Mara Rinn
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Posted - 2011.05.16 03:13:00 -
[1]
 Originally by: Cobalt Sablestar Icefluxor
I do not believe the minerals just magically appear for you in Jita when you need to purchase them. à Do you even know how this game works?
For all intents and purposes, the minerals in Jita appear as if by magic. You don't need to understand the supply chain in order to buy the product. Do you understand all the machinations behind the market in Jita?
As a programmer, I am paid $80k pa. I go to the supermarket, and what do you know? There is slaughtered, dressed, butchered, cleaned and packaged chicken in the fridge! It is like magic!
As a chicken farmer, I earn $50k pa for raising, slaughtering, dressing, butchering, cleaning, packaging and delivering chicken to the local supermarket chain.
Given the choice between these two professions, which would you choose?
Now what if you found life as a programmer was bad for your health (always sitting, living in a polluted city, spending the best part of the day indoors, high cost of living), but life on the farm raising Organic free-range chickens was almost paradise? Are you gaining utility from the chicken farming profession? Is that utility worth the sacrifice of $30k pa?
The only reason that one would mine their own minerals is because they value the time taken to mine the required minerals at less than the ISK and time required to purchase the minerals from Jita. Some examples would be people whose daytime jobs are particularly stressful, and find the process of mining in game particularly relaxing. Try it sometime - the soft noises, pulsating lights and slowly rotating asteroids are in fact quite hypnotic. In such a situation, one might actually value the time spent mining as negative ISK (you would be willing to pay for it), since they are gaining some utility from the experience (one hour of mining versus a dose of Valium or a bottle of wine). For them, the fact that the minerals have any ISK value is a bonus.
Capsuleers looking to make ISK should keep in mind that when mining for an income, you are competing against people who value their time significantly less than your own.
In the meantime, rejoice in the fact that the market is magically populated with all the resources youmneed for manufacturing and invention. The cornucopia is a little short on Technetium, but what would be the value of anything if everything was available in limitless quantities?
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