So, I'm asking each of you (non-PC players); where is your ISK coming from?

Proto suits are pretty cheap, outside logistics. At most, they'll cost around 160k ISK. With a few matches, you would be able to run a full match with proto, and that's if you're broke. If you have a lot of LP, it's even easier. If you don't die much in a proto suit, then you're also saving as well. Get rich, scrub.

I am rich... very rich... like I give away 50-150 million ISK everyday rich....

But dying twice in a proto suit means lost profit. Dying in a FW to get a LP variant still adds up to lost profit. Vehicle users often lose profit. It doesn't add up.
If you have a weekly KDR of 10-20, then I can understand it. Ambush gank squads are very profitable...

But sorry proto is not profitable in pubs, as intended. I promise you that you can't run proto every spawn, every match without a third-party ISK generating system.

Assuming that you actually DO give away that much ISK, maybe....that's where the ISK is coming from?

The endless banks of days long past still being shuffled amongst the player base.

lmao, I never thought of that...
Well, I guess I go back to being a total a-hole :)

So, I'm asking each of you (non-PC players); where is your ISK coming from?

I think a lot of people play eve and use isk transfer guys to make their isk

ISk is endless in eve same as dust and you can make 100 million ISK a day mining and then use isk transfer guys to turn it into dust isk magically

Idk how that works wish I had millions and millions of isk :-/

So, when "passive" ISK was shut down from district ownership. It slowly evolved the game. You saw corps basically die, and traditional protostompers all but disappear...
Corporations that were on Nyian San's payroll basically became non-threats in public matches; Nyan Chan, LORD-BRITISH, etc

Squads weren't eager to spend a collective 6-10 million ISK just to win a public contract battle. But since the NPC market, I've seen the trend happen again.
Non-PC playing players and corps throwing millions of ISK into public contract battles. Where is this ISK coming from? They aren't selling Templar BPOs, ringing for PCs, have no districts to farm, AFK-ing doesn't work...

Where did all of these players start getting a bankroll to afford 1M ISK matches? I've watched players lose 2-3 proto tanks in a pub, or lose 5-15 proto suits, crash ADS, after ADS, etc... it doesn't add up.

You can argue all you want, but DUST has always been a a pay-to-win game. But this "economy" is broken. Taking away passive PC ISK was nota good idea, however the new payout system is a good replacement.

So, I'm asking each of you (non-PC players); where is your ISK coming from?

ALL beta players Got to keep ALL the ISK. They earned playing beta, they also got ALL items reimbursed at full ISK price.

The day Dust 514 launched most of the beta players had 200-500 Mill. ISK.
Some had a lot more.

Later on some players had the PC farm and they made billions of ISK.

So there are players that don't give a f... About how many ISK. They loose, they have more then enough to die 10 times in every battle they for the next 5 years in there proto/officer/state fits.

This is why.

So, my question still hasn't been answered.
How do non-3rd party invested players afford to run top meta gear in public contracts?

Am I just lucky and they only use proto against me and lose profit against me? That would conquer that I'm making many, many, many, many, many players go broke in this game...

It still baffles me, and my common sense is telling me that it isn't adding up. ISK neds to come from somewhere. Most of the wealthy players in this game (and by most I mean ALL) did it through playing PCs and winning, taxing a corporation, and selling codes.

Public match players cannot generate profit using proto gear when all they play is public. So, WHERE ARE THEY GETTING THE FUNDS TO DO IT?

Also if you want ISK, and you see me in game. Ask nicely, I've almost never said no to anyone. This last week I've paid for many people's APEX suits :)

So, when "passive" ISK was shut down from district ownership. It slowly evolved the game. You saw corps basically die, and traditional protostompers all but disappear...
Corporations that were on Nyian San's payroll basically became non-threats in public matches; Nyan Chan, LORD-BRITISH, etc

Squads weren't eager to spend a collective 6-10 million ISK just to win a public contract battle. But since the NPC market, I've seen the trend happen again.
Non-PC playing players and corps throwing millions of ISK into public contract battles. Where is this ISK coming from? They aren't selling Templar BPOs, ringing for PCs, have no districts to farm, AFK-ing doesn't work...

Where did all of these players start getting a bankroll to afford 1M ISK matches? I've watched players lose 2-3 proto tanks in a pub, or lose 5-15 proto suits, crash ADS, after ADS, etc... it doesn't add up.

You can argue all you want, but DUST has always been a a pay-to-win game. But this "economy" is broken. Taking away passive PC ISK was nota good idea, however the new payout system is a good replacement.

So, I'm asking each of you (non-PC players); where is your ISK coming from?

ALL beta players Got to keep ALL the ISK. They earned playing beta, they also got ALL items reimbursed at full ISK price.

The day Dust 514 launched most of the beta players had 200-500 Mill. ISK.
Some had a lot more.

Later on some players had the PC farm and they made billions of ISK.

So there are players that don't give a f... About how many ISK. They loose, they have more then enough to die 10 times in every battle they for the next 5 years in there proto/officer/state fits.

This is why.

The rates dictate everything though. 100 million gets you 8 with this guy. Plexes are about 800,000 million at the moment so you could just spend 30 dollars to 133 million DUST isk, assuming you can trust the person with "30 dollars worth of stuff."

A lot of people get their money by just playing the game. Jeez, when I first started I figured out real quick
X / Y = Z
X = Average ISK in a match
Y = Average numbers of deaths
Z = Cost of Suit

Plug in a conservative number for X, a liberal number for Y, and you get a cost of your suits. Make your suit cost less than Z and you have infinite ISK basically.

If you burned through Ambushes and pulled in 120k ISK in an 8 minute game, you are bringing in 900K an hour. Do better than that, say 150, and you are at 1,125,000 ISK an hour. Normalize that to having to wait for games, call it 6 an hour, you are still pulling in over 700k+ an hour. It all adds up.

Of course, if you never ever die, you can use the most expensive stuff in the game and still make out money.

So, I'm asking each of you (non-PC players); where is your ISK coming from?

This is what I do.

1. Rename all my fittings according to total ISK cost of the fitting and use that to guage how much I'm spending to cover every loss.

2. Set a minimum-balance budget of about 10 million ISK. If I fall below that mark, I spam ambush with nothing but cheap gear such as the Faction suits like the Federation 'Serpent' Scout or the Republic 'Tiger' Scout.

3. If ambush turns into a tough match I use slightly better, but still cheap, gear.

4. I learn to avoid certain fights given the fact that I'm a scout. Head-on engagements are not my style. This has allowed me to save mitigate losses.

5. If all else fails, there is always the Starter Fittings which you will always have no matter what.

6. Once I build up my wallet to a minimum balance, I go back to proto or advanced depending on how tough the fight becomes.