Crude Lenses, Premium Fuel, and their network effects

Lenses are a core consumable item for mining any resource in EVE Frontier. Crude Mining Lenses are a special class of Mining Lenses that are required for extracting Crude Matter from Rifts in time and space to refine the Crude-based Fuels that are the lifeblood of galactic civilization. Starting out on their own in the harsh reaches of deep space, players mine for low-quality fuels and resources before they can even start thinking about their first goals in EVE Frontier. When it comes to base building and powering bigger and better ships, Crude-based Fuels present substantial benefits.

Crude Mining Lenses are a reflection of high-value economic activity on the Frontier. Without new Crude Mining Lenses entering the Frontier, production of premium Crude-based Fuels will grind to a halt, large ships and stations may become vulnerable, and all matters of civilization and industrialization that have been rebuilt will slow to a grind.

The Lens-Crude-Fuel loop reflects the core utility of the $EVE token in the Frontier ecosystem. Fuel is consumed when flying ships and operating bases in the virtual world, so demand is intrinsically tied to player activity. The more active the player base, the more Fuel that is inevitably consumed. Since the quantity and quality of premium Fuels in the ecosystem are tied to extracting Crude Matter, which relies on the purchase and use of the Crude Mining Lenses, the demand for the $EVE token is tied to in-gam e activity through fuel consumption.

This Lens-Crude-Fuel loop structure is important because it aligns monetization with the growth of EVE Frontier. As more players actively engage with the game, they will need to acquire more lenses to extract Crude Matter to power their in-game progression. This network effect becomes more and more apparent as Tribes and Syndicates form, and their aspirations to grow power and control on the Frontier are inherently underpinned by the Lens-Crude-Fuel loop.