EVE Online's Self Imposed Economic Collapse - How Money Works | How Money Works
Jan 21, 2026
Exploring EVE Online's virtual economy, the discussion centers on a paradox of abundance leading to player boredom. Developers reintroduced scarcity to spark conflict and excitement. The host examines the rising prices of in-game ships and how it correlates with stagflation, alongside the allure of collectible ships. Unique anecdotes reveal the risky behavior players exhibit with rare assets and the implications of allowing real-money conversions of in-game items. Can a digital asset truly transition to real-world value?
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insights INSIGHT
Developers Reintroduced Scarcity
CCP intentionally tightened resource supply in EVE to reintroduce scarcity and drive conflict.
Developers raised crafting costs and reduced materials to force meaningful competition and risk.
insights INSIGHT
Abundance Killed The Conflict
Abundance of resources in EVE made gameplay boring by removing meaningful constraints.
Without scarcity, players stopped fighting because there was little incentive to compete for resources.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Balance Scarcity To Avoid Stagflation
Raising costs and reducing supply can rekindle high-stakes conflict but may discourage casual participants.
Balance scarcity measures to avoid deterring average players and causing stagflation-like declines.
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EVE Online's Self Imposed Economic Collapse - How Money WorksA few years ago the galaxy within EVE Online was facing a problem. Abundance.An abundance of materials, an abundance of fuel, an abundance of high paying income sources, and an abundance of safe space to harvest these materials, fuels and space dollars.Now while that might sound like a really good problem to have, (and it would be in the real world) It does cause some problems in a video game.The biggest problem simply being that is boring.Try playing GTA 5 with god mode hacks turned on, after punching some fighter jets out of the sky you are going to get bored pretty fast, and people WERE getting bored.The largest groups in EVE online were up until recently playing a game of “build as much as you possibly can so it becomes almost impossible for any smaller group to ever catch up”.#EVEOnline #Finance #HowMoneyWorks___________________________________________________________________________Part 1 - https://youtu.be/m6j_UsGJnkQPart 2 - https://youtu.be/2t25bsqlTM8Part 3 - https://youtu.be/ijhAILUNz_sMusic by Epidemic Sound & Eve Online Original SoundtrackSign Up Link (if you want to try out the game) - https://www.eveonline.com/signup?invc=ef33cafb-0aa2-4051-9f03-55dc800247c2(This link gives both you and I rewards in the game)Follow to learn How Money Works.Find How Money Works on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HowMoneyWorksDisclaimer: This podcast is an independently produced audio adaptation of content originally created by How Money Works. It was developed by a fan who values the channel’s clear and engaging approach to financial education, with the goal of making that knowledge more accessible in a hands-free, audio format. This is not an official production of How Money Works, and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by the channel. All rights to the original video content remain with How Money Works. For any concerns, inquiries, or content-related requests, please feel free to reach out.-
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