I believe there is an issue with oversupply of low tier filaments and undersupply of high tier filaments.
While a run may return no filament, often returns 2-4.
Since there are more filaments being generated than consumed, I suggest a “filament sink” (money sink for filaments to avoid oversupply) similar to what the game “Path of Exile” does with the maps.
Assuming a multiplier of 3:1 ratio. Could be a 5:1 or a 10:1 whatever CCP things is best.
One could transform 3 filaments (reprocess? combine? fuse?) of the same type and tier and get a filament of the tier above, either same tier or different tier, whatever CCP thinks is best.
This will lead to the filaments costing naturally x times more than the same filament of the previous tier, and solve the oversupply of lower tier filaments and the undersupply of high tier filaments.
Lowering the drop rate of the filaments will solve the oversupply of low tier filaments, but not the undersupply of high tier filaments.
Since you are proposing a new mechanic to address a perceived issue, this thread would be better placed in the Player Features & Ideas subforum - you can edit your first post to change the forum category to EVE Technology & Research Center, which in turn will let you select ‘Player Features & Ideas’ as the subforum.
As for the idea itself, I expect it will drive up the cost of the lower tier filaments based on # needed to produce the high-demand tiers. Increased low-tier costs may reduce the number of players willing to run low-tier filaments (especially novice abyssal runners and FCs who train folks via cheap low-tier filaments), which would further narrow the low-tier supply. This would have to be very carefully balanced to not make low-tier abyssal filaments overpriced (and thus lock out newer players from the content), and to avoid making high tier abyssals too common - as scarcity of the filaments plays into the value of high-tier loot.
A 48h toon can run T0 in a cruiser for a 3 mil an hour return. It is still the most profitable activity for a new character so the reward will still compensate the risk unless filaments jump up 10x which they won’t.
The key point I was trying to make is that since there is substantially more filaments being generated than used, filaments will drop in value to nearly zero, at least the low tiers.
Could you explain why you believe this?
For a start, if exactly the same number are produced as consumed we will actually run out, as not all produced filaments will get used, some vanishing on inactive accounts.
Secondly why should there not be an oversupply of low end filaments and an under supply of high end. You have failed to detail why this is a problem.
Filaments can also be found in Exploration sites, which is ungated content. If all filaments are spent, people can still go scan for more. if the filament drop rate is 2:1 lets say (2 filaments per run), as long as 50% of the total population runs are successful, the filaments will not run out. Currently I see close to a 3:1 drop ratio. Average close to 3 filaments per run. Since the success ratio of filaments is over 33%, this means there will be oversupply since more filaments are generated than used. And I am not accounting for the ones generated in exploration sites.
Oversupply drives price down. Selling 3 of a tier and buy one of the next tier in Jita won’t resolve the fact that there will be many more T0-T1-T2 in the economy than the economy consumes. Supply/demand dictates that in time, there will be stacks of T0-T1-T2 that no one is running, so no one is buying, therefore has no value.
The undersupply of the top tiers T5 and T6 is somewhat justified. Maybe make the fuse work only up to T3, or T4?
Whoooo, 3 mil / hr.
It’s kiddie change, even for a 48h character there are ways to do better.
And even if it was the best income for them, why on earth are you thinking they need to be penalised for their epic 3 mil / hr income again?
You do have a point, I am not showing/explaining in a different way because I lack the abstraction / language skills to do so.
But from where I am standing, it is rather obvious as a matter of principle. I wish I could explain better, but I can’t.
Drop rate for t3 and t4 filaments is higher than t2 and t1.
There is no supply issue. Demand is garbage, with only few hulls capable of running abyss and only few types of abyss being run. Meta for abyss is fixed and stale since launch. So is the filament market demand/supply rule at it’s finest.
Low tier filaments aren’t really worth doing even for day 1 players. Resulting in minimal supply.
Crafting filaments would ruin abyss income without fixing anything. Especially when there is no issue to fix
Pyfa’d a venture with 0 skills, it mines around 3mil/hour on bistot. Did not account for time spent depositing ore, but also literally 0 skills. I would not consider the ability to make 3mil/hour broken by any means.
It doesn’t seem that obvious. I don’t see it as a problem that low supply/high demand drives prices up and down. If there is higher demand it can incentivize explorers to go find more high end filaments.
This sounds exactly like a well functioning EVE economy at work.
I liked your post for the fact that you are able to articulate …
… that you are unable to articulate some of your thoughts.
Many people don’t get that far. They don’t even recognize that they’re lacking the ability to articulate certain thoughts. That says a lot about them and is actually scary, but whatever.
So … much kudos to you.
I can recommend spending more time thinking about it …
… and - even more important - letting your brain figure it out on its own, too …
… and then words will come.
The way I do this is by thinking about all the words directly or indirectly describing what I am talking about. The more words you have, the more connections you will be able to draw, which is ultimately what will lead you to being able to articulate the thoughts.
Behold the power of association!
The problem is mostly a problem of vocabulary, especially for someone like yourself, who is smart enough to understand that he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know … making you a smart one.
