Small Bases Again

Starwalker had setup a strategic main base in Hek with his brother Starstepper, who did all the buying and moving of ships and equipment. Since it was Starstepper that spent all his time hauling stuff between locations it was important for that base to be in a central spot with easy access to other locations.

Hek was the chosen strategic location but with Starwalker based in Ishomilken temporarily it was a bit of a pain for Starstepper to move stuff that far away and then return again. The Mammoth was hardly the fastest of ships even if it was good at moving large loads.

It seemed the sensible alternative was to have another strategic location to base out of that was a much shorter journey. This second base could either remain totally liquid (ISK only, no equipment) or buy or bring some equipment from the first base. The advantage of remaining liquid was clear - easy to move on again. The advantage of having equipment in base was convenience for fitting a new ship and also using buy orders rather than paying the higher offer prices.

The disadvantage of having equipment in base was that eventually there was a lot of miscellaneous items lying around that simply collected dust - just in case it was needed later. One other consideration was that with ISK inflation (or market manipulation) equipment purchased, especially ships, might gain in value over time. In short, it was better to have the ISK held as equipment as either it could be used or sold at a potential profit. This had been the case with the Drake purchases and similarly with the Crow.

However, generally, Starwalker had given up on station trading and so all equipment had been bought with the intent to use it. Starwalker had no strong preference and each method offered its attractions.The simplest way to decide whether to remain liquid at a second base was to not make an immediate decision but to let time tell the answer.