Before I start let me say this is not a whine or gripe or anything like that and I hope I can explain well enough so it doesn't sound like that. It is a honest fear.
Also let me say that of all the games I have played over the years (The first one I played was two space ship looking blips on a green screen around 1984) this is the very best, period. From interaction among players to graphics to the game play it is just the best ever for me. I have had the most fun and the frustration in the game. It is the game I love and love to hate(at times). I am over 65 years old and once played 28 hours straight to finish a mission when the missions first came out. I am retired and this my fun, no wife and kids all grown and gone. I play it every day and have from 2007 (less about 1 year when I really got frustrated).
What got me to thinking this way is crafting most and mining somewhat also. I noticed the 51K HOF(maybe an ATH but didn't check) on a level II finder amp light and did some investigating. I looked at the crafting cost of the amp and, according to EP it was around 8 ped. I then looked at the top 100 crafters and the top one was over 7M ped, like in million. Now when a person crafts a 50 ped amp you do not get an amp worth 51K, you get tailings like the metal residue. You can sell them on the AU or just TT them but whatever you do the least you will get is 51K. This ped is paid by EU not another player if you TT them. You could also sell the amp at the TT if you wanted to. You use a BP that is UL and does not need to be repaired so basically EU gets nothing from you other than the cost of the ingredients, but those probably come from other players mostly except the survey probes and they are only 3 ped.
So lets compare crafting and mining to a lesser extent, to hunting. According to MA they make there money from decay only. Now correct me if I am wrong but I see little, if any, decay from crafters. The only decay I see is from the products they sell, like the amps if they are sold to other players. Likewise, to a lesser extent the same is true for miners. They have probes they must buy from MA and the amps and finders from the crafters but what I see is that most of the decay comes from hunter's weapons, armor, enhancers and amps. I think there is more decay for hunters than either of the other two professions. Moreover if you compare the top 100 hunters they are around half of the PED of the top 100 crafters. The top hunter is over 4M with the crafter the total is over 7M.
Here is the point I am trying to make. I do not think EU can survive without hunters and (this may sound like a whine or gripe but it really isn't) when was the last time, if ever, you saw a 50K HOF/ATH on a mob the cost 8 ped to kill. Even a 25K HOF ? But how many of them have you seen in crafting or mining(using 8 ped in cost or a single probe) get one? Quite a few. I looked up a miner that got a 88K (as I recall) and I didn't see another anything from him to speak of and as near as I could tell he took the money and ran. If a hunter gets 88K he buys equipment and guess what, it will not buy all the top equipment he would want. I am not sure you could spend 88K on crafting or mining equipment.
I love to hunt and crafting, to me, is just boring. But I am not in it for the money just the fun and hunting is the fun to me. I must say I would like to make enough from hunting to play for free but I really don't mind a depo, just not every other day .
Here is what I am afraid of. When a new player comes in to the game and if he watches the globals/HOFs/ATHs I think he will see a lot more in the crafting and mining than in hunting. Moreover, to me and others on my FL, that have commented, it is depressing or madding, if you will, when you are busting you butt hunting and see a 51K crafting HOF when you can't even get a 100 ped global.
I know (or think I do) that it all has to do with the loot pools in the different professions and I know that crafters have a huge loot pool, of that I am sure, and that is why the get the nice ones. However how long will this game last if everyone was a crafter with no one to buy their products other than the TT ? I truly think it would end the game for the simple fact that, if what MA says it true about making money from decay only, there is not enough decay from crafters to fund this game.
I hope this all makes sense. I would prefer no bashing but if you must, I will not respond unless it makes sense and I really do hope someone can squelch my fears but just saying we will always have hunters won't do it.
Also let me say that of all the games I have played over the years (The first one I played was two space ship looking blips on a green screen around 1984) this is the very best, period. From interaction among players to graphics to the game play it is just the best ever for me. I have had the most fun and the frustration in the game. It is the game I love and love to hate(at times). I am over 65 years old and once played 28 hours straight to finish a mission when the missions first came out. I am retired and this my fun, no wife and kids all grown and gone. I play it every day and have from 2007 (less about 1 year when I really got frustrated).
What got me to thinking this way is crafting most and mining somewhat also. I noticed the 51K HOF(maybe an ATH but didn't check) on a level II finder amp light and did some investigating. I looked at the crafting cost of the amp and, according to EP it was around 8 ped. I then looked at the top 100 crafters and the top one was over 7M ped, like in million. Now when a person crafts a 50 ped amp you do not get an amp worth 51K, you get tailings like the metal residue. You can sell them on the AU or just TT them but whatever you do the least you will get is 51K. This ped is paid by EU not another player if you TT them. You could also sell the amp at the TT if you wanted to. You use a BP that is UL and does not need to be repaired so basically EU gets nothing from you other than the cost of the ingredients, but those probably come from other players mostly except the survey probes and they are only 3 ped.
So lets compare crafting and mining to a lesser extent, to hunting. According to MA they make there money from decay only. Now correct me if I am wrong but I see little, if any, decay from crafters. The only decay I see is from the products they sell, like the amps if they are sold to other players. Likewise, to a lesser extent the same is true for miners. They have probes they must buy from MA and the amps and finders from the crafters but what I see is that most of the decay comes from hunter's weapons, armor, enhancers and amps. I think there is more decay for hunters than either of the other two professions. Moreover if you compare the top 100 hunters they are around half of the PED of the top 100 crafters. The top hunter is over 4M with the crafter the total is over 7M.
Here is the point I am trying to make. I do not think EU can survive without hunters and (this may sound like a whine or gripe but it really isn't) when was the last time, if ever, you saw a 50K HOF/ATH on a mob the cost 8 ped to kill. Even a 25K HOF ? But how many of them have you seen in crafting or mining(using 8 ped in cost or a single probe) get one? Quite a few. I looked up a miner that got a 88K (as I recall) and I didn't see another anything from him to speak of and as near as I could tell he took the money and ran. If a hunter gets 88K he buys equipment and guess what, it will not buy all the top equipment he would want. I am not sure you could spend 88K on crafting or mining equipment.
I love to hunt and crafting, to me, is just boring. But I am not in it for the money just the fun and hunting is the fun to me. I must say I would like to make enough from hunting to play for free but I really don't mind a depo, just not every other day .
Here is what I am afraid of. When a new player comes in to the game and if he watches the globals/HOFs/ATHs I think he will see a lot more in the crafting and mining than in hunting. Moreover, to me and others on my FL, that have commented, it is depressing or madding, if you will, when you are busting you butt hunting and see a 51K crafting HOF when you can't even get a 100 ped global.
I know (or think I do) that it all has to do with the loot pools in the different professions and I know that crafters have a huge loot pool, of that I am sure, and that is why the get the nice ones. However how long will this game last if everyone was a crafter with no one to buy their products other than the TT ? I truly think it would end the game for the simple fact that, if what MA says it true about making money from decay only, there is not enough decay from crafters to fund this game.
I hope this all makes sense. I would prefer no bashing but if you must, I will not respond unless it makes sense and I really do hope someone can squelch my fears but just saying we will always have hunters won't do it.