EVE's free market grind.

When I first started playing EVE, the experience that got me interested in trading, was when discovered an item being sold for half what a prospective buyer was offering. Enough was available from both seller and buyer, that I was able to double my money twice.

Now, having played EVE for a few years, I've started looking back at my experiences in the hopes of gleaning some insight into what motivates me, and drives me forward.

The first lesson: When I joined EVE, I did so because I saw two of my friends playing and was intrigued by what I saw. Now, I find much of it to be boring and uninteresting. My friends have mostly left, and nothing I do seems to have much significance anymore.

Second lesson: The market, is actually very similar to the experience grind of standard MMO play. It's a process of continual advancement, with increased cash supply leading to greater profits. In this instance though, the "level limit" is determined by the cleverness and resourcefulness of the player. When I started out, it was fairly easy to continually increase my income. After several changes in business model, I eventually reached a point where my return on investment became very small, and continuing to grow seemed almost pointless.

Unfortunately, my experiences in EVE are somewhat tainted by the windfall of the Invulnerability II BPO I was lucky enough to acquire. Initially, the income received from it was no greater than what I earned from trade. It was a nice bonus, but not a huge deal. This bonus eventually grew to completely overwhelm my trade profits, and became a large part of my enjoyment of the game. I could throw money around with little concern, and did so. Even when the beneficiaries were complete strangers, the sheer size of the contribution I could make was enough to bring me great joy.

When this windfall eventually shrank back to about what it was near the beginning, it became difficult to maintain any interest in the game. I had enough money to buy anything I wanted, but not enough to really make a difference for the people I was with.

Now, looking at the game again, it seems difficult to shake the feeling that I've hit my "level limit". It seems much like I've reached the end, and there just isn't much for me to do anymore. Yet, for some reason, I find myself looking for ways to be interested again. Things that might hook me once more, and allow me to relive the joys of the past.

Idea one: Extend the "level limit". The game could use more methods of automating systems. Ways to reduce labor, while contributing to the economy. One idea I'd like to see, is a form of automated Loan. The basic idea, is to have a loan, that stays available until accepted, and upon being paid back, is immediately put back up. This would make it easier to keep loans available to others, enabling me to make money on less effort, while also making more money available for use by other members of my corp or alliance.
I'm not sure how to structure the payment to have a contract stay up that isn't used, however, for the replacement of the loan after it is paid back, the fee could be taken from the initial interest payment.