W-Space Capital Escalations - An Isk Printer?

So we moved to a C5 with a C2 Static for a number of reasons.

1) So Solo people could farm the C2 anoms for Isk

2) So the really "bad" people with C5 statics would be less inclined to invade us

and

3) To be able to run Capital Escalations for boatloads of Isk

With the thought of either leaving Sov Null, or at the very least wanting to find a source of income out side ratting in Null, we set out to establish ourselves in a C5 wormhole to run Capital Escalations.  I was enticed with the notion of a group making 3-4B in a night running sites.  Well as with most things in EVE the results have not lived up to the expectation.

Sure there is serious Isk in running Capital Escalations.  I mean SERIOUS Isk. 2-3B in a hour with the right group is doable.  But so is 500m.  And sure 500M sounds great, till you realize that it takes 8-10 pilots to run a C5 Capital Escalation properly.  Then all the sudden 500M - fuel tax / 8 = 50-55m in an hour.  You can get that in Null Sec anoms running two pilots in a Vindi and Carrier throwing fighters in a 20 minute tick.

And as with all things W-Space, one does not simply fall out of bed and start running Capital Escalations.

First you have to have someone log in and see if CCP has made your wormhole into a Swiss Cheese full of K162's.  Then you have the inevitable guy that needs to be scanned in from High Sec cause he went on a logi run for a Skill Book 3 days ago and has yet to get back in.  Then you have someone that is always late and with Capital Escalations, you don't (you sometimes can't) run without a full team.

So backing up a second, what exactly is a "Capital Escalation".

It seems that CCP decided when WH space came out that they didn't want to have people running C5 and C6 anomolies in Capital Ships, so they made it so the first and second Carrier and Dread into a combat site will spawn additional Battleships, up to 8 it seems.  So that is a total of 32 potential Battleships.  And Sure if you were not smart and warped the whole fleet in at once that would hurt.  Alot.

Well as with most things CCP does to deter pilots from doing something, some pilots will learn how to profit from them.  Sure enough Wormhole Capital Escalations are no different.  The key is to simply figure out how to run the site with staggered capitals to maintain "control" of the site (read DPS and Neuts) enough to not lose ships.

So doing our research we settled on the "tested" method that uses the following ships:

1) Lead Archon
2) Lead Dread
3) Loki
4) Armor Booster
5) Web Booster
6) Second Carrier
7) Second (and third and fourth) Dread
8) Noctis
9) Scanner

In truth, you can run with only one carrier and one dread, but it seriously limits the Isk and only reduces the pilots needed by 2. So half the Isk and still 7 pilots.

As you can imagine, these pilots are not your "run of the mill" 13m SP tengu pilots raking in Isk, or better yet a 14 day old pilot orbiting a FW target making sick Isk.  This is a very High Risk endeavor with seriously skilled pilots.  I would EXPECT the Isk to be about the best in the game.  And it can be.

So far in the month we have run sites, we have had a couple "close calls", a couple cancellations due to people not showing up and too many wormholes, and a couple really good nights.

I guess overall, to me, the jury is still out on if Capital Escalations are an Isk printing machine, or just another illusion of easy money.  Sure the Isk in the hour you are running can be awesome.  Especially if you are the lower skilled pilot flying the Noctis, or prober.  But to take a highly skilled Dread Pilot to do PvE seems extreme and I am not sure they could not make similar Isk doing other things.  Start to figure in the "non-revenue" time scanning, doing logi, getting ready, closing WH's etc etc and the Isk per hour invested goes down quite quickly.  Especially versus logging in, undocking and flying to the closest Hub in a Vindi.

The biggest advantage I see is that it is about the best Isk a "Group" can make actively.  With other PvE the Isk each guy makes decreases the bigger the group it seems.  Like in ratting, the best Isk is solo, as two guys ratting never seem to make what the guys would make apart.  At least with Capital Escalations, you are on comms with 6-10 other pilots and having fun, versus just sitting in comms listening to each other chain sites.

And that social aspect is why we play MMO's isn't it?

I find myself back in W-Space

Its been a long 20 months since my last post, and a lot has happened.  I have so many stories related to my time in the CFC that I can finally tell now since I am no longer in the CFC and don't have to worry about the potential negative ramifications.  I plan on telling some of these stories in time, but first the main news that caused me to want to restart the blog again.

"I have moved back to W-Space"

Well not full time, and not with all my pilots, but with enough of them to make a significant portion of my time spent in the warm comfort of an environment with no local and one where everyday presents a different opportunity to find some fun and make some Isk.

The Isk.

Ohhh the Isk.

In the end that is what brought me, and some of my corp mates, back to W-space with a collection of our more seasoned Isk making alts.  As we looked to depart the CFC (and really even before that as a way to make Isk while on deployment and waiting for the jabber pings), we looked more and more into running Capital Escalations in a C5 for our primary source of income for our PvE pilots.  We found that a C5 wormhole presented the best of both worlds for making some Isk for our pilots.  More seasoned PvE pilots could run with the Combat site team, while lower skilled pilots could run Gas Sites when they were available.

So with some scanning and the eventual help from a Broker (thanks William Wormhole), we settled into a C5 with a C2 static.  So far it has been ideal.

I hope to over the next few weeks post about some of the "fun" that I have had in the last 20 months, as well as some of the things I am amazed at in WH space now.

Feels good to be back and able to tell some stories.  I can only hope some of you out there will come back and make this stupid blog a part of your EvE reads.

Thanks,
Mick

100th Post - Accomplishing a Few Goals

Well first and foremost, writing 100 posts and still having people read them is an accomplishment in itself.

But I did want to share another accomplishment with the readers.

When I decided to restart GWNE from its PI alt purpose to being a corp I actively ran and focused on PvP, I wanted to be in the Top 10k on Battleclinic as a corp. Why?  Because I saw that as representing a level where it would show we actually knew what we were doing.  We had more kills than losses, and overall I thought it would show we were not complete Carebears (despite my many indy related posts here would seem to confirm I am in fact a Carebear).

So it was with great satisfaction that GWNE did in fact crack the Top 10k in corps around Thanksgiving, and as of this writing sits at 8400.

Battleclinic Corp Standing

I wanted to take a few minutes and highlight a few of the more "special" kills to me.

The First - Noctis go Boom, with Melted Nanos

Always a special spot for my first.  Was even a post here.  It was a classic SB kill on a Noctis salvaging sites alone.  I was disappointed there were no tears in local, but it was a blast and my heart was racing lining up this solo kill.

First Night In Low - Kill 1  & Kill 2

Again worthy of its own post.  Killing a couple targets and forgetting probes to find way out did a lot to introduce me to my new alliance mates.

First Kill In Syndicate - Welcome to Syndicate

This was our first organized effort at a SB roam.  We had probably 3-4 engagements through out the system  and netted several really nice kills, while losing only a SB in return.  That is until the Black Ops dropped us on a gate and evened the score for the night.

First Repeat Kill in under 30 minutes - Bound & Determined

Guess he really, really, really wanted to finish that site.

And from there its been a blur of kills and losses, but always more kills it seems.

I am proud in my corp in maintaining a solid efficiency and steadily climbed in points on BC.

So I am happy to say I have accomplished 2 goals recently in EVE.  100 posts (and people still reading) and taking GWNE to the Top 10k in corps on BC.

Thanks for reading, I hope you have gotten some enjoyment out of my stories.

Fly Safe,
Mick

PI Changes - The Week After

Wow, what a week it has been.

Carebears all over New Eden were somehow taken by surprise with the raising of taxes on PI goods.

Tears flowed as thousands shut the doors on their High Sec PI, lacking even the most basic business sense to pass the increased costs onto their buyers.

On the other end of the spectrum, thousands rushed to get their Gantry BPC's to build their own CO's (or being too lazy to do that, simply bought the early ones at 50-70% over cost in Jita).

Small corps in W-Space cried for DPS and had none (or not enough to chew through the Interbus CO's in a timely manner).

Overall it has been an exciting week of price speculation, price gouging and thrilling tear watching.

Now at the end of that week, 2 of the 3 P3 materials I make have returned to being profitable, even with the 17% Interbus CO Tax.

Gantry supply has stabilized the price of the unit in Jita at a still very profitable level for those making them.

And the payback on installing a CO is far easier to figure.

I wanted to look at the two planet types we run for payback on the PCO

The first is the P1 to P3 planet. It takes 1,280 units of P1 and turns it into 12 units of P3 every hour.

Taxes are 1280 * 500 * 17% *.5 for import, and 12 * 70,000 * 17% for export per hour.

That is almost 200k isk per hour in taxes, or right around 5M per day.

PCO costs about 100M to build and upgrade (yes I know they are selling for 113M in Jita for the Gantry Only).

So I can justify installing a PCO on my 6 Factory Planets in 20 days, assuming I can recoup the full 17% tax at point of sale.

Okay, let's say I can't recoup the whole 17%, but rather just the 10% of High Sec.  That would lower my "savings" to about 3M per day.  Still a healthy 33 day ROI.  I am fairly certain my PCO's are not going to get popped every 30 days.

My second type of planet is an extraction planet with 8 factories.  At full load they produce 320 P1 every hour for a tax of about $27k, or about 650k per day.  Wow, ROI on that is not going to be as pretty.  Good thing I have multiple extraction centers per planet.  At three on a planet though I am still looking at 50-60 day ROI.  Not great, but not bad.

So looking at my totals.

I have 11 planets.  The best case for a POC has 1 Factory and 9 Extraction centers.  At full production would cost my corp over 10M isk a day.  ROI for a PCO is under 10 days.  Not bad.

Worst case has 3 Extraction Centers.  At full production will generate a measly 1.8M Isk a day in taxes.  ROI would be 55 days.  Not great, but still don't see my PCO's going pop every 55 days.

So that is my story of PI and the PCO.  If it helps you figure out your ROI than great.  If it makes you want to find me and shave a big Z in my carebear fur, then that is great too.

Either way,
Fly Safe,
Mick

New PI trades

I see some new trades coming out of the PI changes.

1) Mercs for hire to small WH corps incapable of destroying the Interbus CO's by themselves

2) Mercs for hire to rep WH and Low Sec POCO's in trouble

3) Pirate gangs ransoming WH and Low Sec POCO/PI access.

The first is probably the most interesting in the short term.

With almost 16M effective HP and a recharge rate of about 200HP/sec it is going to be near impossible for the small corp to take out multiple Interbus CO's in short order.  The chance to kill these Carebears as the semi AFK pound these structures should add lots of possible targets to C4 and under systems.

More Caps will be build in WH space to accomplish this possibly.

Man would it be a great time for a group of SB pilots to hire themselves out to help destroy these CO's.  ANd man would it be a great time for these corps to leave behind a few alts to wreck havoc on these WH Carebears for months to come.

Could be a very interesting dynamic.

The second service is already done for POS, but its a natural extension to more vulnerable targets.

The last is just an extension of asset denial to another soft underbelly of industry.

Oh the fun that might soon come to a WH near you due to PI changes.

Fly Safe,
Mick

New World PI Prices

Wow, the whine off the forums of HS carebears is piercing.

"PI is no longer viable"

"Taxes are making PI worthless"

"I have a Burr in my fur and no scissors"

"I cant afford my mani/pedi at these profit levels"

So this morning I played a little hookie form work and looked at the numbers for me.

These are based on Worm hole tax rate of 17%.  Lower the doom and gloom by 40% for high sec.

P1 to P3 planet - Import 4 products, 25k each, and export about 930 P3
Tax Increase - 15-16M per run of 930 P3 or about 16k per P3 unit
Ouch, better cancel my massage too.

Really?  That will represent about a 25% increase in the price I need to charge, and guess what, the market has already moved more than that.

Extraction Planet - Raw material to P1
Tax Increase - 84 Isk per unit  (1 Isk to 85 Isk)
So my good s might move from 525 -550 to 600-650 range to compensate

Combine the two factors and P3 goods need to rise 25K per unit to keep my profits the same PAYING the 17% tax.

Well, in the end, after I figure out the best way to destroy 11 Customs Offices, I am going to be pocketing that increase.

Sure, some asshat will inevitably look at his extraction as "free" and the real increase in price will eventually settle around the HS increase of 10% and maybe P3 products will rise from 50k average to 65k.  All good, I make more.

Carebears will eventually figure out how to pass the increase on to other Carebears and the world will rebalance.

The interesting thing will still be Low Sec and the impact of limiting Ninja PI.

Ship Poor

They say when you buy a new house and you overspend you are "House Poor".

I guess the EVE Equivalent is when you buy too many ships you are "Ship Poor".

For the first time in a long time I feel poor.  In the last month I have bought a slick Incursion ride (and yet to fly it), I bought my first Carrier and fittings (man those fighters and capital fittings are huge), as well as my mini Jump Freighter (Rorq with cargo rigs).

Sure I "needed" each of these ships, but I think it is more the case of having too much liquid ISK and a desire to "have" things way more than the desire to have a fat wallet.

So now, an opportunity has popped up to acquire an asset that I have been looking for the last few months.  A nice C2 with a Static C2 and Low Sec, perfect PI, and a capital already inside.  The price is right, and the owner is motivated.  But I am lacking the liquid ISK.

It is probably for the better, because if I did, I would be looking at several weeks to move my operations from my C1 to the C2.  All for a "better" situation with statics.

So being Ship Poor and "missing" this opportunity has lead me to reevaluate what my goals really are for the near future in EVE.  The goals of a C2 stem from my goals to build another W-Space corp that would be focused on PVP, mining and PVE within the C2 and Low Sec.  But that is no longer the direction I am headed.  The near future for me is now looking to be in NPC Null.

It is always funny to me how quickly life in EVE can change, based on a few decisions here and there.  The decision to look for people to help mine the C1 leads to moving a combat character to Low Sec.  This leads to some of the most fun in PVP I have had.  Now this group is trying its hand in NPC Null.

As always seems to be the case, I like to be involved in the corps and alliances I have fun in.  So fast forward just a few short months from looking for miners to help with Grav sites in my C1 and almost all of my game time is now dedicated to life in NPC Null.  Not something I planned, but something I have enjoyed.

So I will pass on the "dream starter wormhole" and let that dream settle onto a back burner while I now focus on learning more about Cyno Alts, Logistics in Null Sec, and debating the merits of Blackbirds versus Falcons in small scale Null Sec PVP.

Fly Safe,
Mick