Hello capsuleers!
I quit EVE but half a year later I’m back, baby!
So I heard rumors of big changes coming into eve regarding capitals and something something null sec sov mechanics maybe soon™.
Apparently Morphite market is already reacting or is there something else going on? This mineral is one of the key components for capital manufacturing after all.
Question is whether it’s driven by supply & demand or by market manipulation. Net result is higher prices for T2 items. As someone who remembers morphite at 10K ISK, and I think it was higher than current during the scarcity phase, it’s not a big deal - just make sure you know how much it costs you to make your product(s) and only make stuff you can sell profitably.
Both are two sides of the same coin.
If I consider I will need a lot more in the future, then I rather buy now more, expecting my requirement to result in a spike in price. The price increasing slightly is a signal that other people should also start making provisions in case the spike persists. This means that from a small future increase requirement, the price can start hitchspiking. Later when people have used all their savings expecting a big spike, the increase will stop, and I realize I bought too much. So I sell the excess. And the price goes down.
The question is always, how much does it cost to buy the full market ?
edit :
Sometimes it’s a good opportunity to make “some” profit.
There was no market manipulation on my side here. Now what’s the difference between that, and someone relisting a bunch of items at twice the price ? From my dear clients, they don’t care. For other producers who are relisted, the feeling that they got used, but what lesson do they get from that ?
I have noticed this too.
I sure love my private NS morphite dealer. Can never get enough of that red gold.
I would be reluctant to speculate on something like morphite, where the supply side is dominated by large Nullsec alliances. Morphite is also a critical component for the T2 ecosystem so CCP will be keeping an eye on it and can make adjustments if they consider it necessary to restore balance.
My point was, that market manipulation is a very blurry notion, be it from the actions taken or from the effect on the game.
On the idea of speculation, I don’t think CCP cares. Their policy is to care the least possible, so that they don’t have to spend time (so money) on game balance ; and they don’t mind prices skyrocketing, as already noticed with other minerals.