@nextcolony is somewhat of a unique game in modern time. After starting out, I spent several months upgrading my skills and buildings until I could start exploring. With recent developments, things would take less time for a new account to start making ships. But the point still stands; this game requires long term commitment (or deep pockets). This is not a great sell for the modern audiences who want everything to be quick and instant. But sometimes the best course of action to take is being different and owning your niche. This doesn’t mean you have to be the only player in town. Having few competitors around proves that you do have something solid with a significant demand from the market. 

# [Lesser Competitors Are Joining The Niche](https://steemhunt.com/@d-zero/etherstrike-it-s-like-nextcolony-but-on-ethereum)
https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/steemhunt/production/steemhunt/2020-02-03/8f15f31a-A.png

The above Hunt was not something I was expecting to see. The prices of the planets were more than pleasing to my eyes. Ethereum does have many overvalued digital assets starting from CryptoKitties. Along with all that, Ethereum has large amount of buyers as well. A better game with scalable foundations and free transactions with all the relevant data directly stored on the blockchain should certainly manage to have at least similar levels of valuation. 

# My 43.422 STEEM Purchase From 20 Days Ago

![James.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUQtk4DU48f3FRjdqyAofevpX7QP6FHJXRinGpmgDbnh9/James.png)


<table>
<thead>
<tr><th>Ship</th><th>Count  Stardust</th><th>Cost per ship</th><th>Total cost</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>BattlecruiserTiger</td><td>6</td><td>99</td><td>594</td></tr>
<tr><td>Corvette Crocus</td><td>93</td><td>16</td><td>1488</td></tr>
<tr><td>Corvette Najtar</td><td>33</td><td>80</td><td>2640</td></tr>
<tr><td>Cruiser Kent</td><td>23</td><td>39</td><td>897</td></tr>
<tr><td>Destroyer Rocket</td><td>63</td><td>23</td><td>1449</td></tr>
<tr><td>Frigate Quoron</td><td>57</td><td>17</td><td>969</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Most buildings were upgraded to the maximum level and it had Carrier Bhun'il and Corvette Najtar Blueprints activated. On top of that there were bunch of ships worth a good 8000 Stardust. The depots were full when I purchased which you can compare with the price of Chests you can purchase (which I think of as somewhat overvalued)


![Chest.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmezEzvEUEbcLpCgD4FPFWczfkUdocv5ThJurGjaTVDxMU/Chest.png)


# My Case For Buying vs Exploring 
- Certain areas of the maps is almost fully explored
- Explorers take large amount of time to travel long distances
- You will regularly get beaten by other explorers (especially by the ones with Explorer II ships with 6 times the speed and 4-5 times better chance at discovering a planet)
- Having a planet continuously produce resources
- Some players may get the need to liquidate some of their assets
- Burning planets for Stardust only gives 0.614 STEEM per 1000 Stardust on STEEM-Engine

All these factors align the stars for a great reason to make a purchase __as long as you believe @nextcolony as a game will have a future with at least a significant amount of Daily Active Users (currently the game has 25% of DAU of @steemmonsters which is by most metrics, the most active blockchain game on the planet – with the exception of dice games)

# Burn Rates For Planets, In Case your Are Interested

 <table>
<thead>
<tr><th>.</th><th>Common</th><th>Uncommon</th><th>Rare</th><th>Legendary</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td><strong>Earth</strong></td><td>5,000</td><td>10,000</td><td>30,000</td><td>3,000,000</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Coal</strong></td><td>9,000</td><td>18,000</td><td>50,000</td><td>5,000,000</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Ore</strong></td><td>10,000</td><td>20,000</td><td>60,000</td><td>6,000,000</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Copper</strong></td><td>12,000</td><td>25,000</td><td>70,000</td><td>7,000,000</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Uranium</strong></td><td>15,000</td><td>30,000</td><td>90,000</td><td>9,000,000</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>