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An Unhappy Reevaluation

I think I've lost a battle that I was waging all alone, off to the side. Although I have my corporation and find a lot of my anchor in Eve many of my activities outside of PvP are done alone. They are things that I do simply because I wanted to do them. Others have been my way of justifying myself and making myself a valuable and useful person. This is a game where you can leverage your personal skills to make something for and of yourself. Being a mediocre pilot and lacking the talents of those around me when it comes to fighting and flying solo, I've struck out on a path to still bring something to the table.

I've commented that I stopped selling boosters earlier this year. Someone else slipped into my market, undercut me, and started to stock. It happened before but never anything overly permanent. This time, whomever is filling the market is doing well. They are doing better than I am.

I was changing out the last of my reactions the other day. I need to buy some blueprints to build from but I realized that I'm sitting on four billion ISK in boosters right now and no place to sell them. I built my own little bit of booster selling Eden and managed to get kicked out of it.

That leaves me with two paths. One is that I need to find a new place to sell boosters. This is not as easy as it sounds. The booster market is not what one would think it would be. Sales seem to be the individual who needs a handful or the alliance who needs hundreds. The markets are often bare but people don't even think to look for them. Add in the pain of moving them and the lack of contract abilities to manage them remotely and I find that my stubbornness is being ground down by reality.

I started making boosters because I thought they would be interesting and it sounded cool. I also filled a void no one else wanted to. I continued for those same reasons. Now, I'm honestly pondering pulling down my POS until my backlog sells. I've been bleeding ISK for months.

But to take my POS down is admitting to losing a battle I've been fighting for two years. A battle against the words someone said that pissed me off. And like other battles that I've waged where rational thought and stubbornness clashed I have to decide if this is the best thing for me. I'm not good with sales. I'm not that person that does a good job running out and meeting people and trying to sell them what I have. Plus, what I have was always small and focused around those around me.

I feel that my project has failed. I could keep it going forever, propped up by my other incomes. But, I have to ask myself if I am doing things for anything but my desire to prove my worth. And, if I've not managed to do so by now I don't think that it is going to help. The person who angered me so much never had a drop of respect for me, probably doesn't remember the conversation, and never logs in. I'm fighting a fight only I can see.

Do I mothball the project until I get some of these boosters sold? I have about four billion in standard boosters on hand. I never built improved and strong because the cost would not have repaid itself. My booster corporation has around nine billion in assets that have just collected over the years. Maybe I will liquidate some of it and come up with another project that can use it.

I've been asked why don't I chase the other sellers off the market. This is where my own philosophy bites me in the butt. They are selling for less than I can sell. I could chase them off and raise the prices. That goes against my entire goal of regional improvement and creating a place where things are sold for reasonable prices. The concept is going well it just happens that the person benefiting from it is not me. Unfortunate that.

I am a bit sad. Losing battles is not fun. Even self made ones that no one else knows about. Not succeeding at tasks is unpleasant. In this game where you build your empires you can also lose them. This is a small thing and something many would not notice. Yet, it is a large thing for me. it was one of my first acts of defiance and attempts to be someone worth having around.

I'm not done with or quitting the booster game. I just need to take a new approach. An approach that is less created off of stubbornness now that stubbornness has run its course of productivity. And, hopefully I will find it.

Comments

  1. If the market is bare, then there are opportunities.

    If it doesn't match your goals to hire someone to take out the newcomer, it might be profitable to sell your setup to them.

    Croda has something sensible to say about unprofitable positions there on your sidebar.

    <----

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  2. If you enjoyed it, made money and learned something, then you have not and can never lose the battle. If you became better because of it, then you won the battle.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What was your purpose? To make lot of ISK? Then indeed you lost.

    But if it was to supply boosters, then you created the local market that lured in other suppliers. You're like the settlers arriving on cattle-dragged carts to brake the land. Sure, they were replaced by modern, optimized farmers. You don't see settlers running around anymore. But does that mean that they lost and shouldn't have done what they did?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was actually going to say this.

      It seems as though you making boosters has brought in someone else who is better at it than you are, thereby improving the regional market, which is something I have seen you strive for for a long time.

      Delete
    2. It still sucks to have someone do your thing better than you :P

      Delete
    3. I'm surprised you say that. I believe that the "thing" part is more important than the "your" part. If the "thing" is going well, you should be proud and happy.

      You built something! Now go and build something new. Then someone more optimized will take that from you too. Then you go build another thing. And another. Yes, those who optimize it will be more rich and more famous and people will think that they did it right. Probably only one person will know who made all the things possible: you.

      The question is do you care for the opinion of anyone else?

      Delete
  4. Well, that is EVE market mechanics in a nutshell. No price limits, people are free to sell for prices that are below the cost of production.
    As EVE businessman are played by real people, who lack fundamental maths skills in RL, you get really funny results in the markets.
    As long as you are planning to stay in EVE, keep the boosters and sit it out. Or Advertise with yome alliances...
    I neve understand why i.e. Obelisks sold for less then their mineral value for some time... Who profits from it escept for the buyers?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Boosters need a long, hard look from CCP. Remove the contract limitation. Remove the whole customs officer fine/confiscation mechanic and just replace it with a suspect flag if caught.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is always this to fall back on ^^
      One day CCP just might add ship bonuses for customs running and the booster market will get a big shake up. There's plenty of calls for somesuch on the forums.

      Delete
    2. I always expected this was where the suspect flag thing was leading. Allowing players to police the space lanes and manage the transport/smuggling of contraband.

      Delete
  6. The problem with booster is that they are so rare that most players don't even have the skills to use them.

    Add that most LowSec Hubs don't have them avalaible so many Players aren't even bothering looking for them. Perhaps more advertissement would help ��

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Advertisement inside of Eve is a very unexplored avenue.

      Delete
    2. Absolutely! I'd love to see new (large and visible) billboards, for instance, which players can advertise on for an isk fee.

      Delete
  7. "They are selling for less than I can sell"

    "I am a bit sad. Losing battles is not fun. Even self made ones that no one else knows about. Not succeeding at tasks is unpleasant. In this game where you build your empires you can also lose them. This is a small thing and something many would not notice. Yet, it is a large thing for me"

    And exactly what the vast vast majority of high sec industrialists will be experiencing post Crius. But hey, they won't quit, they will just move to null sec, right?

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    Replies
    1. I did not realize they were all selling boosters. Maybe the price will change and I can ramp production back up.

      Delete
    2. Not entirely wrong. The hordes of HS industrial alts of NS PvP Mains may indeed move to NS. This should increase available resources in HS. Pair that with new rules on setting up POS-es and HS sounds really interesting now to start an industrial career.

      Delete
    3. Citation needed. Will you stop posting if you're wrong about this?

      PS. 1/5 on the Dinsdale Bingo, better luck next time folks.

      Delete
  8. Since your objective was to provide the area with boosters at reasonable prices, why not let the competition do the work for you?

    I'd just post enough of the boosters at your best price to keep the price down and let the competition undercut perpetually. The competition will undercut you, your objective will have been met and all it'll take from you is updating your price once every 3 months so your orders don't expire.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And if the competition gets tired of making little or no ISK and leave the market instead, you'll notice because you still have some up. Once your's start selling again you're back in business with the rest of your stock ready to sell at better prices.

      Delete
    2. The objective was to provide my boys boosters at reasonable prices. The region got a bonus with this one. :)

      I already have some price points on the market but I still have oodles of stock that I've been creating and creating.

      Delete
    3. sugar i was thinking if you took a small number of your boosters and placed them on the market to undercut the competition you would eventually drive them out. you will take losses but in the long run you will win. yer fighting with isk instead of autocannons, but your target bleeds none the less.

      Delete
  9. I prefer not to dance with ghosts. They’re dreadfully insubstantial and all wrapped up in the haunted past. If only preference alone would rid of me them but no, the persistent little wisps keep placing their names on my dance card.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. I'm stealing the whole "Dance With Ghosts" thought - it's utterly BRILLIANT!

      2. None of what Sugar is saying here seems to be about the ISK. It's about the inner conflict and unfortunately no up-swing in the market or a boom in sales is going to fix that. It's about what was once said that cut deep enough to scar and she can't stop seeing that wound no matter how large her wallet becomes.

      3. Self worth and bringing value to who we are is core to the human condition. The rub of it all is that in our quests to find that self worth and sense of value is that anytime someone says something to imply (or outright say) we are falling short of our mark - we hear that over all the words of encouragement that came before it.

      "The bad stuff is easier to believe. Ever notice that?" Vivian - Pretty Woman (1990)

      -Taz

      Delete
    2. Dire while I do disagree with you on a number of things but...

      DAMN you can turn a really sweet phrase every now and again! Helluva wordsmith.

      Delete
  10. There needs to be the ability to smuggle into high-sec. Which means you could cross into other low-sec regions or sell at a trade and/or hub.

    Sugar break a problem into steps for a solution. Take down the POS - you can always put it back up. Or re-task it for modules or hulls.

    Sit on the product, get Black Frog to move it to hot zone like FW or under cut to the point of slight loss.

    Advertise. Put out a blog post about what you are selling and what difference it will make to a pilot. What skills are needed to utilise the product.

    I found some gas recently. and that's where the story ends - because I am clueless. We could all do with a little education.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. And revitalizing boosters by simply expanding what is there and cleaning up the usage would be fantastic.

      Delete
  11. Self reevaluation is never a fun thing, but I've found it to be absolutely critical from time to time. And I wouldn't consider your booster enterprise a failure. Creating a market from nothing and accumulating 9 billion in assets from that one endeavor is not a failure.

    I think you'll come away from this with some fresh new ideas and be better than ever.

    ReplyDelete

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