Ranger 1
Ranger Corp
295
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Posted - 2011.11.16 05:55:00 -
[1] - Quote
I can't speak in great detail on this subject, not having tried my hand in the drug manufacturing trade, but I do have a small amount of insight that might be helpful.
The large alliances I have been a part of or interacted closely with have largely ignored their drug manufacturing capability. The raw materials are rarely harvested, the drug specific manufacturing lines go unused. I can only assume it was due to profitability in the past compared with other occupations. Again, remember this is gleaned from casual observation... and while I get around obviously there are some of the major players that I don't have intimate knowledge of due to my past affiliations.
You are correct in that most of the small amount that was produced was consumed primarily by alliance members on "special occasions".
If the price of the strong variants shoot up, that should change. Of course, demand within the alliance may go up as well.
As far a drawbacks were concerned, most of the pilots I knew were the type to take that chance. However it was not because the drawbacks were of no concern. In the chaos of null sec warfare drawbacks like a lower amount of armor and shield could indeed mean the difference between surviving an engagement long enough for that superior repping to save you (for example as you gain range from some of the inbound damage)... and of course out there alpha is "always" a concern unless you are simply out trying to pay your bills doing some PVE. Mainly those pilots took their chances because of their aggressive attitude, more than willing to roll the dice for a chance at pulling off a brag worthy exploit.
Either way, the loss of drawbacks will be considered a big plus by most and I do see demand rising sharply... along side price. I have no idea if manufacturing supplies will be able to keep up. I would not be surprised in the least if this has already been looked at and we see a dev blog mentioning that those supplies will be more available as well.
High sec pilots are still going to have the issue of legality to deal with, so strong variants may not see that much more demand there (but I doubt it). But the low strength varieties may come into vogue.
I didn't get on here until the test server entered a downtime. Does someone have accurate info they would be willing to share on any boosts to the weaker varieties? If they got tweaked as well I can see them filling the void in Empire.
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