The ISK Game
After losing a few more ships and realising that to fuel my habit of failure I will need a decent stream of isk flowing into my wallet I decided it was time to get serious about making mullah.
With google by my side it wasn't long before I had a wad of guides lined up to read from planetary interaction to station trading, manufacturing to hauling. A few hours later I was armed with most of the basic knowledge necessary to delve into the dog-eat-dog world that is marketeering.
So without further adue, here's what I learnt in short...
Planetary Interaction Planetary interaction is the act of colonising a planet with the intent of extracting minerals from it and/or processing minerals into (more) sellable goods.
The great thing about planetary interaction is that you can start it with next to no PI skills even if it won’t get you very far. So what skills do you require and which make it worthwhile you ask, well fear not, the list is short...
Skills Required: Command Centre Upgrades I
Yep, that's really it. Now for those skills that will make life a lot less painful & a lot more lucrative...
Skills that should be required: Command Centre Upgrades III Remote Sensing I
Skills that you should only train if you're really keen on PI: Command Centre Upgrades IV or V Remote Sensing IV Planetology IV Advanced Planetology IV Interplanetary Consolidation IV
So you now have a few skills trained up and are keen to get going on your journey though PI space, well here's a tutorial from CCP that shows you briefly how to get started: Planetry Interaction Video Tutorial by CCP
Pick a planet & buy a command centre that corresponds to that planet's type. Scan the planet for resources (having higher Planetology & Advanced Planetology skills gives more acurate scan readings) and place your command centre near where a hotspot is for your chosen mineral type. Add an extractor control unit, launchpad & processing plant. Link them up like so: ECU -> Launchpad <- PP then link the launchpad to your command centre. Using the ECU survey the hotspot & place a few heads around then choose a program length (shorter = more money, but your will dry up the planet faster). Route your products to the launchpad, then to your pp, then the outcome from your pp back to your launchpad. Hit "Submit" and you're on your way!
tl;dr It's a damn video, just watch it..
So what's the conclusion? Well, PI can make you some very nice ISK, but don’t think you'll get there straight off or without spending a chuck of money first (like always). With some practice and planning PI can become very profitable however you must take your resources and refine them to at least tier 3 (raw -> basic -> advanced).
The good: It makes you money while you sleep. It doesn’t take a lot of upkeep. In the long run it seems reasonably profitable, especially if you take the production to higher levels of refinement.
The bad: It's slow - skills take a while to train to useful levels. There is a substantial outlay to get a good Command Centre & planet loadout. No skills to increase your efficiency or production or extraction.
More tutorials on making isk will be coming shortly, so check back soon. :)