EVE General Discussion

With respect, that's not actually an 'open economy' -- EVE, despite its scale, does not have exterior trading partners (such as another galaxy) to which it can export or import goods into the local economy. As a result, the value of the ISK remains static -- there aren't any exchange rates to alter the value of the currency, so ISK remains at a 1:1 basis (one ISK goes into the economy, one ISK comes out of it).

The design of 'money sinks' ensures that ISK can be removed from the economy, but they're artificially implemented as an economic workaround.

You hear a lot of whining about inflation this and inflation that, but in the 3 years I have been playing prices of most items I commonly buy and trade in have stayed remarkably stable. Sure there are seasonal highs and lows for every item, but there is no wild out of control inflation that you see in a ton of other MMOs.

People are screaming about inflation now because they are looking at one item (PLEX) that seems to be rising in price. Of course it's rising in price. PLEX has acquired a new usage with the introduction of the Nex store. It largely rose in price because it rose in usefulness outside of just paying for game time. It was also not all that long ago the PLEX were made movable and destroyable. On top of that, there is normally a rise in PLEX prices around this time of year. I suspect it is due to people spending more time inside and playing games as the weather turns cold. It leads to veterans coming back and plexing their accounts as they test new features.

I have a theory that the recent bouts of **** expansions play a role as well. The CCP failure to bring in lots of new blood (who are probably more likely to sell PLEX for ISK) resulted some PLEX scarcity as an ever increasing pool of aging veteran players who PLEX their accounts have to rely on a smaller number of PLEX sellers. I don't have numbers to back that theory up so it will have to remain just that, a theory.

There is also the possibility that there are a large number of players who are on PLEX waiting to see if CCP earns enough trust back before they resub.


TL;DR Stop crying about PLEX prices anyone with a brain saw this coming. Inflation really isn't the primary driver of PLEX prices atm.

PS: I still hope CCP decides to nerf the hell out of highsec incursions. You highsec incursion pussies don't deserve to make so much ISK.

True, a real isk sink is clone upgrades, ship repairs, lp store, npc corp tax, etc. Anything that takes isk away from the game and it simply never returns

Nonsense. No manufacturing, mining, missioning, research, ratting, etc., is involved in the creation of PLEX. They cannot be refined into their base elements.

PLEX wildly outnumber officer drops.

PLEX magically appear when GTC are converted; with significant value. Nothing in the EvE economy is needed for me to instantly become a billion ISK richer. Nothing. Sure, mission loot and salvage appears magically, but I still need to purchase a ship, fit it with modules, arm the weapons with ammo, etc....before I can reap those magic loots. In other words, I have to interact with the EvE economy in order to accumulate that type of ISK. More importantly, I need to spend the intangible cost of "time".

Not so with PLEX......the very moment I convert GTC to a couple of PLEX.......BAMM!!......there's nearly a billion ISK suddenly appearing in the economy.

That billion came from ANOTHER PLAYER'S WALLET. They are now a billion ISK poorer. Check your market logs. The PLEX system doesn't create ISK, it enables trade of ISK in vast amounts among players. The thing created out of thin air is the game time on the account itself when you use a PLEX.

If you don't trust CCP to run the sandbox economy rationally, that is a whole other level of problem. Maybe you should start an Occupy EVE movement, for all the good it will do.

Thanks Carceret, was just about to post again trying to explain that very point. Personally I don't understand why everyone thinks CCP should regulate the plex prices. They are entirely player driven so why would CCP step in to change it?

Only reason I could think of would be to make sure the prices stay reasonable so people who can't afford the RL money but have lots of isk keep buying them, and don't stop buying them due to in game prices, which would lower further sales of plex, meaning less money for CCP. That is more of a cascade effect and as demand lowers on the plex the prices will to, thus keeping the roller coaster going.

Plex sales on the market produce a very large tax sink.

So lets get those plex to 600m+ where they should have been all along.

I don't think you're getting the point.....

Here, I'll shout it as well, maybe you're a touch deaf....

I CAN MAGICALLY CREATE NEARLY A BILLION ISK WORTH OF ASSETS WITHOUT EVEN PLAYING THE GAME.

It's assets out of thin air. Are you not paying attention to the real world? There is no economical model that can sustain a situation where assets and wealth are created out of nothing.....

POOF! I'm rich.

Grunt, so I'd have to work a whole week every month instead of 3 days, to keep my 6 accounts alive? Sigh. Party pooper.

Think about it. If faction stuff wasn't getting blown up all the time why do prices remain so expensive? Surely at one point you saturate the market with faction stuff. No, the prices stay high because ISK is not being added to the economy by people who buy PLEX. For everyone who buys PLEX with US dollars, someone is subbing their account with PLEX for free (well, for ISK). So PLEX just moves ISK around from A to B and back to A. PLEX does not CREATE ISK. PLEX is destroyed, however, when people add game time to their accounts. If it wasn't for this, then we would be seeing devaluation of PLEX over time. In fact the opposite is happening. What does that mean? That ISK is losing value compared to PLEX because ISK is easier to get. But ISK is not created when people buy PLEX. PLEX is created when people buy PLEX. ISK is created by rat bounties, incursions, mission rewards and insurance - and probably once in a while by devs when they feel like tanking a market for "game balance".