For the few, rather than the many

No, 5/7/5 syllables, but I thought a little culture was needed in the thread at this point.:wink:

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Yes, yes. Ive quite lost my mind, clearly lol.

Ill end on a Haiku:
You fob of man
Rest your mind lest it blossoms gaily
I shall hopefully return

Very entertaining thread, thanks! :ok_hand:

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Dear Wotan, you are right: The cheaper the PLEX the more players can afford to play EVE without paying for it with real money. I am sorry to hear that you can’t/won’t afford EVE either in PLEX or cash. But I guess you can understand that CCP and players that pay a sub or sell PLEX have mixed feelings about cheap and easy to grind PLEX. Perhaps the announced free-to-play alpha clones with 20 million skill points that will allow you to roam in a battleship without spending a dime or any grinding may satisfy your demands.

And may I add that it will feel a bit odd to pay for a full sub and not to have 20 Mil. skill points yet? Seems like CCP favorites old players that don’t pay over new players that do. Just a thought.

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Hey Anna-Elizabeth
Yeah, good points. It sure is both complex and have many POVs, this topic. Im just glad to see people like yourself, post good, benign thoughts on it :slight_smile:
Im neither omniscient or completely in the loop on EVE, which was why I tried to get a talk going on it. My initial post (OP) was in the early process of getting back in EVE, and those views are now slightly changed. I see that some things actually HAVE improved. And am confident, that some of the stuff are for the best. But time will tell, if EVE will actually succeed in their efforts or not.

All the rest of the thread, is just idle banter, instigated by the always present troll-kiddies and derailers in the EVE universe lol. I guess some things never change…
But thx for your input and post. :slight_smile:

But CCP wants more money. The whole thing about nonnegotiable prices for microtransactions and premium currency is a lot of bull :poop:. If they would really go full predatory microtransactions, they would change price accordingly to people who could buy it. Sold stuff is sold and then spend like PLEX. Client used it and can buy another bunch if price is right. It doesnt have to cost 19.99 for 500 PLEX.

Yes, sometimes a lower price can yield a higher profit. Margin per unit may go down but more units sold makes up for that and more.

I don’t have PLEX but the 500 I got from the buddy invite and took the one year sub that came with three month of multiple character training. I am fine with the deal and think I got good value for my bucks. My money app tells me I spend less than half a percent of my monthly income on EVE and I am aware that a good deal for me may be bad deal to others.

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Good points, both. The relatively recent trend, with including microtransactions into everything and making all games somewhat multiplayer-ish to generate a market, is really not what the consumers will reward. Its a fad right now, after crypto-currency suddenly took wing and Bitcoin crossed the 4000 buck-line (Its nuts, really). Its an inflation that cant keep building. At some point market-saturation, consumer movements & less sales, will show on the bottom line, and the ones reaping the rewards, are those less greedy Developers and studios, that based their games on quality, rather than quantity. And who refused to jump on the insane bandwagon of Crypto-cash, like a crazed plutocrat. But for now, they are all wondering how they can get a piece of the pie, even though the pie is somewhat virtual and fleeting.

A game like EVE, that has been working on development for 15 yrs, does have a case for asking us to keep funding it, somewhat. I just feel that it keeps being priced the same, not taking into account inflation, economic crisis & other financial issue globally. In my humble opinion, it would be a really smart move, to cut the monthly sub to about half price (around 8 EU). How it would affect in-game prices and market, I cant say, but that will eventually sort itself out. Only people that would really feel that change, are some really isk-rich people, that can afford it, Im sure.
So, yeah. Make EVE socially more fair in its pricing and accesabillity, and more suited for all ages and cultures. THAT would surely invite a lot more into the game. And attract people that would be willing to help others more, rather than the egocentric megalomaniacs, that EVE have fostered for years lol.

I feel its all connected. Small mechanics changes and balancing of certain areas in the game, wont do it alone. Now before I get overrun by the usual angry mob with pitchforks and torches Id like to add this:
The Lifeblood-patch and the alpha-system and plex-changes, are still quite new. SOme of what we talk about, might be already dealt with, through these new things. So bear with us, this is just an open dialogue with thoughts and views. Dont take it personal etc.

I have only one question.

What is more predatory and greedy?

70$ monocle, or elastic PLEX price? :joy:

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One thing is a vanity-item (monocle) and completely optional with no game-influence.
The other affects how many join the game, how many keeps playing and many other in-game aspects.
Im sure there would be sold way more vanity-items ingame, if the monthly sub-price were less taxing on the long run. Whether its PERCEIVED as taxing by the already happy inhabitants of EVE, is arbitrary. This isnt about them. Its about the ones not playing anymore and the potential future pilots.

Just a point… but inflation suggests that eve should cost more than it did 15 years ago… not the same. The entry level salary at the place I work is much higher than it was 10 years ago when I started working here. I assume the same holds true for CCP’s employees (and their customers). While there are other arguments that might suggest lowering the price would be good for their company… inflation isn’t one of them. Inflation would argue toward them raising their prices.

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It may be different from country to country. 15EU is still really pricey, in my neck of the woods. But yeah, maybe thats not the biggest issue.

Its also worth mentioning, that Ive spent about 1.7k hours in ARK, for the price of 14EU (bought on sale back then). Ive had probably double that time in EVE if not more. But paid 10 times the price.
Im aware that its a choice we take, when we chose our favorite timesinks etc. And that we support with both time and money, the projects that makes sense to us. But still. This huge price-gap is really something new generations look at, when they chose what to play.

I feel that this will kill EvE the game we know and make it something new.

Not sure this new game will be more popular than other MMOs around thought…

It’s not how much the price is… it’s the idea that inflation would be a reason to decrease prices that is incorrect.

Inflation means that the purchasing power of a dollar (or euro) is going down. What cost 1 dollar at some point in the past now costs 2 dollars. What inflation suggests is that prices should go UP. If it costs CCP double to pay their employees and power their servers… they should charge the customer double to cover that cost.

I’m aware that’s not the only factor… but the point is it’s a factor that suggests CCP should raise their prices, not lower them. Other factors (such as the age of their product) argue for the price to go down… and perhaps a static price is the correct balance between the various market forces. Perhaps it should go down. I just thought it was odd that “inflation” was one of the reasons you gave for lowering the price.

Well, it would sure CHANGE EVE somewhat. However, there are ways to keep the basic EVE-experiences that us old timers love. But it would probably not be liked by many, regardless.
If they turned High-Sec into a whole game on its own. With more defined borders to the Wild-lands (LS & Null) and only the occasional WH to explore, but not directly connected to the Wildlands etc. That would also change LS, that has been boring af, for years now.
It would ofc mean a rather comprehensive shuffle of services & PvE-stuff. They could then make HS completely free, after you bought the main game (for like 12-15 EU on time expense), and then you could play EVE with T2 stuff and all things already allowed in HS, to your hearts content.
If you then later on, want to experience LS, Null, higher tier WHs and the EVE that we know now, then you just pay for a DLC (maybe priced like the initial, so both would cost a full new game-price 59EU). You would still be able to purchase all sorts of things in and out of game etc.
Point is, it would invite in more new people. We see this model in other games, like Elite Dangerous, ARK etc.
But yeah, again: Im just brain-farting atm. Dont get your testies in a bunch, fellas!

Well, thats only partially true, as I see it, Lena.
Because the inflation of ISK has been ridiculous, compared to the price of RL currency. (if you discount crypto-currency, obviously).
So if you purchase 1 Plex with 3.1bill isk, you only had to pay 550 mill isk, a little over 2 yrs ago (month sub: YES I KNOW! Its now 500 Plex for one month, but you get the meaning Im sure!). The RL inflation havent been THAT crazy. In my country its been around 1½% annually. So following that logic, we should be paying around 780 mill isk for the month, rather than 3.1 bill isk.
Now, they also made a lot easier to earn isk. But not enough (imo) that it warrants 3.1 bill. I dont care what people say in here, but I still find it quite hard, to get to a point, where I can fund my sub with ingame currency alone. Hell, I have to pay at least one month sub so I can use my skills to do it, too.
I aint that savvy at the game, as it is, so plz dont tell me its that easy. Because to a completely new person it would be even harder to do, than for me. SO the point that old veterans find it easy, is pointless.

But yeah, its a very complex topic, for sure. With many views and factors to take into account. We wil have to see how the pricing fluctuates, after Lifeblood landed etc. And how the Alpha-states change the online-activity etc.

:no_poors:

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https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=15&year=2003

$15.00 in 2003 had the same buying power as $20.02 in 2017

EVE is cheaper now than it was in the beginning.

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You realize that the countries with Euros that only had such a low infaltion over the last year(s) are among the richest world wide? You only have to work one hour per month to fund EVE, two hours top when working minimum wage. So a fair pricing would charge you more and people from other coutries less.

Problem is that this was tried an failed more or less. EVE was (is?) discounted when paid in Rubels and I am totally fine with that. But some schmucks misused it from other countries.

It IS now. And price in Rubles is like 50-60% of dollar one.

Still the game is “too expensive” and i never seen russian who was not using PLEX to subscribe. And when they cannot buy PLEX they do not play EvE.