Originally by: Ephemeron

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So far nobody has emphasized the lack of data mining results from EVE database. EVE database is full of information on who is flying what ship, who's using snakes and other implants, how many people use boosters. EVE records combat kills and losses, recording setups used on dead ships. There is a huge amount of information available that can be data mined for useful conclusions.

Why do we need it?

Consider the statement: "nano-Ishtar's flying at 3500 m/s are completely overpowered and broken!"

What exactly does it mean? Without any additional information, we can only base our judgement of that statement on personal experience. People with different experience will disagree on that statement. There seems to be no way to tell who's wrong or right.. but there is a way!

EVE database has the answers. It may not have clear cut answers to that particular statement, but it can provide solid foundations on which to rely on. We CAN know how many nano-Ishtars are out there, we can know how many people they "pwn" and how many (or few) of them end up dying because of their "invulnerability". We can find out just how well this speed invulnerability argument holds up in practice.

We can also find out the costs involved in ships destroyed. We can learn how much damage in isk a 4 billion nanoship causes to other players before it is destroyed. We can compare the costs. We can compare the ship numbers.

From all that data, we can work out a set of facts and based on them we can guide our judgements on specific issues, such as "the nanoships are broken". People could interpret the facts in different ways, the is no clear cut logic, but at least it will be based on something solid.

CCP, if you are going to do something this drastic, at least dignify us with some real data analysis.

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