EVE Online: BB 49 - Rich

From http://www.ninveah.com/2013/09/blog-banter-49-rich.html

This month's topic comes from a few sources and focuses on that most important of measurements of an EVE Online Pilot: How much money do you have?

What is "rich" in EVE? Is it simply having more ISK than most everyone else, is it measured in raw numbers of some other ethereal quality? Can you actually be poor? Have you ever lost nearly everything and had to claw your way back? If you are rich, how do you know and how did you get rich?

How much money do you have?
250 million isk on my main and just over 200 million isk on my five other characters.

What is "rich" in EVE? Is it simply having more ISK than most everyone else, is it measured in raw numbers or some other ethereal quality?
For me rich means I don't have to worry about expenditures. In absolute numbers right now I would feel rich if I had 20 billion isk my wallet. That would allow me to fund Eve for almost a year. Most of that isk would be spent on 2 plex every month, a carrier and some miscellaneous ships.

In this case I look at my wallet and expected future expenditures.
When I checked my assets they valued about 15 billion (say 2 billion in clones, 8 in ships, 2.5 in BPO's, 2.5 in various stuff) but my policy is to write off any expenditure except BPO's as a loss.

I was rich in the past. I was rich when my wallet blinked 1 million isk. When I bought my first cruiser, when my wallet could afford a replacement. When I got my first battlecruiser, battleship and then a tengu. When the wallet blinked 1 billion.

I was rich when I had 5 billion.
So I went on a shopping spree and among other things bought a Legion, Proteus, Navy Megathron, Navy Vexor, Navy Omen, Navy Slicer, Geddon, Apocalypse, Viator, Crane, Prorator and finally an Orca. And then I was poor again.

But of course most people will tell you that material wealth is the least important and that what matters is spiritual wellbeing, or perhaps something similar yet less flowery worded.

And while I was poor this morning I am no longer so.

I have left my one man corporation and joined a wormhole corp, Foo Signature Industries.
This puts me from my (mostly) solo high sec life back among other players. It is also a step towards achieving the goals I set myself. I have experienced life in high and null sec space. Now it is time for something new. Anoikis.

Can you actually be poor?
Sure, if you can't afford what you want or don't consider yourself rich, doesn't that make you poor? Or is this one of those trick questions again?

Have you ever lost nearly everything and had to claw your way back?
Not really, or at least not as far as I can remember. I have had setbacks but never anything crippling that forced you to start all over. When I lost my first battleship I still had my drake, when I lost my first tengu I already had a spare one.

Even if I somehow lost all my assets and had to start out with truly nothing except for freely generated noobships, I would still have all my knowledge of the game. It certainly wouldn't take as long as the first time to recover everything.

If you are rich, how do you know and how did you get rich?
I am not rich. I don't feel rich.

But for advice on how to obtain material wealth I would point people to market blogs in the first place and towards any enjoyable activity with a positive income secondly.

For the original post and the other banters visit the Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah at:
http://www.ninveah.com/2013/09/blog-banter-49-rich.html