There is no single plan as to how NS is going to look. Instead it is the result of a bunch of different players and groups interacting. This is why, IMO, CCP Greyscale always failed in trying to implement his vision of NS. He though he could achieve a desired outcome by tweaking/changing the mechanics. Sure, the mechanics play a role, but the players are also a factor and are going to react and change their behavior in response. Suppose there is a mechanic and as a result of that mechanic you take action X. Then CCP changes the mechanic and as a result you now take action Z. Many people assume that the change in the mechanic will have an effect based on you continuing to do X, and thus their goal is not achieved because you, in a sense, thwart them by doing Z.
Now you might say, âWell fine, then all we need to do it make changes to the mechanic based on Z.â But that doesnât work either, because the change in the mechanics given you are going to end up doing Z and given that the developer has a specific fixed goalâŚthey wonât match. And even if we could somehow find an instance where this does indeed work, there is yet another player who in reaction does not choose Z, but selects D. Because he is a different player with different goals and preferences and so forth, for a given change in the mechanics you wonât respond the same. Now there are say 50,000 players logging in over the course of the day. Trying to figure out what each player is going to do in response to a change in the mechanic becomes extremely difficult because the information is too dispersed and may not even be articulableâi.e. some maybe most players cannot tell you exactly how theyâll respond to a given change in the mechanics.
The point is all these player interactions give us what we have in the game for a given set of mechanics. What we observe emerges from that process of interaction and the result is defined in that process of emergenceâi.e. you cannot pick a result and work backwards, IMO. Or if you do manage to obtain that result chances are you have so limited the choices that players make youâd no longer have a sandbox. Player choice would be meaningless, and in that case I bet most players would leave. All youâd have left are people who treat the game as a console game and my guess is theyâd soon leave too because theyâd soon run out of Stuffâ˘. Theyâd run out of ships, ammo, etc. Because economies also exhibit this kind of emergent behavior as well.
So when everyone says, âCCP should ensure a given [insert outcome],â that is not possible with the game in itâs current form. CCP can look at things that are out of balance them in terms of are they becoming the dominant ship/flavor of the month. But to try and implement a grand vision with a specific goal in mind probably wonât work too well, especially if the players are working against the developers goals.
PLEX was never intended for new players. Neither was spending the entirety of time playing EVE in high sec. Now if you want to get off on the right foot as totally suggest joining Karmafleet. They go out of thier way to help comepletly new players. Much more than a highsec corp or alliance ever will. Since those corps claim to be newbie friendly, but in reality exist soley to exploit ISK out of high sec carebears. Highsec is a cancer to this game, and needs to be purged. More new players quit out of pure boredom than because their Mining/Missioning ship got ganked.
Not so much dropped, as stabilized after PLEX traders scalped the market and the rest of the volume reacted.
As I observed before, its a safe bet that 500PLEX will undergo an increase of roughly 250mil per jump, incrementally, when it happens.
Its a chicken/egg question whether player action spurs the PLEX sales from CCP, or anticipates them.
Its anyones guess when PLEX will finally top out and drop below the previous jump. We dont know how much PLEX is out there.
Ironically, I will be more worried about the health of EVE once that happens, than I am whilst it is still increasing. If PLEX ever drops 250-500mil in a quarter, its a really bad sign of EVEs health.
With the upcoming moon changes people will again need more chars/alts to run reactions. More PLEX needed, higher demand, higher cost. CCP is speculating that people will either buy more PLEX from them or buy more subscriptions. Nothing that will make the PLEX price drop.
Free to play normally means: you are accepted to be present in this game so that you can realize how utterly worthless a player you are unless you empty your pockets. And EVE is not different.
You know it is just real life market dynamics. They are not naturally healthy, they are actually inherently self-destructive. All CCP does is follow the ruling principles of having to make profit to be able to exist. You are paying or grinding for a game that - at some point - will cease to exist, just like your favorite TV Series will, if it doesnât promise ever-growing profits.
Itâs called capitalism, baby. You will find 9 out of 10 US-Americans and 5 out of 10 Europeans defending it, while 99% of them are prostitutes in suits, uniforms or skirt - doesnt matter.
