How the Economy Works in FoM

The economy in FoM is 99% player based (Exceptions for turrets and clones). This means that everything you use (to fight) in this game is made by players. Let me give you a brief description of how this works.

The start of the cycle is mining. Everything is made from minerals. Those minerals have to be mined on the colonies. Mining is done via the mining terminal, by setting the energy and cooling levels, then waiting for the minerals to be mined, one at a time. This is a simple, yet time consuming process. Miners must choose between doing this quickly or doing it cheaply. Miners are also vulnerable to attack when they are mining, and make easy targets. Many players mine while either afk, or semi-afk (doing something else). When factions are war, it is not uncommon for the miners to be the easy victims.

The next step in the process is to refine the minerals. This is done in a fashion similar to mining, but at production terminals. Many players do this at their home worlds, which is generally safer, and more convenient.

After refinement, a finished product can be made at a production terminal (again the process is similar to mining and refining) if you have purchased a Production Module. This module gives you the formula for the finished product, and allows you to make that product (if you have the materials needed) at that location.

Once goods are made, they can either be sold on the open market (so that the combat oriented players can buy them), given/traded/sold to your faction members, or donated to the faction equipment pool.

Some items (like guns and implants) do not deteriorate (yet, will be added) and are slow sellers. Some items like ammunition and medical supplies are fast sellers as they are in constant demand.

I mentioned that this all starts with mining. However, I didn't mention that the minerals needed to make the various items are scattered around the colonies. Whenever you mine, the cost of the minerals is given to faction that controls that location. This makes certain locations key assets for mining... and as such makes them worth fighting over.

As the factions earn money (from people using services on their colonies, or from sales of goods to other factions) they pay their people by the use of missions. Missions have a player (or players) perform specific tasks for the faction (such as mining, guarding a location, or even taking over another colony). They are rewarded with experience, and money. They can use this hard earned cash to buy the goods that other players have made. Some factions also keep an inventory of goods and equipment that their players can use as needed.

I hope that this gives you a good idea of how the economy works in FoM. If you have any questions, you can ask here or at the official forum site forum.fomportal.com