market posts

EVE Evolved: When social and market values collide

by Brendan Drain Jan 17th 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, PvP, Endgame, PvE, Academic, EVE Evolved

Research into the social sciences suggests that people interact with each other in two separate modes. One mode is governed by primarily social influences and the other by basic market forces. Which one we choose in any given interaction has a profound impact on the way we interact with each other. Perhaps nowhere in the gaming world are these forces played out as strongly as in EVE Online, with its lack of economic regulation and tight-knit social structures. EVE players routinely form social relationships with other pilots, their corporation leaders and corpmates. On the flip-side, we interact with hundreds of players we don't know using more selfish market-driven rules as we trade, haggle over prices or even just buy something from the market. But how do these two types of player-to-player interaction coexist in the same universe and what problems can arise when they collide?

In this complex and in-depth article, I examine the relationships we form with other players, why they're important and what can happen when we inadvertently cross the line from an implied social contract to a market-based business one.

Tags: ccp, ccp-games, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, featured, market, relationships, social, social-networking, SocialNetworking, teamwork

EVE Evolved: When social and market values collide, part 2

by Brendan Drain Jan 17th 2010 at 6:00PM

Tags: ccp, ccp-games, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, market, relationships, social, social-networking, SocialNetworking, teamwork

EVE Evolved: Trading: Tips and tricks

by Brendan Drain Nov 29th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, PvP, Making money, Tips and tricks, PvE, Opinion, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

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.

Tags: buying, ccp, ccp-games, chribba, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, expansion, featured, guide, isk, lottery, manipulation, margin, market, nyphur, opinion, patch, professions, profit, pve, pvp, selling, speculation, tips, tips-and-tricks, trade, trading

EVE Evolved: Trading: Tips and tricks, part 2

by Brendan Drain Nov 29th 2009 at 6:00PM

EVE Evolved: Trading: Advanced trading

by Brendan Drain Nov 22nd 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, Forums, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, PvP, Making money, Tips and tricks, PvE, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

In the first part of this guide I covered the basics of trading in EVE Online and some of the jobs best suited to newer players. There's a lot more to trading than buying low and selling high and in this week's installment, I'll cover some of the more advanced trading and marketeering tactics that have proven themselves effective in EVE. From margin trading on the market to making a living off the contracts page, anyone with enough dedication can learn to rake in hundreds of millions of ISK per day without even leaving the station. For the gamblers and risk-takers among you, market speculation and price manipulation can produce incredible short-term profit but with significant risks attached.

In this second part of my concise guide on trading, I look at margin trading on the market, playing the contract pages, market speculation around patches and the dirty art of market manipulation.

Tags: buying, ccp, ccp-games, contracts, Dominion, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, expansion, featured, guide, hauling, isk, manipulation, margin, market, professions, profit, pve, pvp, selling, speculation, tips, tips-and-tricks, trading

EVE Evolved: Trading: Advanced trading, part 2

by Brendan Drain Nov 22nd 2009 at 6:00PM

EVE Evolved: Trading: The basics

by Brendan Drain Nov 15th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, Making money, Tips and tricks, PvE, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

Of all the moneymaking endeavours you can take in EVE Online, trading is perhaps the one with the highest potential for profit. While mission-running profit tops out at a few tens of millions per hour and the profit margin from production isn't that big, trading is limited only by the amount of effort you're willing to put in and is much improved by inherent business talent. At the low end of the trading spectrum, beginners can make a healthy income ferrying items from A to B. At the other extreme, a market-savvy individual can pull billions per week out of the players in EVE's great conglomerated marketplaces.

In this first guide in a short series on trading, I look at the different types of trading options available to newer EVE players.

Tags: buying, ccp, ccp-games, contracts, courier, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, featured, guide, hauling, isk, market, professions, profit, pve, refining, selling, tips, tips-and-tricks, trading

EVE Evolved: Trading: The basics, page 2

by Brendan Drain Nov 15th 2009 at 6:00PM

Tags: buying, ccp, ccp-games, contracts, courier, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, featured, guide, hauling, isk, market, professions, profit, pve, refining, selling, tips, tips-and-tricks, trading

US free-to-play MMO market oversaturated?

by Seraphina Brennan Sep 12th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Business models, Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play

With new free-to-play titles, like Earth Eternal, in development while other titles are being ported over from Asia to the US at a rapid-fire rate, the question of oversaturation is being spread amongst the lips of the industry. Are we looking at a market too filled with low-budget free to play titles?

The answer is yes, if you're speaking with Reality Gap's J. Mark Hood, co-founder of the company specializing in free-to-play MMOs. Thanks to a AAA game market mostly locked down by the immense budgets of Blizzard and EA, the small developers turn to the F2P market as a place to compete. However, the market is now crowded with all sorts of titles not only developed here, but also many titles ported from Asia.

The Asian titles, however, don't seem to strike the same chords here as they do in Asia. Our market is more focused on gameplay, while theirs can be focused on a number of other different options.

"Things that are more important here are actually how the game plays, getting yourself more advancement and skill," Hood said to Gamasutra. "So, it is really different."

For Hood's full comments, check out both his thoughts on free-to-play MMOs and the entire Gamasutra interview.

Tags: aaa-title, budget, free-to-play, j-mark-hood, market, ports, reality-gap, saturation

EVE Evolved: One account is good enough

by Brendan Drain Aug 30th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, PvP, Tips and tricks, PvE, Opinion, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

In a typical MMO, players will have one main character that they dedicate most of their time and effort to. They may also have alternate characters on the same account that they use to try out different classes or starting areas. EVE Online is different in that it's not really feasible to play multiple characters on the same account. While each EVE account has three character slots, only one can be actively training skills at one time. Taking a break to train up another character means losing training time on your main one. And since any character can learn any skill, it's often better to just train those skills on your main character rather than making a dedicated alt for it. Many players suggest getting a second account but is that really necessary? And what do you do with those two extra character shots on your account?

In this article, I look at some nifty things you can do with your main account's two extra character slots without paying for a second account.

Tags: account, alt, altitis, ccp, ccp-games, character, cyno, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, featured, hauler, joystiqfeatures, market, opinion, probe, suicide

EVE Evolved: EVE's economic underworld

by Brendan Drain Jun 14th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, Game mechanics, Lore, Professions, PvP, EVE Evolved

EVE Online's in-game economy has been the subject of intense study over the years. The markets of EVE react very effectively to accomplish goals with the same economic laws that apply to many real-life marketplaces. The game's developers CCP even hired a professional economist to analyse the in-game economy, advise them on problem issues and deliver interesting quarterly reports. The driving force behind EVE's markets is often assumed to be basic supply and demand but this isn't always the most potent component. In the hyper-capitalistic universe of New Eden, all bets are off and the only rules are those players enforce themselves with an iron fist. Cartels, market manipulation and theft run rife in EVE, with far-reaching consequences.

In this succinct article, I examine the hidden forces pushing and pulling EVE's markets and show that EVE's economic sandbox comes complete with quicksand and land mines.

Tags: boosters, cartel, ccp, ccp-games, dark shikari, DarkShikari, drugs, economy, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, featured, joystiqfeatures, manipulation, market

Chinese online game market operating in loss

by Seraphina Brennan Mar 13th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Business models, Culture, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Academic

When many of us think about MMOs, we think about companies who rake more money than we could dream about. Enough money to put together a scale model of Paris made out of 20 dollar bills.

Yet the truth is that many of these companies are operating in loss, as a recent article published in the Beijing Times has shown. Over 70% of Chinese online game companies are spending more than they are earning, while only a few notable names, like The9, the operators of World of Warcraft in China, stand to even make a profit.

Many games spend more in development and marketing costs than they stand to make in monthly subscriptions, leading to these problems occurring in many companies in the market. Analysts say that for every 10 online games made, only one stands to be a profitable venture.

For the full report on this, check out the article over at TradingMarkets.com.

Tags: beijing, beijing-times, china, development, development-costs, economy, game-companies, loss, market, money, online-games, profit, the9, world-of-warcraft

Massively interviews EVE Online Lead Economist Dr. EyjoG

by James Egan Feb 19th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, Crafting, Massively Interviews

The sci-fi game EVE Online is unique amongst the other massively multiplayer online titles on the market. One major aspect of the game is that its far future setting of New Eden functions as one server, where players can build up empires -- or topple those of their rivals -- across more than 5000 solar systems. Beyond its scale, what distinguishes EVE Online from other games is that it has a player-driven virtual economy, the backbone of the game. EVE's economy has been a major draw for players interested in market and crafting sophistication generally unseen in an online game.

EVE's creators, CCP Games, have fostered a setting where players can do what they want in the 'sandbox', a setting where the tools are in place for players to use as they see fit. Nearly every ship, module, and item used by a player in the game was produced by another player in New Eden at some point. Fight for military dominance and control vast regions of space, or corner the market as part of an industrial conglomerate -- it's all possible in EVE. In fact, the game's warfare and industry are very much intertwined, making EVE's virtual economy a dynamic one. Monitoring and researching this economy is important to CCP Games, and to further that goal, they've hired real world economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson (aka CCP EyjoG).

Massively recently caught up with Dr. EyjoG, who told us about his rather unique position at CCP Games, and what he's learned about virtual economies along the way.

Tags: banks, ccp, ccp-games, council-of-stellar-management, crafting, csm, dr-eyjog, dynasty-banking, economic-theory, economics, economy, eve, eve-online, eyjolfur-gudmundsson, featured, iceland, institutions, ipos, joystiqfeatures, market, massively-interviews, new-eden, player-run-ventures, reykjavik, sci-fi, virtual-economics, virtual-economy

An update on the EVE Online starbase exploit

by James Egan Dec 14th 2008 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, Exploits, Crafting, News items

In the wake of last week's revelation of a market disrupting exploit in EVE Online, a growing number of players have been calling for increased transparency on the situation. EVE's developer CCP Games has stated they've discovered seven player-run corporations taking advantage of the player owned station (POS) exploit, which yielded a vast amount of materials used in the EVE Online's manufacturing (crafting) system. Three of those corporations were in two alliances, and over 70 accounts have been banned thus far in connection with the exploit. The starbases used in the exploit have been destroyed by CCP, and they've stated that the corporations in question are now effectively inactive following the bans.

CCP Games has not released the names of characters, corporations, or alliances linked to the exploit, but a player named "moppinator" of the AMT. corporation (part of Ev0ke alliance) stepped forward and issued the following statement on the extent of his alliance's involvement:

Tags: amt, ban, banning, bans, ccp, ccp-games, cheating, controversy, crafting, economy, ev0ke, eve, eve-online, evoke, exploits, investigation, market, moppinator, player-owned-station, pos, sci-fi, starbase

WoW Enchanting mats are selling high, opportunists -- to the auction house!

by Samuel Axon Nov 24th 2008 at 5:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Economy, Expansions, Crafting, News items

Virtual economies are a fascination for us, and EVE Online isn't the only game with people who spend much of their time playing the markets, of course -- World of Warcraft is rife with opportunities for rampant capitalism. Case in point: gold-making advice blog The WoW Economist reports that some materials used by the Enchanting profession are selling for outrageously high prices at the auction house post-Wrath of the Lich King launch -- an excellent time for money-minded players to cash in.

Writer John Murphy points out that Infinite Dust and Greater Cosmic Essences are selling for 150g and 250g per stack, respectively, and that he made 2,300g in one Sunday afternoon taking advantage of the situation. The recommendation: disenchant, sell now! Level up Enchanting later! There are always these oddly destabilizing surges after expansions in these games, so it's good to know how to exploit them to the max. Go forth and become filthy rich, guys and gals!

Tags: ah, auction-house, blizzard, crafting, economist, economy, enchanting, market, professions, trade-skills, world-of-warcraft, wotlk, wow, wrath, wrath-of-the-lich-king