EVE Online at Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMOG Gamers to the Next Level!

Market Trip Reports

As a new player, the most useful thing about market discussion is trip reports. That is, a post encapsulating a player's personal experiences with the market. These can take many forms, including failed manipulation attempts, success stories, or complete train wrecks where someone lost it all. All of these stories are valuable to new players, who can avoid pitfalls and learn from the experiences of others. It is surprising how often players are willing to explain where things went awry for them. Learn from their successes and do not repeat their mistakes.

Market Projects

Invest in an IPO at your own peril.

MD is where the more sophisticated market projects go. There are banks, IPOs, short selling, and public loan offerings can all be found here. Even more than in real life, these are generally risky business. Much of this is due to general mismanagement and deliberate scams, but part is due to what I'll call the "IPO fatigue effect".

The IPO fatigue effect is what happens when a player will initially be enthusiastic and trustworthy, doing their best to make profits for their shareholders. Eventually, this will stop being fun, with the tedium of keeping things running exceeding any enjoyment the player might have had. The person running the IPO decides that it's time to move on, and that he might as well steal everything that is not nailed down, first. Alternatively, something might go a bit wrong and require too much work to fix, making a rip and run more appealing by comparison.

Many EVE companies have gone belly up under scandalous circumstances, though some continue to operate at a profit for years before they reach that point. Some projects seem less susceptible to this due to the way they are designed or the inherent profitability of running a legitimate business, but you need to make up your own mind about what constitutes an acceptable risk.