The problem with EvE’s economy is that ISK is created out of thin air by activities like ratting. Since EvE will almost never just by chance have as much money creation as money destruction, this fundamentally creates a condition of perpetual inflation or deflation, but in reality it’s almost always inflation.
The problem could be solved in numerous ways, e.g. by removing all ISK creation altogether. Here I propose a different scheme, one mirrored on a real-life example. When the USA went off the gold standard, unbeknownst to many, they actually created and went onto another standard - the “petrodollar.” Since dollars were no longer backed by gold, the USA wanted them to be backed by something. They thus negotiated with Saudi Arabia and other oil cartel members to only accept payment for their oil in dollars. This created demand for dollars, as the only way to buy oil from the big players in the market was to exchange it for dollars. In this way, the dollar was effectively backed by oil.
I propose the PetroISK. I propose that some sort of fuel commodity be created in the game - fuel which must be used by many or most important functions in the game. Perhaps all ships need this fuel to do anything at all. Or perhaps they just need it to take gates. Furthermore, stations should be made to use this fuel just to keep the lights on. Perhaps jump gates and other structures should be made to use the fuel as well.
No longer would bounties be paid in ISK. Instead, they’d be paid in PetroISK (actually, you can keep calling it ISK, and it would function the exact same, but drive home the concept in your mind that it would be backed by ‘Petro’ or whatever we would call the new fuel).
Now, how to get the fuel which backs our PetroISK? I propose any of several ways. One way could be the creation of a PetroBank run by NPCs or CONCORD or whoever, which exchanges PetroISK (or, just ISK) for Petro. In other words, you buy Petro using ISK at this bank. Naturally, you could also continue to use ISK to exchange with other players for ships or modules or whatever else. But the PetroBank would allow the destruction of ISK by exchanging it with Petro, which also is destructible as it is used for fuel.
This is the key, you see. Petro must always be continuously destroyed (burned) as it is what keeps the lights on.
Another possibility is that Petro is somehow ‘mined.’ Perhaps different areas of space have different ingredients to mine in order to produce Petro. If this is the case, practitioners of the ‘blue donut’ might have a reason to fight each other, as owning multiple areas of space might allow an alliance to produce Petro, and have a monopoly. Or, perhaps the blue donut would ossify even more, and turn into a cartel which cooperates vs. fights? Hey, at least it offers the possibility of fights over different areas of space. Anyway, refineries could refine the mined products into Petro. And what is one of the ingredients refineries would use to produce the Petro? In addition to the mined stuff that needs refining, refineries would eat PetroISK (or… ISK if you will). In this way, we have yet another ISK sink.
Inflation getting you down one month? CCP notices, and easily tweaks a few numbers in a database. Instead of PetroBanks giving 1 Petro per ISK, now they’ll give 0.9. Maybe Petro refineries also eat more ISK to produce a Petro.
The Era of Chaos is over, you say? Post Era of Chaos blues getting you down? Stagnancy and normalcy returning? Support the PetroISK today! What have you got to lose?
