Daily Archives: October 21, 2020

The September MER Follows the War in EVE Online

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CCP got the EVE Online Monthly Economic Report for September out on Monday, so it is time to see what the numbers say for the third month of World War Bee.

EVE Online nerds harder

Since it is war time, destruction is the first thing I want to look at.  The top ten regions for destruction in September were:

  1. Querious – 2.71 trillion (Imperium)
  2. The Forge – 2.24 trillion (High Sec)
  3. Lonetrek – 1.59 trillion (High Sec)
  4. The Citadel – 1.54 trillion (High Sec)
  5. Delve – 1.40 trillion (Imperium)
  6. Metropolis – 1.19 trillion (High Sec)
  7. Sinq Laison – 1.15 trillion (High Sec)
  8. Catch – 942 billion (Legacy)
  9. Genesis – 919 billion (High Sec)
  10. Oasa – 848 billion (PandaFam)

As with August, The Forge, the usual top dog, remains in second place and three null sec regions occupy the list.  But in August it was Fountain at the top.  For September Querious tops the list with almost the exact same total as Fountain had the month before.

Most of the other regions, most of which were in last month’s top ten, were down.  Only Catch was up compared to the previous month.

Overall the MER says that 33.6 trillion ISK was destroyed in New Eden in September, down from the 38.4 trillion reported in August.  An odd turn in that.  My guess is that when we get the October MER we will find Delve at the top… I count nearly 10 trillion destroyed so far… with Querulous in staying on the list.

From there I might as well flip the coin a look at production.  The top ten regions were:

  1. The Forge – 21 trillion (High Sec)
  2. Delve – 14 trillion (Imperium)
  3. Lonetrek – 6.74 trillion (High Sec)
  4. The Citadel – 6.72 trillion (High Sec)
  5. Domain – 4.56 trillion (High Sec)
  6. Oasa – 4.48 trillion (PandaFam)
  7. Sinq Laison – 4.39 trillion (High Sec)
  8. Vale of the Silent – 3.69 trillion (mixed small groups)
  9. Esoteria – 3.06 trillion (Legacy)
  10. The Kalevala Expanse – 2.89 trillion (PandaFam)

The Forge, Lonetrek, and The Citadel, which all feed the Jita market dominate production.  But Delve does pretty well as the Imperium builds to feed its war effort.  Meanwhile, PandaFam in Oasa and TKE work away on their supply line and Legacy builds in Esoteria.  I am note sure who is building in Vale of the Silent, but carry on.  A total of 114.5 trillion ISK of production took place in September.

And to supply that production there needs to be minerals.

With the announcement of the pending mining nerf, mineral prices resumed their climb in September.

Sep 2020 – Economic Indices

In fact, if you look at the long term chart, mineral prices are now around the all time high they hit back in 2012, when CCP changed the drones NPCs in the drone regions to have bounties rather than mineral drops.

Sep 2020 – Economic Indices – Long Term

We have to keep that in mind when we look at the amount mined, as it is measured in ISK value rather than a physical amount.  The top ten regions for mining were:

  1. The Forge – 1.50 trillion (High Sec)
  2. Oasa – 1.27 trillion (PandaFam)
  3. Metropolis – 1.26 trillion (High Sec)
  4. Sinq Laison – 1.23 trillion (High Sec)
  5. Domain – 1.14 trillion (High Sec)
  6. Lonetrek – 1.14 trillion (High Sec)
  7. The Citadel – 888 billion (High Sec)
  8. Tash-Murkon – 849 billion (High Sec)
  9. Perrigen Falls – 769 billion (PandaFam)
  10. Everyshore – 768 billion (High Sec)

Mining remained a high sec game, with only two null sec regions making the cut.  Gone are the days of the “Delve Time Units” of yore.  And even with the bump in mineral prices, the amount mined was in most of the top regions when compared to August.   Overall the regional data shows a total of 27.3 trillion ISK worth was mined in September, down from the 30.6 trillion ISK mined in August and the 29 trillion ISK mined in July, when prices were less dear.

And once you mine and build all of that, you have to sell it, which brings us to the trade values.  The top ten regions for trade were:

  1. The Forge – 411 trillion (Jita)
  2. Domain – 52 trillion (Amarr)
  3. Sinq Laison – 24 trillion (Dodixie)
  4. Delve – 20 trillion (Imperium)
  5. Lonetrek – 15 trillion (Caldari High Sec)
  6. Metropolis – 10 trillion (Hek)
  7. Heimatar 9.2 trillion (Rens)
  8. Essence 5.2 trillion (Gallente High Sec)
  9. Oasa – 4.3 trillion (PandaFam)
  10. The Citadel 4.2 trillion (Caldari High Sec)

Of the 600 trillion ISK in trade in New Eden, Jita remains the undisputed champion, accounting for (along with Perimeter) more than two thirds of the total.  But The Forge has been declining a bit every month, while the fall of Niarja has seemed to stimulate Amarr some, as it has risen since that event, up almost 9 trillion ISK since August.

However, since Niarja was pulled from its high sec connections to become part of the Triglavian Pochven region earlier this month, that might change.  Amarr was no doubt boosted some by the proximity of the fighting in Niarja.  Now that is gone.  Will its proximity to the war front, relative to Jita, sustain its growth going forward?

Delve, meanwhile, saw a boost in trade, and will likely see an even bigger boost in both trade and production when the October MER is released.

And, finally, to pay for all that trade, capsuleers need ISK, and NPC bounties remain the biggest ISK faucet in the game.

Sep 2020 – Top Sinks and Faucets Over Time

NPC bounties have settled down into a fairly predictable range over the last few months.  For August the total bounty payout was 52.6 trillion ISK, in September the number was 52.1 trillion ISK.  But who is earning that ISK?  The top ten regions in September were:

  1. Oasa – 6.10 trillion (PandaFam)
  2. Branch – 3.47 trillion (PandaFam)
  3. Cobalt Edge – 3.40 trillion (PandaFam)
  4. Perrigen Falls – 2.79 trillion (PandaFam)
  5. The Kalevala Expanse – 2.35 trillion (PandaFam)
  6. Insmother – 2.27 trillion (Legacy)
  7. Vale of the Silent – 2.18 trillion (mixed small groups)
  8. Esoteria – 1.97 trillion (Legacy)
  9. Detorid – 1.92 trillion (Legacy)
  10. Deklein – 1.89 trillion (mixed small groups)

PandaFam in general, and Fraternity in particular, seem to be raking in the big ISK still in their home space, far from the war.

So it goes.

As noted the war and the big mining nerf will likely show up even more pronounced on the MER when the October edition is released.  Destruction, production, and trade ought to see a boost, while overall mineral prices should continue their climb into record high territory.

As always, the charts and data from the MER are available from CCP.