How profitable is mining/trading?

[Windsor]

I am really into trading my way "up" the ladder so to speak in games and not to spend much time in combat. Would I be able to make a decent profit of plex doing this? And the amount of time needed to be invested?

[CharlieFirpol]

Trading is probably the most profitable profession you can do in EVE, if you do it well. If you do it bad, you can just as easily lose your ISK though :)

Mining isn´t very profitable ISK per hour wise but it can be done mostly afk.

[Atreides nutz]

^^
Nailed it.
Trading is very very profittable but like the stock exchange, it can be high risk/high reward or low risk/why bother. Mining is a great way to save up for your first few ships, but if you expect to buy plex from mining, expect to be spending all your time mining so you can pay for more plex to keep mining.

[Fe2O3]

Both of you forget to mention that the game is full of @holes that have billions of isk, and nothing to do but ruining your game by taking pot shots at you.

[Atreides nutz]

Fe2O3 a écrit :

Both of you forget to mention that the game is full of @holes that have billions of isk, and nothing to do but ruining your game by taking pot shots at you.

I didn't mention it because in 1 year of playing, it happened to me one time, and i didn't even die. I mine in 0.5 and sometimes 0.3. It takes a special type of neglect to actually let that happen. BUT I do admit. It is a risk. It happens, and in the long run, it's good for everyone else in mining because ore prices go up. Just keep a cool head and check every couple minutes. Mining with friends also helps.

[lawlessX]

Fe2O3 a écrit :

Both of you forget to mention that the game is full of @holes that have billions of isk, and nothing to do but ruining your game by taking pot shots at you.

yes there is a risk...anyone interested in eve online should already know this

[Atreides nutz]

lawlessX a écrit :

Fe2O3 a écrit :

Both of you forget to mention that the game is full of @holes that have billions of isk, and nothing to do but ruining your game by taking pot shots at you.

yes there is a risk...anyone interested in eve online should already know this

It's still safer than going outside.

[Mr Eos]

The first time I walked outside, I wasn't greeted by someone standing at my front door shooting at me.

The fact that I knew and the fact that it happened on the very first attempt to "Walk outside".

Why would you want to make this game more popular?
Just to increase the frequency of grief encounters?

[CharlieFirpol]

Suicide gannking is done for a profit. The loot your ship drops is worth more than the attackers suicide ganking ship had cost.
So, if you want to defend yourself against suicide gannking, make ganking you unprofitable: put a proper buffer (!!!) tank on your ship and dont use expensive modules.

[PIES]

I can confirm that trading is the most profitable activity in the game. EvE has a very healthy, player-driven market which you can use to "leverage" your wallet balance quite efficiently. On the other side of the scope is of course dull and mind-numbingly boring mining. It requires no strategic thinking therefore usually people who don`t want to / can`t think creatively or just want to watch Netflix while increasing the amount of isk in their wallets indulge in. Also do i understand you correctly? You want to trade in order to buy PLEX for in-game currency ?

[Blib Blob]

I spent some time as a miner and it's extremely boring. I you've got a alt account with a hauler or a corp to run mining ops with it's more profitable. If you're happy to risk losing ore then you can jet can (Drop ore into a can as you mine and come back later with a hauler) but people will steal it or just take it and dump it for lol's.

[Alora]

IF SOMEONE REALLY WANTS TO BLOW UP YOUR SHIP, YOUR TOWER, OR ANYTHING OF YOURS NOT STORED PERMANENTLY IN A STATION, THEY WILL DO SO. The amount of effort they will expend depends entirely on how bored/aggravating/well-tanked your ship/tower/they/whatever is.

Mining is best accomplished with a group. It is possible to mine by yourself, but it is nowhere near as profitable. Even at perfect boosts, unless you have a constant stream of Mercoxit or 3 digit Wspace gas, everyone will probably laugh at you and call you a pleb.

MINING IS A HOBBY. If you don't like mining GTFO and find something else in EVE that you enjoy. Almost everything else pays better. I'm not saying this to be mean, just that blitzing IVs/Sanctums/whatever will be far more lucrative.

More accounts mining =/= more ISK/HR total. If you are mining for your plex, you just added one more mouth to feed. Divide your total ISK/HR by the number of accounts and you will have the true ISK/HR. This is true of any/every activity, from Mining to C5/6 Escalations (if it takes 12 people to escalate, how much ISK do you really make per site? Yes, it's probably still pimp money, shut up I'm jealous)

Bosts are invaluable, especially as the number of miners in a system increases. When to add a Booster is when you have 3 or so barges IIRC. When you add a hauler is up to you. I'm not your spreadsheet daddy.





.......(but I like it when you call me your spreadsheet daddy)





After this expansion, the most efficient way of mining is with the following:

1) 1 Small Control Tower (POS)
2) at least 3 hours of Strontium Clathrates (full Stront bay if in low sec or below)
3) Enough POS fuel to cover the mining session (if in Low Sec or below FF should never go down). If you are mining in Hi Sec, scoop the Compressor and turn the tower off when you're not mining.
4) 1 (or more if you're feeling fancy) Compression Array
5) 1 Orca or Rorqual (Rorqs cannot enter hi sec, CAN dock in low/null stations--and are also big "Hit me" signs)
6) 1 Mining Barge/Exhumer per Miner
7) 1 or more Miasmos
7a) Deep Space Transport (instead of Miasmos) such as an Occator--makes Mobile Tractor (8) Obsolete from this list
8) (Optional): Mobile Tractor Unit (deployed by Miasmos pilot)
9) (Optional): Salvage Drones (If rats are being destroyed)
10) (Optional): Combat Drones to take out rats (unless Barges/Exhumers can already shrug off rat attacks)
11) MANDATORY: New Order Mining License. It's only 10M ISK, and will keep them from blowing up your 20M-275M Mining Barge repeatedly. It lasts a year. If you can't mine enough ore to spare 10M in the span of a year, you're doing it VERY, VERY wrong.

The Tower goes up in any system--though if you anchor it outside of Hi Sec you may find yourself dropped by Dreads/Supers/Caps/Stealth Bombers/Battleships/Tier 3 Battlecruiser/Cheap, expendable Coercers to blow it up.

In Hi Sec, currently to remove a Tower you must be at war with the Tower holder.

The Compressor goes in the Tower, and all ore is deposited directly into it, and compressed at will. I haven't played around with the Compressor, but if it only takes one type, the other types need to go into the Orca/Booster/etc until they're compressed down.

The Booster should never, ever leave the FF for the duration of the mining op. It should never dock up or go into warp. Doing any of these things will cut off its bonuses to the miners.

Barges should, if possible, only leave the belt/mining anomaly to find a new belt or if the pilots are logging off or the op is complete. That is what your hauler is for.

http://www.eve-calculator.com/mining/income_calculator/ore.html

The above link is to an ISK Calculator. It defaults to Hulk with perfect boosts. Enter your stats to find how much ISK/hr you get. It will inevitably be less than this because of wasted time on already expended roids, pilot inattention, New Order popping you for not having a license, other gankers, hiding from hostiles (if not in hi sec), etc.

Also note that you can set the total number of turrets in the *entire* mining op.

You will need the following "groups" of pilots

1) Orca/Rorq Booster (1)

It is best if they have max boost skills, mining mindlink, T2 mining links. This pilot will sit in the POS, and will REMAIN inside the POS' bubble. Links should be running 60/60 for as many hours as the op goes on. If you hug a station/stargate you are vulnerable to gankers. And considering the Orca costs 600M, and the Rorq is bigger, slower, and something like 2.5B, the last thing you want is to lose them. If you're mining in Low/Null sec consider using cynos to move Rorq around. Just keep in mind that you'll be letting every single person that has a map or overview open know exactly where you are. I believe (but am not certain) that Rorqs can use gates, but this is basically asking to get it ganked.

Again--these should NEVER leave the POS shield. In fact, make sure that it is orbiting the control tower if possible, to help make bumping these motherluggers out of the bubble that much harder. Though if someone wants to bump you out of the FF, they will find a way. But at least inside the bubble you're safe(r) from people looking for Orcas to gank.

If people REALLY want to blow your Booster up, they WILL find a way. Unless you are alone in your corp with your alts. And only let alts into your fleet. And are in hi sec and are not at war with anyone. and make sure to keep the Booster in the bubble. Then you're relatively secure.

2) Hauler (1)

The Hauler does exactly that. It hauls the loot from the belt to the Compressor in the POS. Doesn't need anything more than Gallente Industrial I, though I would recommend III-IV if it's more than a one-shot deal, and V if you're serious about it. This is what the Tractor is for. IT gather's everyone's ore can up into one place for the hauler. It also makes it easier for people to scoop them up.

If you want to make things super secure, Use a Deep Space Transport. Warp up to each miner in turn (or if they're in a ball making themselves discobait, warp to the miners), and they can put their ore directly into your corp hangar. Excuse me--Fleet Hangar. Just make sure that the DST is tanked out the wazoo. You're not flying around a 1M Gallente hauler, you're flying around something 200M more expensive--the cost of a Mining Barge, for crying out loud.

When not needed, the Hauler should be cloaked in a SS or humping the Booster in the FF to protect it from Gankers.

3) Barges.

Basically you want as many of these as possible. They scoop up the ore.

Covetor/Hulk=gankbait--use this in (relatively) secure space only unless you want to see it butchered. Yes, most ISK/hr, but it's made out of paper mache.

Retriever/Mac=AFK boats, or for lazy people. They generally take half an hour-20 minutes to fill up their Ore bay. I would advise people never to use a Mac in hi sec. IMO Gank-Ore ratio is way, way in favor of the gankers.

Procurer/Skiff=Come at me Brosephs! Fitted properly (read: filled, activated mid slots buffer tank), it becomes just too expensive to gank if there are easier targets around. And the Skiff can have a pretty decent speed with an activated prop mod on top of an OMG tank. These are what you want for Hi Sec.


TL:DR--mine into a FFed POS with a Compressor. Orca never leaves FF, Miners never leave belts except for bio breaks/op complete/wife aggo/belt empty, Use a damn hauler

BUY A DAMN New Order LICENSE. if you're too poor to afford one sell your damn barge before the NO blows it up and mine in a Venture until you can afford your barge again. If mining in a venture, use the Hauler (or a MTU)




...I think I covered everything, from "Mining is Boring", "Mining sucks as a primary means of income", "Mining is the worst way to make ISK in this game", "Buy a license", etc. to "Tank your damn ship" "Orca does not EVER leave the FF"

I am not currently affiliated with the NO except for having their licenses on my (hobbyist) miners. 10M/year to protect me from their ganks? Steal.

Besides, I enjoy reading minerbumping.com.

[Getphazed]

Skill up a bit then join a nullsec corp/alliance and profit. You are safer in null than in highsec now days.

[Alora]

Getphazed a écrit :

Skill up a bit then join a nullsec corp/alliance and profit. You are safer in null than in highsec now days.

you're safer in Wspace, actually, as long as you are capable of closing statics/K162s by yourself

[Shotgun]

Spazman a écrit :

Getphazed a écrit :

Skill up a bit then join a nullsec corp/alliance and profit. You are safer in null than in highsec now days.

you're safer in Wspace, actually, as long as you are capable of closing statics/K162s by yourself

As a wormhole pirate since like the second week of wormholes coming out, I disagree. :V