Something conspiracy theorists seems to be missing is that in general CCP would prefer fewer ISK per PLEX over more ISK per PLEX.
Notes:
CCP would prefer fewer ISK per PLEX over more ISK per PLEX
Why? Why would that be better for them?
Because then the whales buy more plex for the same isk.
That is the stage CCP makes money.
That’s not a valid business model (excluding Star Citizen). Whales will spend their money no matte what and if it’s not on PLEX it’s on skins or whatever.
High ISK prices forces players to grind more or give in an buy with $$$ or sub. I am not a whale and for me, the price of PLEX is getting too high to grind so I am exactly where CCP wants its costumers. If PLEX was cheaper then even more people wouldn’t be subbing…
This is the core or all F2P games so…not really sure why you care claiming the opposite.
If you subscribe you make ccp less money than if you plex. High plex prices are more likely to increase alphas which cost ccp money.
And whales often buy with a target in mind. Such as a titan. So they buy a plex package appropriate to the isk they want, yes normally plus some more, but they still have a target isk value.
Ok check…the whole game industry is wrong and you are right.
Got it. Moving on…
Uh no. The gaming industry works on the very principles I just mentioned.
Heaven forbid someone present fact based information rather than wild conspiracy theories
The industry works on increasing the grind to a level to force a player to make a choice: keep grinding or pony-up money.
They don’t base their business model on whales.
Those are facts.
If you plex your account, you are worth $20-$15 to ccp a month depending on plex packages. The reason you are worth this much is someone had to buy that plex, and without you as a customer of theirs to trade isk for plex, that whale would not have bought plex.
If you subscribe you are worth ignoring certain countries somewhere between $15-$10 a month.
If you are an alpha you are worth nothing.
Most whales only need x isk a month. Which means if price of plex rises they need fewer in game customers for their plex to get that isk. Which means they post fewer plex for sale a month to get that isk, and therefore buy fewer plex from ccp a month.
Therefore, CCP want people to be able to afford to plex, because they want the whales to be able to sell every plex they can afford to buy, and they also want them to need to buy more. Now yes, more isk per plex may lead to some non whales buying plex for sale for isk, which adds some counterweight here.
But a higher plex price is not a ccp conspiracy to make people subscribe.
Player A buys 500 PLEX from the store and puts it on the market in the hopes to trade for ISK. CCP just earned X dollars from that purchase…the end. No additional $$$ is generated. Doesn’t matter who buys it.
Secondly, you are ignoring the supply and demand argument…As prices are high now then based on your theory, nobody would be buying and prices should drop…but that’s not happening.
Again, basing your theory on whales is contrary to the Grind to Play of F2P games…you are ignoring where the industry has been now for years…
No I’m not. In fact the cycle should do what we see. If whales are buying less because they only need x isk, supply decreases, thus effectively increasing demand leading to a price spiral. Because as price rises supply drops.
Eventually demand will start to drop faster than supply yes once it gets beyond peoples ability to grind.
And I believe number of sale orders on the market has had a decreasing trend of late bearing out that supply and demand theory.
As for your first point, I’ve already addressed that above. If there are no buyers, player A will not buy more plex regardless of if they want x isk or want to sell y plex a month for any price. So the existance of buyers is an important part of the equation which gives them effective real money value to CCP as they provide the reason the whale buys plex.
Seriously, this is where the industry is, they take this stuff into account.
F2P games are grindy to force people to either grind or $$$. The list of MMO that do this is a long, long one. Other than Start Citizen, I can’t name one that uses a different model…
Other than that, I tap…this is pointless.
Nevyn Auscent
IMO you’re mostly right, but I think it’s important to be clear about the cause/effect relationship across the two markets (PLEX/cash and PLEX/ISK).
Neither market is “average” - i.e. neither would be a good example for a simple introduction to supply and demand. And they are unusual in different ways, so feedback effects aren’t “symmetrical” (for want of a better word).
Clearly the buyers in the PLEX4ISK market are necessary. But IMO the buyers in the PLEX4Cash market are the primary drivers. If nothing else, PLEX4Cash buyers seem like the most likely source of market chaos: they could cause some really major disruption to EVE simply by inaction, and inaction costs them little in in-game resources or fun.
BTW I agree that there’s a risk for paradoxical feedback if the PLEX4ISK price got too high. Hopefully in-game PLEX speculators have enough PLEX, and an interest in cashing in some of them, so they will smooth out the market.
But if the chaos kicked in, when should when should speculators start seriously depleting their stockpiles? Possibly after the number of active bots and active player alts has dropped quite a lot 
No, go away.
Here is an idea CCP could use to increase the PLEX supply.
Make a “subscription +” category you can buy. What it is: For one extra dollar a month, you get your Omega status, and 25 PLEX added to your vault every month. The PLEX per dollar is about the same as just buying PLEX, so its no impact to CCP’s current sales. But those who fund their account with RM may be upsold into this new item. CCP would advertise is as " For just one extra dollar a month you get 25 PLEX, which at current prices you can sell for 100 million ISK, every month!
Some who might otherwise never consider buying PLEX will go for it.
I really don’t understand peoples need to play an MMO for free. Someone has to pay to keep the lights on. If you can’t afford PLEX then it isn’t the product for you.
Profit from selling items
It has been observer that looted items from NPCs has increased by 20%. Selling dropped items from Gurista rats has increased. Some pilots earn 20% additional ISK from selling item in Jita.
Visit Jita and sell your loot.
It’s not “punishing” … it’s “guiding”. Buy shortcuts, stimulate required social psychology in line with commercial goals, etc.
No, it isn’t.
Because Economics.
Old Plex: High price = low amount of traders*
New Plex: Low price = high amount of traders
Volume quīnquecentuplicated!
Price per tradable unit dropped accordingly, by 500 times.
The sole reason for splitting plex was to increase the amount of tradable units**, changing it’s form, which can only happen with an accompanying split in value, increasing the amount of people trading plex and thus also increasing its velocity.
Saying that the “form of PLEX is irrelevant” means that you have no ■■■■■■■ clue what the ■■■■ you are talking about.
*(all people who own plex also trade plex at least once, be it on the market or in the NES)
**(because skins, apparel and services don’t cost the equivalent of 1 Old PLEX. The price of old-plex was the reason why Aurum came into existence, with CCP eventually realizing that trying establishing a second meta currency was a bad idea. So instead, eventually, they split it.)
Absolutely zero ISK is created by mining. Wealth may have moved, but it wasn’t created.