[mbell]

To be fair, most people who are using the high end ships aren't getting their funding by grinding anymore.

Its much easier to play the market and/or prey on new players moving expensive stuff in areas they think are safe.

Incidentally, probably the most fascinating part of Eve is really the economy. It's by the closest thing to a 'real' market ever created in a virtual setting.

[alex_c]

Most income for large alliances comes from mining moons and from taxes on members' income. Ships lost in these alliance-level battles are usually (at least partially) reimbursed by the alliance.

Incidentally, this is what makes some territory more valuable to hold for an alliance, and worth fighting over - some areas can generate much more income than others. Most of the high-level metagame happens over who controls what moons, which is actually invisible to the average player.