POCOs, once built, are a “no effort” passive income.
Introduction of fuel block consumption plus the newly created “abandoned structure” state would create a healthy challenge, requiring at least basic maintenance to own this ISK faucet (376B combined import/export taxes paid from player to player, May 2020).
In hisec it would in some cases help in removing pocos without the need for wardec’ing. These structures are often owned by 1-man corporations, some of which are probably not even active anymore. The hassle of having to grind through 4.5M HP in the current “reinforced state” (and costs associated with a wardec) prevents these structures from being removed and replaced.
Some notes in the margin for a new design:
- fuel consumption scaled and modeled on existing structures
- no taxes when structure enters abandoned state
- immediate replacement by an NPC customs office when the POCO is removed