Launching the Economy

The final EVE Frontier economy will ultimately be owned and operated entirely by players. However, an economy cannot begin like this. Similarly to how EVE Online’s economy, it will be kickstarted with a robust market system, using None Player Characters (NPCs). Market transactions will be taxed, buy and sell order spread will server tor managing the economy - leaving plenty of gap for a players to occupy. As the economy matures, NPC involvement organically fades into the background.

At the outset, NPCs will be used to set the initial pricing for commodities and resources. Each star system will have its own distinct rates, with a spread between them, allowing for arbitrage traders to capitalize on the price differences. Success in this endeavor will depend on their ability to efficiently manage the navigation and inherent risks of traveling between star systems.

As players grow more efficient, they will begin to undercut NPC commodity prices, gradually taking control of the market. The supply and demand in each region will be driven by population dynamics, with increased demand in a particular star system naturally attracting more supply as players respond to market needs. This emergent economic behavior will allow players to shape the flow of resources, further wresting control from NPCs as players take on more responsibility and thus, opportunity.

Large items crafted by the player base will also play a factor in the economy. As these items are singletons, they can be bought and sold in the in-game marketplace or on any blockchain-based substrate. As these items are composable down to base resources, players can know how much energy was used to construct all the composite parts, giving the singleton a fundamental base value.

The Frontier’s raw resources populate dynamically according to probabilistic distributions based on digital physics. These will be impossible to predict and, as such, are one of the instigators of constant market volatility.

The supply and demand forces of players themselves fully dictate market pricing. Ultimately, prices will reflect the real value of money, i.e., time and energy.