Impetus Site

A major distribution center for entertainment company Impetus.

Sometimes, I think about the logistics necessary to keep an economy like New Eden up and running.  Inevitably, when I do, I immediately get a headache.  I’ve only dabbled on the industrial side of New Eden, back in my early days as a pod pilot, and that was enough to give me an appreciation that lasts to this day for the countless citizens who work around the clock to give us the goods we often take for granted.  Everything, from the smallest piece of ammunition in your autocannon to the largest Titans, is built by teams of capsuleers.  These capsuleers need to gather the materials necessary (either through mining or reprocessing other equipment), utilize blueprints to put those materials together.  For higher quality equipment, multiple levels of this become necessary, and that doesn’t even begin to look at the complexities of reverse engineering, invention, and other processes necessary for tech 2 and Sleeper-based technologies.  I am shocked time and again that the entire economy hasn’t collapsed in on itself when I realize that this is all due solely to capsuleer efforts. But such is the world that we live in.

A portion of Impetus’s shipping fleet.

Of course, there is an entire side of the economy that we have little to know interaction with as capsuleers.  Entire planetary economies are often offlimits to us, as us capsuleers have little use for most consumer goods.  With our whims completely catered for, what use would we have for a microwave or oven?  While some inroads are starting to be made in certain areas, for the most part, capsuleer-produced equipment is often reserved solely for capsuleer use, and vice versa.  Whether it is the natural economic result or a CONCORD-mandated division, the fact of the matter is that, economically speaking (and in many other ways for that matter), the billions of people on the planets below us are invisible.  We simply don’t have any interaction with them.

A top down view.

That’s not to say that they don’t have their own economies though.  And sometimes, we capsuleers have the opportunity to run into this other side of New Eden.  Interstellar-shipping and interstellar logistics are not only a concern of capsuleer-based corporations; it is a major concern for the civilian-oriented trans-stellar corporations as well.  Indeed, you can sometimes see hints of this other side of the economy when you see those convoys coming and going from stations.  There seems to be little rhyme or reason for the stations these convoys visit, but perhaps the civilian population is similarly confused as to why Jita is given so much attention by us capsuleers.  It’s just another example of the ever-widening gap between the capsuleer and non-capsuleer portions of humanity.

Cargo crates can be seen next to these small industrials

But for those of you who may want more than a glimpse, I highly suggest Dodixie.  Like Jita, Dodixie is a familiar market hub for many capsuleers throughout Gallente space.  Unlike Jita, however, Dodixie also appears to have a thriving non-capsuleer economy as well, as evidenced by the major distribution center established here by the well-known film maker Impetus.  I’ve profiled Impetus before, so I won’t belabor the point other than saying that its extremely broad range of entertainment materials, it in many ways mirrors broader Gallente society and tastes.  Aura puts it much more concisely:

An Impetus agent awaits you in this deadspace complex.

Impetus are the leading creators and distributors of all sorts of entertainment: holoreels, cheap pornography, even seedier (or perhaps, more ethically questionable) means of kinetically visual fare. Regardless of their product, the entertainment lifestyle is decadent and glamorous, so talking to this agent might provide you a glimpse into that exotic world.

The Professor approaching the distribution center.

The first thing that came to my mind as I dropped out of warp at the distribution center was that it was a giant flower floating in space.  Four “petals,” in reality, the docking platforms, sprout from the top of the central stem.  These platforms gleam in the sunlight of Dodixie, not to mention the variety of ships that can be found here as well.  Travelling down the central stem about half way, a set of four “leaves” can be found sprouting off the stem, rotated 45 degrees from the central platform.  As best as I could tell, these seemed to function mainly as storage areas.  Given the bustling activity at the center, there would have to be substantial storage in order to make all of these ships have a reason to be here.  The stem itself probably served as the primary administrative areas for offices.

A Thorax sits docked at the station.

Beyond the center itself, a veritable fleet of cargo ships could be found docked at the station.  Industrial ships ranging in size from the massive Obelisk to the tiny yet (relatively) speedy Occator can be found docked, with ships both sitting on the sprawling docking ports as well as off to the side.  The top (as much as such a word has meaning in space) of the docking platforms are also covered in stacked crates of cargo, undoubtedly filled with a variety of filming equipment and sets, not to mention hardcopies of the hundreds of films pumped out by the studios every year.  With Impetus as a major producer of entertainment products, I have no doubt that the activity continues around the clock here.

I very much enjoyed my brief time at the Impetus site.  Given that I was in the area anyway to pick up some supplies, it was nice to have a new site to discover so close to where I needed to go anyway.  As I watched the bustle of activity, the coming and going of ships as they dropped off or picked up supplies, it made me once again appreciate the complexities of New Eden.

Basic Information:

• Attraction: Impetus Site
• System: Dodixie
• Security Rating: 0.9
• Region: Sinq Laison
• Potential Hazards: If you’re below a -2.5 in security status, or -5 standing with the Gallente, you’ll have to deal with some rather unpleasant policemen.
• Additional Notes: This also serves as a Gallente COSMOS site.