Eve Online, as we all know, is a huge sandbox game where people melt asteroids for minerals and gather loot from NPCs to make both ships and modules from it, which in turn get destroyed, so they need to make new ones. A closed loop. Thousands of space-loving gamers enjoy this, some even focussing on the destruction part, so the wheel of economy never stops turning.
Right now you got to choose between an Alpha account, free but limited to smaller, less sophisticated ships, and an Omega account at a reasonable 10 to 15 earthbucks per month (depending on subscription mode), both complemented by numerous special offers.
As iām quite sure many promising pilots would welcome this for various reasons, iām proposing another special subscription offer: The Delta account. At a rate of 2 - 4 earthpounds per month youād get access to all industrials, mining vessels, exploration boats and gear (incl cloak T1/T2) as well as T2 frigates, while not to any T2 cruisers or larger T2 ships, or T3 and alien technology. Skill progression would still compare to Alpha, of course.
The Delta account is meant for our numerous dedicated Alpha sandbox players, enjoying mining, constructing, exploring above other activities. The lower monthly subscription would mean an additional source of income for CCP as well as a step up from Alpha and a motivation for taking the next step to Omega.
Just to be sure: How would this Gamma-combat-account differ from Omega (use it all, no restrictions)? Would you want an account without any mining/exploring/constructing/transporting etc, pewpew only?
Canāt see CCP going for this. Alpha is just an extended free trial and are not meant to be producers. āDeltaā is just being cheap, if you want access to the Omega toys u gotta pay.
However, as someone that has a very variable workload and other RL commitments I would like to be able to sub or plex for just a week or 2 weeks, that would be very useful to me.
Too many sub models would just feel weird and confusing. Also why should the cheapest model be one focused around industry? Do you know how many new alts would be made for the sake of mining in that case? Eve already has botting issues, this would incentivise them to have more minerbots.
If anything, the cheaper model should be combat orientated, allowing empire-specific T2 training, modules, and ships. At the same time though, for fleet logistics itās better to have a more balanced array of ship skills rather than empire focus.
Itās all just subpar. Eve doesnāt need multiple stages of subpar, it needs one stage of excellence.
The Alpha account is an endless free trial. The Omega account is buying the game. There is no middle ground. Combat is not DLC that you can choose to not buy.
Iād be cool with shorter subscription periods for Omega being available if it werenāt for the high opportunity for abuse when it comes to industry (for example, pay for 7 days of Omega, start 11 each research and manufacturing jobs that take 30+ days, repeat when they end). Yes, players already do this with the 30 day subscription and months-long research/manufacturing projects, but it would significantly increase the range of jobs where this would be āpracticalā for a player to manipulate their clone state in such a fashion.
There should be a Gamma account that allows you to train all relevant Catalyst and Tornado skills to max while giving access to multiboxing. Since it really just gives access to 2 ships itās only a very small portion of the game so it should also be super cheap like pretty much nothing.
Thatās just a good an idea as the OPās but I bet he wonāt like it.
Making discounted industry characters would be a mistake. We have no shortage of materials or production.
We infact have a shortage of destruction.
Iād be interested in something that extends an alphas combat capacity in small and medium ships. But itās a hard no when it comes to mining, production and trade.
Interesting discussion. Please go on. Just a note on fears of too much mining, botting, whatever: Take a look at the Monthly Economic Report and see that nullsec ratting is making way more (3 to 4 times) ISK than mining. The OP is more about playstyle, less about ingame economy. And details would need to be discussed anyway.
Nullbears make their ISK sitting in a carrier and blasting ā ā ā ā for bounties. Generally these are combat sites. I donāt even think they loot the remains, or they have a null ally loot them instead.
Creating more omega-efficient miners for cheaper is basically creating a future oversaturated market. The market would be literally flooded with minerals and thereās not enough loss to make up the supply thus causing high levels of inflation.
Thereās another fallacy with your concept that essentially boils down to the skill requirement. You can make a miner in literally a month that any mining corp would want. (Especially if omega). It takes about a year to be a null ratter because you have to have a marauder or carrier. Like legit a year minimum to get all the equipment, the ship, and more. To compare the requirements for both is not only apples and oranges, it is apples and cabbage.
TL;DR
The question at hand is a basis of how cheap sub account miners would absolutely wreck the ingame economy to supply and demand. NOT on the basis of ISK/hr.
The economy is super important and the exact reason why semi-afk low effort play styles donāt (so industry pretty much) donāt work well on Alpha. It should stay that way.
Also do not for one second try to convince us you got this idea āfor the betterment of the gameā. Itās just that it is a perfect personal fit for your own play style and situation, you just want to pay less.
Itās deliberate that alphas canāt mine on a cheap/free account because itās easy to multi-box a fleet for the price of a single account. And itās the same for industry. CCP donāt want you to have 5 characters worth of industry slots and PI set-ups for the price of one, cause itād break an already struggling economy.
The purpose of alphas is less as a free trial, but to get out there to create and be content.
Training frigate or cruiser to 5 instead of 4 wouldnāt be a huge increase in ratting ability. Or having e-war specialisation skills. Or better navigation skills. Or logi drones.