater risk, should have lower market value than the most abundant ores, which come with negligible risk. After all, EVE, which is in many other respects very reflective of real-world markets and risks, where the greater the risk...the higher the payout, needn't have such a backward dynamic on this front (rare vs. abundant ores).

Or, are the rarest ores, indeed, worth more, per time invested, than the most abundant ones...and I'm just missing something?

now this is a thread we haven't had in a while

As a miner myself it is tempting to consider this proposal in positive light ...

and so..

plus one for me

1. A "rare" commodity that respawns without fail can cease to be "rare" if the harvesting scales up.

2. If the harvesting scales up, the price will drop. (supply -vs- demand)

3. Danger to harvesters can impede scaling and cause the commodity to remain rare, and expensive.


Since #3 isn't keeping the price low, or the supply depressed, please stop talking about 'rare' and 'risk'. This problem is happening because mining anomalies in blue donuts scales well, because it's safe and efficient. (People frequently vow on these forums that null miners will *NEVER* return to ore belts because the anomalies are so much more efficient.)

Given all that, I'm open to solutions that don't negatively impact the other sandbox dwellers who aren't actively contributing to this problem. If the people doing this to themselves want to fix it by making everyone else's ores cheaper, or everyone else's manufacturing costs higher (by changing the blueprint numbers), then I'm not sure that's an optimal fix.

Maybe just remove null ore anomalies?

Good responses thus far (mostly). This in-game description of Arkonor gets to the heart of the matter, in my opinion:



Really? If CCP is going to define Arkonor this way, wouldn't it be in CCP's interest to make the game parameters support this statement? They can. We players (the "market") influence trade, but only within the parameters CCPs sets. I don't think their parameters contribute to the kind of "gold rush" thinking that their description would seem to generate in players inclined toward mining careers. As it is, Arkonor can't enrich a miner faster than other ores, which are infinitely abundant and far less risky to harvest. It isn't even a contest.

Perhaps there is some cogent argument against this conclusion?

I agree. CCP should change the Arkonor description. Something along the lines of, "Arkonor was historically the most valuable ore until nullsec mechanics allowed the formation of enormous fields of blue savouries. Following this, Arkonor was mined heavily and the market was flooded. Miners dream of the day when some risk is returned to mining, thus increasing the value of the ore."

Although perhaps the price will go up just a little with the recent ban on input duplication.

Another miner who only sees his pocket books

If ore prices go up (essentially the gold standard if eve) then everything goes up.. And you gain nothing


This is why I blow you guys up.

Those ores are infact more rare. The risk factor of obtaining them (WH, nullsec & lowsec) is indeed there.

HOWEVER

Currently the risk is being managed by group play. You're safer mining that ore with a group of players such as a nullsec empire block or WH group.
Safer, not safe mind you.

What you're really asking is for CCP to compensate you for not utilising all available methods. You want them to "pay" you for not mining in a group.

As for CCP helping; I'm pretty sure a few ISBoxer miners are going down starting this year.

So...who's gonna "make" the ore "more valuable"?
(What is "make"? What is "valuable?" What is "is"?)