EVE General Discussion

Not to discredit my own post, but I'm more musing with the idea than stating with conviction. I'm curious about different points of view.

Backstory:

I'm a fairly casual player. I started in 2009 and spent my first several years running high sec missions and conducting industry. It wasn't until late 2015 that I dabbled in SOV null sec seeking a null sec industry experience. One thing that shocked me during my time in null was how easy it was to move goods in and out of high sec. The ease of transport means that there's not a big need for local (non-Jita) trade hubs. Sellers want to get their goods to the place where they're most likely to find a buyer and buyers want to go to the place where there's the most competition for buyers (lower prices). The secondary hubs are used more for occasional convenience than primary places to exchange goods (unless you're a trader).

In my early days of industry, I operated out of Heimatar. I put extra effort into "buying local" for my jobs. I had thought that if I bought from the region where I operated, that would make those around me wealthier to buy the things I was building. In retrospect, it was a naive notion. As an industrialist, buying my goods exclusively out of Rens added 20% to 30% to my costs, erasing the margins on many projects (figuring in transportation costs). There was no real rational reason to buy exclusively from a non-Jita hub.

During my time in SOV null, I found it extremely difficult to locally source industry jobs. Almost every project involved me purchasing materials from Jita and paying to jump freighter them out. Members of my own alliance would ship moon goo to Jita rather than find a local buyer at the same time I was paying to move it out, since it was easier to ship it and flip it than to find a local buyer.

So:

I believe that Jump Freighters make moving goods "too easy". Major moves still may have challenges, but for regular getting goods too and from market, there is very little risk of piracy if an operation is properly planned. Quick, easy, and relatively safe access from most regions to Jita causes an increased emphasis on the one central hub and makes multiple smaller regional markets less viable.

I don't deny that the ease of transport is a wonderful quality of life issue, however I think it does stifle null sec industrial and market opportunities. SOV corporations don't need industrialists or need to worry about the local economy outside of making sure convenience and essential items are stocked on local market/contracts. It makes managing an organization far from empire far less dynamic.

Sometimes, I think the game would be much more interesting if moving goods in and out of null sec were a major corp operation... not just lighting a few cynos, instead it would be a many player operation with scouts, escorts an the whole ball of yarn. If it were very difficult to move goods in and out, then a major part of success in SOV null becomes ensuring you can produce more of what you need locally. I also think that making it harder to move goods will make for more dynamic regional markets in empire space.

(Oh, and I did make billions with industry in Null, so this isn't so much about crying... it's just thinking the mechanics could be more interesting.)

Thoughts?

I agree.

The problem is CCP only listen to the whiners.. and proceed to kill the game with safer changes and mechanics, over and over again.

CCP has been pushing for local production for a long time, and it was just starting to be practical with the Rorqual overhaul. We'll see if this continues after the second round and third round and ... N round of nerfs; it has already had a chilling affect on mining and production.

For the most part, whatever that can be manufactured locally, typically is.

This excludes T2 and T3 (and to some extent PI-based structures), which require so many different inputs from around the universe, that they are impractical to manufacture anywhere far from a major well-stocked trade hub, like Jita.

Travel is not where the "fun" is for most. Neither is escorting snails.

More & more dangerous travel would also greatly increase the cost of items, as both the effort and risk would skyrocket.

[My alt is a nulsec industrialist in a sov-holding alliance.]

Because we have free will. Because WE CAN be better.

For no other reason than that, though.

2:19 'We DO NOT want to be what you are!'

Oh, and it's also against the Geneva Convention... Other than that, it's just great. I guess 10,000 years into the future, humanity has really lost it.

We are playing a grimdark roleplay game where many of the capsulers think of them selves as gods.....to put things in perspective.

Don't underestimate the ability of us all to take short cuts when we think we can and to fail at planning properly.

zkillboard has plenty of lowsec and nullsec jump freighter losses:

https://zkillboard.com/group/902/lowsec/losses/
https://zkillboard.com/group/902/nullsec/losses/

The supply chain is a bit too massive, Cade, to try to apply the art of war to it.

Setting aside, for the moment, the murder of non-combatants, as opposed to treaties...

It makes no sense as a tactic. The supplies will still be shipped.

Let's pretend we're being honest. Blasting an expensive ship makes a nice killmail, right?

No, it would not. I've about had it with this ****. Aww, we can't attack that ship! It's such a nice target! It's so easy. It has no weapons! We can sag our pants down like prison thugs and be SOOO cool!

It's just a dude engaging in life! Damn, a perfect target, that can't fight! We want it!

CCP! Damn, you! So far, it can get away. Give it to us! I know what sheep look like, but feck! Sometimes there's this weird looking sheep. We've, after the fact, identified it as an Anatolian Sheep Dog. It's fricking fighting. Damn it!

So far we've been able to kill it, but what if it has puppies?!

Did you even read what I wrote? Try again kitten.

EVE is supposed to be big. Living in null is supposed to be hard. It's glorified HS anymore. Caps are supposed to require full supcap support fleets. Now we can jump in solo in caps to get our rocks off. We need a major buff to jump fatigue. Excessive caps and the ridiculous safety in null are some of the worst things in EVE right now. Being able to jump from citadel to citadel all the way out of null is ridiculous. Buff jump fatigue, make null actually difficult to live in for a change.