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P2W? Not a problem according to Ben Cockerill
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Azahni Vah'nos
Vah'nos Family
#1 - 2011-10-11 23:57:24 UTC
After reading the following, I see some reason for concern.
Massively.com wrote:
Cockerill noted that one major concern from players was the idea that the changes were the beginning of a slippery slope, and that the game would change from one where skill and friends decided victory to one where money was the deciding factor. But as Cockerill discussed, PLEX already touched on that issue because players had been using it to finance their operations. Some players poured thousands of dollars into it but were still defeated by more-skilled players. Likewise, the team believed that Aurum, like PLEX, wouldn't change things in-game.

After all the comments in the article about how much CCP has learnt about Microtransactions, it in fact looks like they haven't learnt anything at all.

How can he claim that Aurum wont change things in-game when comparing it to PLEX which has a direct impact in-game, without there being non-vanity items in the NEX store?

Nex (Cash Shop) / Aurum - removing sand from the sandbox since Incarna. Currently the only use for aurum is to buy virtual items in the in-game store, but Cockerill expects to expand its uses in the future.

Rhinanna
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#2 - 2011-10-12 00:29:08 UTC
Troll or moron. I'm having trouble deciding which.

-The sword is only as sharp as the one who wields it! Other names: Drenzul (WoT, WoW, Lineage 2, WarH, BloodBowl, BSG, SC2 and lots more) 
Cpt Fina
Perkone
Caldari State
#3 - 2011-10-12 00:40:51 UTC
It seems that most of the community has allready accepted the notion of getting in game advantages by using IRL cash tru the gametime-card system.

Buying ships, skills and... maybe sov(?) is just a natural progression on the path we've allready started walking. This isn't something new but just the next level on the same scale as game time card trading.
Carceret Rinah
Federal Defense Union
Gallente Federation
#4 - 2011-10-12 01:01:38 UTC
Azahni Vah'nos wrote:
After reading the following, I see some reason for concern.
Massively.com wrote:
Cockerill noted that one major concern from players was the idea that the changes were the beginning of a slippery slope, and that the game would change from one where skill and friends decided victory to one where money was the deciding factor. But as Cockerill discussed, PLEX already touched on that issue because players had been using it to finance their operations. Some players poured thousands of dollars into it but were still defeated by more-skilled players. Likewise, the team believed that Aurum, like PLEX, wouldn't change things in-game.

After all the comments in the article about how much CCP has learnt about Microtransactions, it in fact looks like they haven't learnt anything at all.

How can he claim that Aurum wont change things in-game when comparing it to PLEX which has a direct impact in-game, without there being non-vanity items in the NEX store?


I don't think PLEX changes much though, as long as it's only used to exchange ISK among players, as opposed to direct ISK buying from CCP. Currently the ISK already exists in the system, PLEX just moves it from the cash-poor/time-rich to cash-rich/time-poor.

If some players get to have more ISK to play with than they might have earned by playing more hours... does it really matter, except for spite? They can't buy better ships than are available on the market to anyone with the time to grind missions or sites. They can still only fly one ship per account, same as anyone (and time-rich players can have as many accounts as the cash-rich, by buying PLEX with ISK).

TL;DR: I don't think having billions of ISK is that much of a game-changer, compared with other assets that players bring unregulated into the game (time, friends, organizational skills, amorality).
Soldarius
Dreddit
Test Alliance Please Ignore
#5 - 2011-10-12 01:10:55 UTC
The difference between PLEX/isk exchange and creating stuff out of thin air for rl cash is that items in eve are built by players, or at least require effort on the part of players (LP store for example). Cash for stuff would create things out of nothing, thus circumventing the effort/time required. The regular items would then become meaningless as thsoe with cash simply buy everything they need on demand and make the cash poor players useless in game.

From a game company's v, that is acceptable because they make the same amount of money via microtransactions where ti used to come from subscriptions. But what is happening is the player base is getting smaller because all those other players are being forced out of the game due to being impotent compared to the cash-rich gold-ammo buying crowd.

Now what happens when a group of those gold-ammo buyers quits, or gets banned? Bigger impact on the producer's bottom line. A large player base is healthier for the game's long-term survival than a small one.

So, there's good reason not to let MT gain a significant foothold on the in-game economy.

http://youtu.be/YVkUvmDQ3HY