Industrialists are often looked down upon by the PVP oriented players in EVE. Those who mainly manufacture and trade are viewed as people who take little risk in-game. They are seen as safely riding the coattails of nullsec empires, or as people who exist isolated in highsec where they hardly interact with the broader game community.
There are players to whom those stereotypes certainly do not apply: A minority of entrepreneurs have chosen to run their business primarily in lowsec space, arguably the most difficult place for an industrialist and trader to pursue a career. My own interaction with those players is limited to contracts, market orders and maybe blowing up one of their ships on occasion.
To get some more insight, I contacted CSM candidate Sugar Kyle whose platform also includes the interests of lowsec industrialists and traders. She was so kind to forward my questions to a few fellow players in the same field. The following is based on what I learned from them.
It is an accepted fact that there is little gain in lowsec mining. In nullsec or wormhole space more valuable ores are available. The increased risk there can be compensated by isolation and good warning systems like intel channels and scouts. In highsec the ores yield little profit, but the higher level of safety makes it easy to mine them in bulk. In the end every manufacturing process still needs Tritanium.
Time and effort spent trying to both scale your [mining] operations and protect them exceeds the costs of buying the product in Jita – Titus Veridius
To make lowsec mining safe, too much effort would be necessary. It is considered useless to even try on any earnest scale. Lowsec is full of hungry predators. If they would even spot a mining operation, they would keep the system under watch and make continued mining more impossible than a cloaky camper in nullsec.
Instead of mining themselves, lowsec producers either buy the minerals or they buy large quantities of cheap modules which can be reprocessed into useful minerals at good rates. This latter method is the preferred way if one wants to save cargo space and therefore time. Of course this requires the judicious use of freighters and jump freighters. Expensive and defenceless ships which are in danger of attack even in highsec space. Many opt for third party hauling services for that.
Despite consensual wisdom, there are still some intrepid souls who do mine in lowsec and enjoy the fact that there is hardly any competition.
Lowsec has all the highest value isk ores, if you look at the chart. Jaspet, Hedbergite, Hemorphite are the top isk/hour right now We also get random nullsec belts, up to the larges. There’s probably more than enough ore in lowsec to supply lowsec needs. [I use a] Skiff with a max boost Orca [in a nearby tower] – Lowsec industrialist who prefers to remain anonymous
Gas collection for booster drug production is a field where resource gathering still pays off to some extent. Because the Venture is an often ignored target, both effective and cheap, this ship works well in lowsec for that purpose. Of course gas reactions need a POS, and those can be attacked at will in lowsec.
I deal with [losing POSes] the same way I deal with ship loss. When you put something out in space you may lose it. You don’t risk what you cannot afford to lose. You defend it to the best of your ability. Sometimes you will win and sometimes you won’t. – Sugar Kyle
Some would write them off as part of the production costs. Others set up POSes in highsec instead. Not every type of structure can be anchored in highsec, though, and faction standings are necessary for that too (Until now at least, this is about to change). Certainly no drug production can take place in highsec. The most well connected hide their POSes among the protected infrastructures of nullsec associates under the name of an alt.
A POS introduces yet another level of necessary logistics. Starbase structures need fuel. That requires either more expenditure or a PI setup that produces the products necessary. Usually both, because the necessary ice products are only available through mining. Last but not least, it is well known how terrible POS management can be from a user perspective. Yet another hurdle for the prospective lowsec industrialist.
In nullsec, unified ship doctrines and ship replacement programs guarantee a predictable demand from a known customer base of significant size. The main thing lowsec guarantees is a high turnover of smaller ships, but those tend to have lower profit margins. That makes bulk production necessary. Demand for T2 modules is also reasonably high, but the effort that needs to be put into reverse engineering and invention is prohibitive.
Nobody buys T1 ships without fitting T2 modules, and the sheer number of source materials needed to do this, plus the copying/invention/component manufacture/final manufacture process is massively time-consuming. You can’t cover all the requirements here, even with a few industrials toons – brandobas
To make things worth their while, the industrialists of lowsec need to be good salespeople as well. They also need to know very well what the local market needs. For that they have to be highly involved in the local community. Just like nullsec industrialists, they will be part of an alliance rather than doing their own thing. To understand what their customers need, they need to be close to them. In the end, which better way is there to know what your customers need than flying and fighting with them? Those lowsec industrialists are just as likely to fly a DPS ship in a roaming gang as they could be working on a spreadsheet.
Establishing a reputation is of key importance. This can be achieved through reliability, good offers and even discounts for friendly players. Some are even cheeky enough to offer ship sales in local to opponents who have just lost a battle. Whatever works. The foremost customers tend to be friendly players, but that only goes so far. Especially the items that are profitable only in bulk need to be sold to a broader customer base. Those who sell at hotbeds of PVP activity will need to come to terms with the fact that they are also supplying their own enemies.
Your customers will cheerfully kill you. – Sugar Kyle
The same goes for their allies and corpmates. They have to accept that their ships may be destroyed by someone who was supplied by one of their own. This creates a potential for tension, and lowsec industrialists need to navigate those treacherous waters skilfully.
Looking for customers far and wide becomes particularly necessary when one aims for the highest goal of lowsec production: Capital ships.
Building caps is logistics intensive, time intensive, station intensive, bulky, and totally volatile. – Sugar Kyle
Even for smaller projects, the logistics of lowsec industry are complicated. To build capital ships makes the challenge even bigger. Not only the moving of materials creates difficulty and consumes time, production itself is hard to do.
To build 8 caps at a time takes all the industry slots in a station and probably more. In non-empty systems or systems that have hisec gates (preferential locations), the slots in that station are fought for with long queues, so to operate a reasonable sized cap production line requires use of multiple stations, but since most stations are of different NPC corps you have to have reprocessing standings for each of the npc corps whose station you use, or add dozens and dozens of ridiculous freighter trips from one station to each one you use, after already moving everything from Jita to one station to process. – Titus Veridius
Such major efforts require a level of certainty that the investment will pay off. If a lowsec manufacturer isn’t well connected enough to count a nullsec alliance among their regular customers, then demand from friendlies certainly does not result in enough orders. The enterprising producer needs to look for customers everywhere they can, and they do. Again, this creates the problem that they could actually supply their own enemies.
My inquiry into the difficult field of lowsec industry and trading showed me a few things: The players who engage in it have their own unique style, and they seek their own unique rewards.
Building a market is different from station trading in Jita. It has a pay off and a good payoff but time and effort is going to come into play. There is a risk of losing stuff. You can’t be lazy with the amount of assets you will lay out or you will eventually pay for that laziness. I think that is a fantastic thing about low sec. […] The satisfaction of creating something like a market and having it prosper is incredible. – Sugar Kyle
They tend to be a hardy lot who struggle with many problems and continue with their projects against many odds:
Even trying to build just for your corporation is not easy, because people are impatient, expect ‘good deals’, whilst not realizing the profit on some items would be 3-10% at most. – brandobas
[T]rying to keep market secrets secret is [a] mission you always lose in the long run. – Titus Veridius
Other than the highsec stereotype, the manufacturers of lowsec are not socially inept solitary operators. They form an integral part of their corps and alliances, and they maintain contacts far beyond that. Neither do they fit the nullsec stereotype of a risk averse player who hides behind the safety measures of powerful coalitions. They may be industrialists, but they are certainly not carebears. A look at the killboards of those I quoted here will prove that beyond a doubt.
While PVP in lowsec is in a decent state these days, opportunities for the industrialists are still lagging behind. One can only hope that upcoming efforts by CCP and the candidacy of Sugar Kyle will bring positive change to this interesting and challenging playstyle. There is certainly some optimism:
Doesn’t matter where I go in eve, I love the industry changes 🙂 [They will benefit lowsec industrialists] they just have to think outside the current box – Lowsec industrialist who prefers to remain anonymous
Kamar Raimo
