I’ve read the EVE Uni wiki entry on PI, and I’ve watched the CCP videos and a couple other useful videos. I get that you pay a percentage in taxes when you do stuff like launching materials into space. And of course you pay fixed costs when you build your facilities. My question is: is there any ongoing cost? Suppose I go on vacation (in a post-COVID world) and leave my PI setup untouched for a month. Will there be any cost to me, other than the extracted materials that go to waste?
In high security space there are 2 components to the tax. For export there is an NPC tax of 10% (which can be reduced by training the customs code expertise skill) and a player component which can be whatever the owner of the POCO wants to charge.
The NPC component of the tax is unique to highsec - it does not apply in other regions of space.
As already pointed out, there is currently no cost for operation and maintenance of the colony. Doesn’t mean that can’t change in the future.
You’ll need to pay another player tax anywhere in space unless you launch from the command center - that is limited to 500m3 and there is a lengthy cooldown between expedited transfers before you can launch again. The difference in Highsec is you also have the NPC tax which doesn’t exist in more dangerous space. You can destroy the POCO that is already there and build your own or sometimes people sell them but, there is nothing to stop other players from destroying your POCO unless you can defend it.
Thanks for your reply. One or two videos I watched seemed to imply I would buy and place my own POCO, at least in high-sec. Wouldn’t CONCORD destroy the ship of a player who fired on my POCO in high sec? Then again, I suppose that player’s loss would be trivial, as I imagine a POCO itself has few defenses, so you could snipe it with a cheap frigate.
POCOs have more HP than a frigate can reasonably kill in a short time however in highsec an enemy can simply wardec your corp and destroy it without having Concord intervene.
Structures like POCO and Upwell structures are corporate assets and corporations that own structures can be targeted by war declarations.
In my experience, the best PI is in sovereign Nullsec. All POCOs are generally owned by the sovereign alliance, taxes are low, the resource is plentiful and the space is reasonably safe if your alliance has a standing defense fleet. Nullsec corporations are (or at least were) happy to purchase the PI material you harvest for fuel, structures, etc…
Despite being a old toon, i stared PI last month. 5 planets… most producing t2 minimum items… one produces a T3… but after 1 month… i have only broke even for 1 planet. i dont think i’ll keep messing with PI. for the investment… i mean i can spend 20 min a night managing the PI for a marginal monthly 2-3mil gain, or i could spend an hour a night mining and put 25 mil in my pocket. I dont see the point in continuing PI… the items are already available on the market for “not much” when needed for manufacturing.
I started playing around with it today. It’s kinda fun to set up, but yeah, I can see why it might not be a great money maker. A nice change of pace, though.
I’m one of those weirdos that actually enjoys Planetary Interaction. Got 6 toons with 6 planets each in a nice area. I do 4 day cycle timers so I can jump out of my PI area into places I can do other things. If you just leave and let it sit, yeah, no expense to you at all. As for profits, I make about 400 mil a week. Not that much compared to the vets out there, but its income. I started in 2012 but Dray only has about 45 mil SP. And I trained all my alts for maximum PI and defensive skills whenever CCP had MCT on sale.
Thanks for your replies. Dray, are your PI facilities mostly in low-sec? 400 million a week sounds like nice income to me. For me, if the activity is fun, I don’t mind if it doesn’t make much money. So far I’m enjoying PI. Er, PP.
Yes, after MUCH searching for buddies that had low tax rates on their POCO’s. I spent days, even a couple weeks exploring looking for friends and POCO’s with low tax rates. It will be worth it in the long run.