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CCP cancels EVE's Quarterly Economic Newsletters

Brendan Drain — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, MMO industry, News items

EVE Online is often lauded for its complex player-run economy, which functions so like a real world economy that CCP even hired its own lead economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson to analyse it. Dr Eyjo's findings are normally released four times per year in his Quarterly Economic Newsletter (QEN), detailing everything from subscription numbers and popular ships to price changes on the market. The economic report for the fourth quarter of 2010 was released back in April, but at the time players weren't aware that this would be the last QEN ever to be released.

In a new devblog yesterday, CCP Recurve posted the four main price indices normally contained in the QEN along with a graph of their development since October 2003. In response to player questions in the comments thread, Dr Eyjo revealed that the QENs for 2011 would not be published as usual. Instead, players will be getting monthly price index devblogs and the economic reports will likely be released once per year.

This comes as bad news for players who were looking forward to finding out the economic impact of April's controversial nullsec anomaly changes. It may also mean that details like subscription numbers, population distributions and ISK generation will only be made public a maximum of once every year and that a current snapshot of those metrics may never be released.

CCP cancels EVE's Quarterly Economic Newsletters originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP releases EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter

Jef Reahard — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Dev Diaries

It's time for another in-depth look at New Eden's thriving economy, and as you'd expect in a game built around interminable conflict, business is booming. CCP's resident economist, Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, is back with the latest EVE Online Quarterly Economic Newsletter (QEN), and while it's a bit on the old news side for those lucky enough to attend last month's Fanfest where it was initially presented, the trends, observations, and raw data are still relevant for the rest of us.

In a nutshell, keep killing your friends and neighbors, as the constant bloodletting is integral to New Eden's economic well-being. "Warfare and the EVE Online economy thrive on each other. Without warfare there is very little consumption in EVE Online and without a strong economy (and lots of personal wealth) wars can't be won," Guðmundsson explains.

CCP releases EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter discusses PvP

Brendan Drain — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, MMO industry, PvP

Four times per year, CCP's lead economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson publishes the EVE Online Quarterly Economic Newsletter (QEN). Each report provides a snapshot of the in-game economy, with graphs showing market trends over the previous quarter and some speculation on the reasons for them. The third quarter 2010 QEN has just been released, and it contains some interesting information. This report has a special focus on PvP and death, starting off with statistics on ship kills by race and deaths as a function of skillpoints. Dr Eyjo suggests that players tend to progress from high security space, through low security space and eventually on to nullsec PvP. He goes on to suggest his data shows that an average player needs two years worth of skillpoints to be competitive in nullsec PvP.

The QEN shows the effect of recent nullsec wars, with a mass exodus of players from the eastern regions of nullsec to those in the south and west. Following up on the previous report's look at EVE's ISK sinks and faucets, this quarter's report indicates that the total amount of ISK in the game has been rising steadily over the past year. Most of this can be attributed to a 16% rise in total bounties paid out on NPC ships. Dr Eyjo believes this rising trend began with Dominion as system upgrades made ratting more profitable in nullsec. The ISK sinks designed to counteract the massive influx of liquid ISK bounties provide are not adequately tackling the issue, with the top five ISK sinks combined taking only 31% of bounty income out of the game. The rest of the report contains the usual snapshots of various market items in addition to a special statistics segment on ship deaths and killing blows.

New EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter discusses PvP originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Latest EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter highlights Tyrannis insurance changes

Brendan Drain — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, MMO industry

EVE Online is a game with complex economic activity that often mirrors real-world economic systems. The similarity is so pronounced that CCP even hired its own Lead Economist, Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, to examine the in-game markets in detail. Each quarter, the economist and his team of researchers publish the EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter (QEN). The report provides a timeline of market indices and major economic changes over the past several months. This quarter's report focuses on the effect of the insurance changes that came with the Tyrannis expansion. It also has a special segment on ISK sinks and faucets, and their changes following the release of planetary interaction.

Continue reading Latest EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter highlights Tyrannis insurance changes

Latest EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter highlights Tyrannis insurance changes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter talks wormholes and tech 3

Brendan Drain — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, MMO industry

Four times per year, CCP Lead Economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson and his team of researchers publish the Quarterly Economic Newsletter (QEN). In addition to providing trackable statistics on EVE Online's in-game market, each issue focuses heavily on analysing one particular topic. This quarter's report focuses on wormhole systems and the state of the tech 3 market. Updated player demographics show more and more players entering wormhole space, with a drop in the number of characters in high-security space. Statistics for the number of jumps in wormhole space over the past year show a similar trend of growing activity.

This QEN provides some enlightening graphs on the popularity of various tech 3 offensive subsystems and how tech 3 material costs have changed in EVE over the past year. Perhaps most illuminating is the sharp rise in the use of tech 3 strategic cruisers in locations that put them at risk. While the majority are being flown in mission hubs and market systems, over 35% were found outside the safety of high-security space. In addition to this quarter's focus on wormholes, the report contains the usual graphs tracking in-game prices, trade volumes, ships in use and other useful metrics.

New EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter talks wormholes and tech 3 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Latest EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter shows effect of Hulkageddon

Brendan Drain — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, MMO industry

EVE Online is a game that's often lauded for its sandbox style and realistic economic structures. Every quarter, CCP Lead Economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson and his team of researchers wade through mountains of EVE usage logs to find some interesting economic statistics. In their Quarterly Economic Newsletters (QEN), CCP deliver graphs tracking in-game prices, trade volumes, ships in use and a whole host of other useful metrics.

Read on for an overview of this QEN's main highlights.

Continue reading Latest EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter shows effect of Hulkageddon

Latest EVE Quarterly Economic Newsletter shows effect of Hulkageddon originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE's Quarterly Economic Newsletter focuses on impact of anti-RMT operation

James Egan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, MMO industry

One of the strengths of the sandbox game EVE Online is its player-driven economy, which developer CCP Games monitors through a small team of researchers headed up by Lead Economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson (aka CCP Dr.EyjoG). They observe all manner of player interactions and sift through a tremendous amount of data to track how EVE Online's economy changes over time. Their findings are presented to the playerbase (or to anyone curious about virtual economies) in the form of Quarterly Economic Newsletters (QEN). CCP released the 3rd Quarter 2009 report this week, which gives us a look at player demographics and the most popular ships flown by those players. (It's interesting to note that the most popular ship in the game is now the Hulk, a mining vessel which has usurped the Raven battleship as EVE's most flown ship, while Black Ops battleships are EVE's least flown ships.)

This latest QEN also gives various price indices and Market Snapshots, which chart the volumes of a number of popular items traded on the open market. CCP also shows the impact "Operation: Unholy Rage" -- their anti-RMT initiative -- has had on EVE Online's economy with over 18,000 (paying) accounts banned to date. Dr.EyjoG writes, "Unholy Rage taught us a great deal about RMT operations in EVE. We now have a much clearer picture of the extent of operations and the tools and methods they use."

Continue reading EVE's Quarterly Economic Newsletter focuses on impact of anti-RMT operation

EVE's Quarterly Economic Newsletter focuses on impact of anti-RMT operation originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE quarterly economic newsletter highlights various facets of player activity

James Egan — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, MMO industry, Crafting

With all the info about the DUST 514 console MMO set in the EVE Online universe, and player-run banks in the game mirroring the financial meltdowns we read about in real world headlines, we didn't have much time to look over something that's quite unique to the game. EVE's developer CCP Games releases "Quarterly Economic Newsletters" (QEN) which show the various ways in which player actions affect the game universe, given its player-driven economy. The QEN for the second quarter of 2009 has been released and gives us a snapshot of player activity in EVE's single-shard world.

When you PvP in EVE, someone's going to win while other ships are obliterated. Someone manufactured the ship, modules, and ammunition you used to take down your opponents, likewise the ships and modules you destroyed were also created by other player characters somewhere in the New Eden galaxy -- players who have mined and refined, bought and sold materials needed to build the various items put to use by EVE's pilots every day.

Continue reading EVE quarterly economic newsletter highlights various facets of player activity

EVE quarterly economic newsletter highlights various facets of player activity originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP Games addresses player concerns in EVE Online Q&A

James Egan — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online

The first Q&A between EVE Online developers CCP Games and the Council of Stellar Management (CSM) -- a group of players (elected by fellow EVE gamers) that represents the collective interests of the subscribers -- was released this past week. It addresses a few concerns the players have had, for instance the delays with EVE's 'Quarterly Economic Newsletters', what is intended to be a regularly released overview of the game's ever-shifting economy. (CCP says they're on track to release the QEN's on schedule moving forward.) The Q&A also addresses a major question that has arisen for factional warfare participants, which began with the Empyrean Age expansion and its all-out war between the game's four races. Players fighting for the Caldari race's militia have, essentially, won the war. They've captured all of Gallente space. So where will (Caldari-Gallente) factional warfare go from here?

CCP responded: "We plan the NPC timeline for events leading up to expansions, coordinating the release of news and integrating the high level plot with chronicles, video, and everything else we can. This year, our storyline theme was to try and 'cross the streams' more, meaning that we were going to look for ways to weave the exploits of capsuleers into the NPC canon. The Caldari sweep of contestable Federation space gave us the perfect context to do just that."

Continue reading CCP Games addresses player concerns in EVE Online Q&A

CCP Games addresses player concerns in EVE Online Q&A originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New EVE quarterly economic newsletter

Jon Shute — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy

Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson from CCP has released another quarterly EVE Online economic newsletters, this time for the 1st quarter of 2009. Despite the quarterly name this is the first report since the one for Q1 2008. This time the PDF weighs in at 48 pages of editorial, graphs and images. The first graph in the document show the number of active paying accounts that the game has had from launch up until March 2009, ending shortly before the point at which CCP announced they have passed 300,000 subscribers. Interestingly although the graph shows strong growth from November 2008 onwards, which is when CCP released the Quantum Rise expansion, the actual numbers before that showed a slight decline in subscriptions that is not addressed in the commentary.

There is also an extensive analysis of skill points, with the difference in the number of points in each skill point group for each race showing correlation between the race of the character and the skills trained. Interestingly Gallente characters tend to have more points in drone skills, while Caldari characters have the highest missile skills. This seems to indicate that players are following their racial ship choices for their skill training, which is not something that the game enforces. There's a lot more information in the report itself, including detail on ship prices over time, Tech 3 production for the first month and mineral trading.

You can read the full document at the dev blog, and follow the comments from players on the EVE Online forums.

New EVE quarterly economic newsletter originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quarterly Economic Newsletter for EVE Online released

James Egan — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, Forums, MMO industry, Crafting, Professions, PvP, News items, PvE

EVE Online is unique among MMOs in that its economy is so complex and dynamic that CCP Games hired an economist, Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, to keep track of how the market evolves. One would imagine this is no easy task, with an overall trade value of all EVE markets ranging between 2 and 2.5 trillion isk per day. Lead Economist CCP Dr. EyjoG released a Quarterly Economic Newsletter (QEN) for EVE Online today, which is 18 pages full of data which should keep EVE's market and industry-oriented players happy (and hopefully make up for the delayed QEN, which Dr. EyjoG addresses in his announcement).

The Q1 2008 QEN kicks off with an editorial, and here are some brief highlights of what follows:

Demographics (number of accounts, most and least populated regions)

Price Level Changes (Mineral prices, Primary Producer Price Index, Secondary Producer Price Index, and Consumer Price Index)

Mining ship production and losses (with the venerable "Hulk" exhumer losses accounting for a staggering 6 trillion isk in destroyed property in Q1 2008)

Market Snapshots

Five years of EVE Market history

If you're interested in reading the Q1 2008 economic newsletter, you'll find the download link to the PDF in Dr. EyjoG's dev blog. A discussion of his findings is already underway on the EVE forums.

Quarterly Economic Newsletter for EVE Online released originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP Games video interview on the Council of Stellar Management

James Egan — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Economy, Events, real-world, Interviews, MMO industry, News items

MMORPG.com's video scoop from the Leipzig Games Convention wasn't limited to info on EVE Online's upcoming expansions. They also got some face time with Lead Economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson of CCP Games, who discusses some of CCP's projects and initiatives, namely the Council of Stellar Management (CSM).

Dr. Eyjólfur shares his point of view on the process of having players interact with the developers on affecting the development pipeline. He also addresses the poor voter turnout in the CSM election, which was not surprising given the general apathy many people have about real-life elections, he comments. The interview largely focuses on Dr. Eyjólfur's experiences with the CSM, but given his role in the company, he also mentioned the economic impact of factional warfare on the market in EVE. More information on this aspect of EVE should be covered in one of his forthcoming Quarterly Economic Newsletters, he says. Be sure to see the video at MMORPG.com if you're interested in seeing more about the Council of Stellar Management and the economics of EVE Online.

CCP Games video interview on the Council of Stellar Management originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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