I found myself in a bit of a situation. I had a cargo load of valuable things and I needed to get them to Jita. I tend not to move with move than a billion in my cargo at any time. It is my personal rule. I have not set up a jump freighter chain from Molden Heath to Jita. I probably, at some point, should make a midpoint alt and just stick it somewhere in case I ever need to do that particular jump run.
Obviously, I wanted to take advantage of the wonderful courier contract system. However, I wanted it to Jita quickly. Teon is about five jumps outside of Rens. I decided to scoot over to Rens with my cargo and set up from there. Courier contracts tend to be fastest from hub to hub. The chances that it would complete while I was in bed were very high. Some people are happier than I to shove their freighters full of goodies and level up from freighter to loot pinata.
"I've never been ganked." Is something I often here when someone discusses how they go from one place to another with a cargo hold full of goodies. It just takes one time to be ganked. For some, their risk vs convenience ratio is more tolerant then mine. Good for them. Mine is low. I love my ISK and only have but so much of it. Losing big chunks of it distresses me. Some of my projects have very slow payouts.
I discuss Vov's ganks and some others. I'm not running around in a paper thin, maximum expanded ship. But plenty of freighters are ganked every day. Orcas as well. Letting someone else do the hauling lets someone else take the risk and you cover yourself with the isk.
The person that took my two contracts moved them both. I assume at the same time because they arrived at the same time. Maybe he moved them in more than one hauler. Maybe not. The choice was his to make and today, it worked out, as it often does for the bulk of haulers moving items.
The second task was selling the items. I am a terrible, terrible seller. Jita's .01 ISK wars are miserable for me. The undercutting the price gouging, all of it sucks. It is why I said no to station trading when I tried it last year. I don't want to just lose money because of frustration so I turn to trust and friendship.
One of my favorite people is a successful trader. He patently sits down and explains the market and how to make money to me. I fail to understand it each time. He then magically sells everything for lots in moments where I'd be undercut. My brain implodes. Thankfully he loves me and it is not a thing for him to drop my orders onto the market and sell them while he is doing his own thing. I deeply, deeply appreciate this.
Now my stuff values in at only around a billion ISK. For him it is pocket changes. Still, he could take it if he wanted to. But, what value is that for him? He trusts me as well and we have done several high value projects together. I doubt he goes to sleep worried that I will suddenly snap and take everything. If he does he hides it well. But the project that we work on together is more interesting and easier to have two people involved. Not just the logistics but the motivation.
We spend a lot of time discussing not trusting people in Eve. Yet, we all still make our own groups that we trust to some level. How often do people do buys for other people with payment after delivery or payment before delivery? We move stuff for each other, etc. I know in larger groups and especially large alliances where people are only loosely connected through diplomatic needs there is a more business like approach to these things. But inside of our smaller groups, the "leaving Jita anyone need anything?" or the "Can you move this or that for me?" with the casual, "Sure" is a daily part of life as well.
And trust is greater than stuff. Because in those alliances and groups held together by diplomatic relations, we expect people to follow those rules. Awoxing horrifies people. Blue status can crumble and entire groups fall out with each other over the violation of that trust that is extended through diplomacy. In a game where we trust no one we trust often and completely if not ignorantly. I well know that someone may decide that taking my stuff or destroying my stuff is the action they wish to proceed with and I accept that when I hand out my trust.
Trust doesn't have to be blind but pretending it does not exist in Eve is also very silly. The entire game is wrapped around trust and our ability to break it. Because if we couldn't break the trust then the trust wouldn't have meaning in the first place. And if we didn't have logistic situations such as we do we'd never have to rely on anyone else to have a reason to trust them to have a reason to break the trust to have a reason to appreciate the kept trust.
Obviously, I wanted to take advantage of the wonderful courier contract system. However, I wanted it to Jita quickly. Teon is about five jumps outside of Rens. I decided to scoot over to Rens with my cargo and set up from there. Courier contracts tend to be fastest from hub to hub. The chances that it would complete while I was in bed were very high. Some people are happier than I to shove their freighters full of goodies and level up from freighter to loot pinata.
"I've never been ganked." Is something I often here when someone discusses how they go from one place to another with a cargo hold full of goodies. It just takes one time to be ganked. For some, their risk vs convenience ratio is more tolerant then mine. Good for them. Mine is low. I love my ISK and only have but so much of it. Losing big chunks of it distresses me. Some of my projects have very slow payouts.
I discuss Vov's ganks and some others. I'm not running around in a paper thin, maximum expanded ship. But plenty of freighters are ganked every day. Orcas as well. Letting someone else do the hauling lets someone else take the risk and you cover yourself with the isk.
The person that took my two contracts moved them both. I assume at the same time because they arrived at the same time. Maybe he moved them in more than one hauler. Maybe not. The choice was his to make and today, it worked out, as it often does for the bulk of haulers moving items.
The second task was selling the items. I am a terrible, terrible seller. Jita's .01 ISK wars are miserable for me. The undercutting the price gouging, all of it sucks. It is why I said no to station trading when I tried it last year. I don't want to just lose money because of frustration so I turn to trust and friendship.
One of my favorite people is a successful trader. He patently sits down and explains the market and how to make money to me. I fail to understand it each time. He then magically sells everything for lots in moments where I'd be undercut. My brain implodes. Thankfully he loves me and it is not a thing for him to drop my orders onto the market and sell them while he is doing his own thing. I deeply, deeply appreciate this.
Now my stuff values in at only around a billion ISK. For him it is pocket changes. Still, he could take it if he wanted to. But, what value is that for him? He trusts me as well and we have done several high value projects together. I doubt he goes to sleep worried that I will suddenly snap and take everything. If he does he hides it well. But the project that we work on together is more interesting and easier to have two people involved. Not just the logistics but the motivation.
We spend a lot of time discussing not trusting people in Eve. Yet, we all still make our own groups that we trust to some level. How often do people do buys for other people with payment after delivery or payment before delivery? We move stuff for each other, etc. I know in larger groups and especially large alliances where people are only loosely connected through diplomatic needs there is a more business like approach to these things. But inside of our smaller groups, the "leaving Jita anyone need anything?" or the "Can you move this or that for me?" with the casual, "Sure" is a daily part of life as well.
And trust is greater than stuff. Because in those alliances and groups held together by diplomatic relations, we expect people to follow those rules. Awoxing horrifies people. Blue status can crumble and entire groups fall out with each other over the violation of that trust that is extended through diplomacy. In a game where we trust no one we trust often and completely if not ignorantly. I well know that someone may decide that taking my stuff or destroying my stuff is the action they wish to proceed with and I accept that when I hand out my trust.
Trust doesn't have to be blind but pretending it does not exist in Eve is also very silly. The entire game is wrapped around trust and our ability to break it. Because if we couldn't break the trust then the trust wouldn't have meaning in the first place. And if we didn't have logistic situations such as we do we'd never have to rely on anyone else to have a reason to trust them to have a reason to break the trust to have a reason to appreciate the kept trust.
Trust is the strangest commodity in EVE.
ReplyDeleteThose that we trust the most, have the ability to hurt us the worst.
We cannot succeed in EVE without trust and yet trust is our Achilles heel.
Awoxers can't exist without trust, but then neither can communities.
My simple analogy is that trust in EVE is just like that yellow line painted on the roadway. We trust that oncoming traffic won't cross that line, just as they must trust us. But it is an enormous risk we take constantly, because the community cannot function without that minimal level of trust.
I am often reminded, however, of that most cruel statistic: the ones that we love are the most likely to murder us. So what do we do? Hide in our bedroom and bolt the door? No, we trust.
Ships are safest in harbour, but then, that is not what ships are for.