Hello, i would like to propose that when preprocessing meta modules it gives a new material: “Metanite” for lack of a better term.
Metanite is used in the production of new meta scripts. For example “Meta Missile Range Script” for lack of a better term.
Meta scripts are a better variant of the base script.
The goal and motivation is to get new and better scripts and potentially fixing how some meta modules seem to be cheaper than the standard module even tho they are better.
Meta modules are only better than simple T1, not better than T2.
Also T1 is more reliably produced than meta modules (which rely on drops) and as a result the more popular meta modules are in fact more expensive than T1. For example take a look at ‘compact’ damage control modules or the ‘restrained’ microwarp drive prices.
The reason the meta modules in your example are cheaper is that almost no one uses those, so they approach the bottom (reprocessing) value. And the T1 modules are used as input to create T2 modules, which is why they’re worth more than some rarely useful meta modules: T1 modules do have a use!
I think meta modules are in a good spot, I see no reason to change it.
People do not often use compact afterburners or enduring afterburners as it’s better to simply use the faster T2 afterburners instead.
Examples of popular meta modules are ‘restrained’ microwarp drives or ‘compact’ shield extenders and damage controls. These meta modules circumvent common fitting troubles so people like using them. Check their prices to see how popular they are.
In many if not most cases the better meta variants seem cheaper than the base variant. For example Large Compact Pb-acid Cap battery. Is it not popular?
The solution could be to make meta variants reprocess into the base variant + 1 morphite. This may also put a damper on mineral price inflation which just made a new all time high.
Funny how different markets have different prices.
For example if you look at 5MNs, which I had in mind when I made that mention about meta microwarp drives, you see that the local prices are significantly higher for the much more popular ‘compact’ version and often used ‘restrained’ version which have to be imported all the way from Jita (or looted, but that’s unreliable as source) because they cannot be made locally like T1 or T2:
Ah, you must have missed out on the good old days of .00000000000001 ISK market trading. Traders would see the price of someone else’s offering, and modify theirs by .0000000001 ISK just to have the best deal by a billionth of a percent. It took over a decade, but CCP finally changed it to where the cost to de-list and re-list an item increased significantly, making it no longer worth it to do that.
