Yes, but its important to getit right, as it is a foundation block for understanding how much plex has changed as it is now used for micro-transactions far more than just subbing than “before”.
Bjorn has persisted in getting it wrong twice now, so it bares repeating.
Plex isn’t what it used to be. The old understanding no longer applies.
Everyone needs to revise how they are used to thinking about plex.
Then let me explain why he’s right.
Tl;dr: CCP doesn’t want you to sub with PLEX. They want you to sub with $ while using the PLEX you’d have used to sub for skins, skill extractors and apparel.
The truth is probably somewhere in between those two statements and we won’t figure it out, because we don’t know how many Plex are consumed for what purpose.
Doesn’t really matter anyway:
CCP creating more and more attractive Plex sinks can only mean they want the price to go up. And the fact that rising prices seems to work leads to the assumption that they haven’t met the sweet spot of plex for cash vs in game demand yet.
well ive never seen a ccp representative state they dont care how plex is being used
seems counterintuitive to develop ways to use plex and then take no interest in how they are panning out
yep likely to incentivize rather than the assumption that it absolutely does incentivize
its another assumption and im not sure i agree
I’d argue that there is probably nothing CCP cares about MORE than what PLEX is being used for.
Its absolutely central to their income model.
Understanding that is central to understanding what CCP is doing with PLEX, and why.
Every feature has to have some (or better: sufficient) use to justify the development and maintenance. But that’s not really the point here. The possibilities of Plex uses have to be attractive enough to keep the demand up. Which use contributes what share doesn’t matter as long as long as the overall demand is not declining.
In case of playtime per Plex, it could even be argued that it solely serves its purpose just by being the carrot that’s hanging in front of everyone’s nose, even if it’s less used than the captain’s quarter was.
It matters very much, because plex for subbing is directly inverse to subbing with cash.
The more plex is being used for subbing, the less sub revenue CCP is receiving. Yes, they make up some of the difference in plex sales, but they are from different clients, only one of which is actually paying you money.
which is why its good to study how theyre being used so when their use starts to decline you can see which areas are more and less popular so you invest development into the profitable areas rather than the unprofitable ones
thats not true
youre making the assumption that if people dont sub with plex they sub with cash instead
rather than going alpha or just quitting completely
I’d guess the only distinction CCP makes there from a purely monetization standpoint is if the PLEX is being used to subscribe / for MCT or if it’s thrown at items like skins, apparel and skill extractors.
You can buy the former directly from them, for real money, whereas the latter requires PLEX.
A high PLEX price will either lead to people quitting the game because they won’t be able to grind their monthly PLEX subscription anymore or they’ll start subbing with real money to remove the burden of grinding.
In the former case, CCP is unlikely to care because those people didn’t increase their revenue anyway. In the latter, they make more money than they formerly have.
It doesn’t have to be a total conversion. If 99% quit and 1% sub, that is still a net increase in revenue. Those 1% did not spend money before and now they do.
No, Im assuming that people whom wont pay to play EVE or buy PLEX, wont pay to play EVE or buy PLEX.
There are different player demographics, only some of which actually ever fork out money.
It is rational to deduce, that the more people are using plex, the less people are subbing.
yeah but we dont know the figures or how it affects the plex market overall
we can only make assumptions about these things which is why i said yellow parasol argument was innacurate and based on assumption
because most of his statements are based on assumptions that cant be backed up with data
okay but if you read your post over again you can identify the contradiction in your statement
Yes, but in either case, what plex is being used for is central to CCPs income model. As I said, CCP probably cares about that more than anything else.
Furthermore, losing players is never a good thing.
CCP is extremely interested in why they leave, and how to mitigate client attrition, even if those players didnt provide revenue.
You are reading a contradiction into it by applying additional conditions/assumptions/implications which are your submissions, not mine.
Subbing and plex subbing are antagonistic.
Subbing earns CCP money, plex subbing does not.
A player that subs with plex will not need a cash sub.
A player that subs with cash does not need a plex sub.
And it can also be said that it doesn’t matter as long as each option is used sufficiently. Of course they can build up on an attracitve option, make lesser options more attractive or just create new ones. And for all of that, they have to take a closer look at their numbers, but those aren’t limited to the amount of Plex used. Costs and other factors play also an important role.
This is not entirely true. The possibility to sub by Plex is one of the things that make Plex more attactive → creating more demand → raising prices → and ultimately making more people buy Plex for real money.
Looking at the state of the game and CCPs development decisions in the past few years, I tend to disagree.
[quote=“Salvos_Rhoska, post:453, topic:11792”]
It is rational to deduce, that the more people are using plex, the less people are subbing.
[/quote] its only rational if we assume each player either subs or plexes all their accounts
a player with 3 accounts might sub one and plex 2
when he can no longer plex 2 maybe he unsubs entirely
meaning ccp loses one sub and demand for plex decreases
so the assumption is flawed
also
this is the contradiction with your previous statement because you assume that not everyone who plexes is unwilling to pay with cash
while it seems unlikely it is possible that 100% of people who plex are unwilling to sub therefore the statement cant be true
Ofc it matters.
Do you think discussion at CCP includes “hmm, it doesnt matter what people use plex for”?
It is entirely true.
A plexed account does not earn CCP one cent.
CCP has concerns that are not the same as ours.
Fact is, EVE is still around after 10yrs, so they must be doing something right.