Teams are really cool

Patch day today and I'm excited. I am doing some hauling to restock my markets as well as some casual exploration but I'm fixated on the teams system. It's unlike anything I've seen in a game, like a virtual ebay system, and even though I don't do much industry I am fascinated by the information the team bidding offers.

I sort the teams chartering selection by current highest bid. The highest bid right now is for 300m (!) with over 2 days left. It is for manufacturing capital class – titans – freighters – supercarriers. The bid location is for T-AKQZ. I look up where that is—wow, the middle of no where, a systems owned by The Kadeshi. I guess that means they probably want to build titans and supers etc., out there. Not surprising, I guess, but a cool bit of public info the teams chartering provides.

High sec bids are winning quite a few of the highest current bids. Some of the same systems re-appear a lot. I see some of my trade areas winning a few bids! I don't know if this is a good thing, or a bad thing. Good, maybe, because it will mean the markets there will grow, will see more buyers as well as sellers. Maybe bad, though, because it might mean more local competition.

It looks like one or a few people went through and put a bid on almost every team for Sakenta—very close to Jita. Not a bad idea. But then maybe a bad idea if it draws too much industry and raises the taxes too high etc. The industrialists who hate uncertainty are probably going crazy. Then again, some or all of them probably already know how to game the system in ways that would go far over my head. But, in short, only a few hours into Crius and an impressive amount of isk is being thrown at the teams.

The starmap has new info--a tab for industry! It was really only briefly mentioned in a dev blog but it is pretty huge. After my nerdgasms I check out the new info. Jobs Started in the Last 24 Hours: As one might expect, virtually all the industry is in high sec. It is interesting to see all the locations where people do industry. New player systems and mission hubs are comparable to major trade hubs in terms of jobs, which I didn't expect. It is hard to find low sec systems with any jobs in the last 24 hours. The few that stand out are areas where large groups live—some systems in Placid, for instance. There are only a few minor blips in null, particularly around Providence. It will be interesting to see if the blobs of activity spread out more—most are clustered around the Forge currently, no surprise there.

The Systems Cost Index should be very valuable. The Forge is painted with red blobs, with costs mostly .06 or higher. Genesis and Aridia are looking especially low-cost for most activities. Should builders set up a POS or should one be a traveling industrialist? I have no idea but I enjoy ignorantly speculating. 

Of course, what I'm really is: will Crius will bring any conflict-drivers? How will the market actually react--will prices go up generally, down, or stay the same? I look forward to seeing what develops from Crius in the coming weeks.