If you’ve found that there’s less ISK, resources, and general wealth in EVE Online, that’s not just your mind playing tricks on you; it’s absolutely by design. CCP has issued its 2020 ecosystem outlook, which elaborates on the studio’s efforts to move the economy of the game into what it considers a healthy state.
The post first opens with several points of rationale for its economic decisions, stating that “abundance breeds complacency and scarcity breeds war; predictable inputs lead to stagnant outputs; autarky is anathema to free trade.” According to the post, the EVE economy was “spiraling towards major excess of ISK, minerals, and assets” and acknowledged that adjustments have been uncomfortable while thanking players for their resilience.
With that all said, the post does promise that these lean times are temporary and adjustments are on the way in 2021. Plans include adding attention as a pillar to EVE’s risk/reward framework, adding more dynamic systems via expansion of DBS, and introducing Reserve Bank keys for the ESS as players begin to either bank wealth or plan bank heists. There are also a number of balance adjustments due in the new year like efforts to combat AFK cloaking, performing a general balance pass on mining ships, and establishing a sustainable role for Rorquals and Orcas.
“It is clearly understood and acknowledged that many players are faced with reduced income and some radical changes to what they have become accustomed to in New Eden,” reads the post. “To make it abundantly clear, scarcity is not the new reality, this is a temporary phase and it will end.”
