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The Future of R&D
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Pau Tia
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#1 - 2012-04-22 14:25:46 UTC
I have been looking around to see if it is worth while in getting into R&D research for datacore's. There have been a number of comment made on other forums that in the next expansion R&D agents will not be in the form as they have been, and may be gone out right.

Nothing has been confirmed as far as I can tell by CCP, but there was a interview by CCP Soundwave on Ten Ton Hammer (http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve-online/interviews/inferno-part-one) where he was a bit more candid in this and pretty much said that you should cash in you research points before the patch as they whole process will be different afterwards..

So my questions, is getting into R&D agents worth it at the moment? and What are the changed CCP are doing to R&D agents and what is that affect going to have?
Tekota
The Freighter Factory
#2 - 2012-04-22 14:48:56 UTC
To the best of my knowledge R&D agents in the future will still provide RPs but either at a reduced rate or requiring of a cash payment to extract them from the agents' paws.

Faction LP stores are proposed to also provide datacores, and it seems realistic to assume this is anticipated to form the bulk of supply and hence the price.

What, again to the best of my knowledge, is not known is how this will affect the profitability of passively gained datacores but it seems safe to assume that the intention is to reduce the income available via this method. Five level 4 research agents with the relevant science skill at level 5 currently pulls c. 2.2 datacores per agent per day - in total that's 330 per month for one character slot. With Mechanical Engineering cores at c. 240k each at present that equates to a rough monthly income of 80m per char. Aguably this hasn't been an impressive income for some time and with it potentially looking to get worse it's hardly a major goal.

However. The skills required to passively farm R&D agents are also largely the skills needed for T2 invention and production - so if you're looking into this you may as well get the skills anyway, Research Project Management and necessary standings are then the only things holding you back from research agent farming.
blood hauler
The Art of War
#3 - 2012-04-22 16:44:26 UTC
As i am not sure if ccp are planing to fix some of the problems with FW you might find that r&d agents are worth even more after the patch if they is less supply (still going to be the same demand for t2 modules)

Right now it's best cashing out all your r&d agents then waiting to see how bad the r&d nerf is before selling them, as it's the same amount of people runing FW then core prices are going to go up very fast after the patch. It's anyones guess how much it will effect invention costs in the end
Boomhaur
#4 - 2012-04-23 00:17:33 UTC
I do a little bit of R&D and when it comes to changes that CCP makes I like to follow one simple formula. If I use it, CCP will change it and screw me over. If I don't use it and never intend to CCP will buff it.

So following that logic, were screwed. That and I bet they want to kill a form of passive income.

My glass half full viewpoint of life doesn't work in eve, I have to do the opposite I have learned. Expect the worse, if it doesn't happen you not looking hard enough to see that their only setting things in motion for it to be even worse than you previously expected. Shocked

Welcome to Eve. Everyone here is an Evil Sick Sadistic Bastard who is out to get you. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either trying to scam you or use you.
clixor
Celluloid Gurus
#5 - 2012-04-23 11:37:28 UTC
Pau Tia wrote:


So my questions, is getting into R&D agents worth it at the moment? and What are the changed CCP are doing to R&D agents and what is that affect going to have?


Considering the considerable amount of effort it takes to get in to R&D agents from scratch i personally don't think it's worth it anymore. Unless ofcourse you already the have the skills (or planning to get for invention) and the required standings.

Even though the plans are not finalized it would be logical to assume that they first implement the FW DC stuff, review it and then possibly nerf the agents. So my expectation is that it won't make it into the summer expansion. So that would make the changes planned for the winter exp at the very least.

The whole problem with the current system is that most players see RP's as a sort of trust funds and for invention you need the incorporate the DC costs anyway. So there is no incentive for players to actively pickup the DC's (aside from the fact it's a real hassle getting to all agents on a regular basis).

But adding DC's to FW stores alone is not enough, a whole FW overhaul is required and this only being a tiny part of it. Given the history of FW changes (none) even the winter expansion would be ambitious imo.
Krixtal Icefluxor
INLAND EMPIRE Galactic
#6 - 2012-04-23 12:23:53 UTC  |  Edited by: Krixtal Icefluxor
Pick up DC's today.

Apparently tomorrow's Escalation will be a different story according to the show on Ten Ton Hammer with CCP Soundwave.

http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve-online/interviews/inferno-part-one

http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve-online/interviews/ccp-soundwave/inferno-part-two

"He has mounted his hind-legs, and blown crass vapidities through the bowel of his neck."  - Ambrose Bierce on Oscar Wilde's Lecture in San Francisco 1882
blood hauler
The Art of War
#7 - 2012-04-23 15:25:15 UTC
noting about r&d changes in the patch notes http://community.eveonline.com/updates/patchnotes.asp?escalatio

guess you might be able to ignore that interview now for half a year
J3ssica Alba
Federal Navy Academy
Gallente Federation
#8 - 2012-04-23 15:30:29 UTC
I cashed in my datacores today regardless of them not being mentioned in Escalation patch notes. I'm guessing that the research agent modification will occur at Inferno release.
This is my signature. There are many others like it, but this one is mine.  Without me, my signature is useless. Without my signature, I am useless
blood hauler
The Art of War
#9 - 2012-04-23 16:07:15 UTC
Yep worth cashing out anyway as you never know what hidden notes ccp have planed
Pau Tia
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#10 - 2012-04-26 13:12:52 UTC
Thanks all for you comments, have decided to keep my remaining 1 agent and not train the required skills to get more.
Kara Books
Deal with IT.
#11 - 2012-04-26 20:03:45 UTC
Its kindof a shame really.

As Im 95% done with my merchants training on 2 accounts, I was planning on turning my 2 combat chars into researchers so that I can later, when enough capital is saved up go into T2 research.

This really would foul up my long term plan to have 5 blueprint researchers, 2 Datacore researchers 2 T2 manufacturers and 1 T1 manufacturer.

Depending on how great the nerf, I may just have to spend another 4 months on 2 more chars to become researchers to supply me with enough data cores while the people who already have multple researchers and hoards of data cores will skim the profits from those 6 months leaving me with that measly 5-15% margin when all is said and done.

So why should I go into research in the first place?

anything more then a 10% overall decrease in data cores per hour invested could be very painful, to much of a nerf and simply devastating to the rising stars.
Vince Snetterton
#12 - 2012-04-28 08:14:49 UTC
Kara Books wrote:
Its kindof a shame really.

As Im 95% done with my merchants training on 2 accounts, I was planning on turning my 2 combat chars into researchers so that I can later, when enough capital is saved up go into T2 research.

This really would foul up my long term plan to have 5 blueprint researchers, 2 Datacore researchers 2 T2 manufacturers and 1 T1 manufacturer.

Depending on how great the nerf, I may just have to spend another 4 months on 2 more chars to become researchers to supply me with enough data cores while the people who already have multple researchers and hoards of data cores will skim the profits from those 6 months leaving me with that measly 5-15% margin when all is said and done.

So why should I go into research in the first place?

anything more then a 10% overall decrease in data cores per hour invested could be very painful, to much of a nerf and simply devastating to the rising stars.


10%????

Watch Soundwave's interview with Ten Ton Hammer. Try 100%.

Not all at once, mind you. He is a sadist, and enjoys twisting the knife.
clixor
Celluloid Gurus
#13 - 2012-04-28 10:39:48 UTC
Vince Snetterton wrote:

10%????

Watch Soundwave's interview with Ten Ton Hammer. Try 100%.

Not all at once, mind you. He is a sadist, and enjoys twisting the knife.


If RP/h go down that much, you might want to hang on to you cores, prices are going to skyrocket.
ASKEN KURLEE
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#14 - 2012-04-28 14:00:20 UTC
Is anybody else concerned about the time and effort involved with this aspect of the game, not to mention compensation?
I have 6 R&D characters with 5.0 standings or better with corps from the 4 Factions.
This took a very long time to do and was an attempt to maximize profitability and versatility. And now it alll does down the drain?
I am very unhappy......
What other rugs are they going to pull out from under us?
Tekota
The Freighter Factory
#15 - 2012-04-28 18:20:36 UTC  |  Edited by: Tekota
ASKEN KURLEE wrote:
Is anybody else concerned

...

What other rugs are they going to pull out from under us?


Not particularly. For a start it's not wasted - you've got good skills for inventing across 6 chars - that's 60 invent slots and that's *very* handy. For a long time research agents have been a side benefit rather than a means to an end, these days an entire *account* with five (per char) level 4 research agents with relevant science skill to level 4 will barely pull half a plex per month.

The last time an entire account could self fund from research agents was years ago - and in those years many many other rugs have been pulled from under you, and many many new rugs have been slipped underneath you. It's a changing game.