EVE General Discussion

NOTE: This is not a regular "PLEX is too expensive - the sky is falling" thread. In fact, I don't mention or deal with the price of PLEX in this post at all.

PLEX has always been a hot topic, so I thought to share my views on it. It doesn't mean that I think this is the general opinion. I know it isn't. You are free to share your own.

I've played a lot of games before EVE. No MMOs, just regular single/multi player games. In every game there are cheat codes which I have used in replays. That was my own rule - to experience the real game before using cheat codes. The most used cheat code is, of course, the one that gives you in-game resources as it makes it easier to bare the re-play (since you already know how the game is going to end).

In eve, the main resource is ISK and PLEX is a "cheat code" with one difference: you pay for your cheat code. Since EVE is a game that doesn't end, I feel that if I buy the PLEX to sell it for ISK, I would effectively use the most powerful cheat that gives me instant resources. I've tried that in just of a couple of games in the past and I simply couldn't get rid of the feeling that I broke the game and that it became too easy.

The second point is that in any other game (still not including MMOs), there is a limit for resources which can not be spent during a normal game session. Once you acquire that amount of resources, you can simply forget about the resources altogether, because there are no more goals that would require you to have more resources. Since you have eliminated resources from your game, there is a feeling that you did everything you can to acquire enough resources to do anything in the game.

EVE is not like that. No matter how much ISK you have, there are always goals that require you to have even more ISK (other than having more ISK per se, of course). There is always that need to set a higher goal and require more ISK, which never ends. Don't get me wrong, I don't consider myself a carebear. I haven't been able to be much active in the last couple of years, but whenever I am, I either fly solo in low/null or join a PvP alliance (or alliance that has PvP). ISK hoarding is not my thing. I have 2 bil in my wallet after 8 years of playing, and that easily drops to a couple of hundreds of millions at times when I'm actively playing ).

The third point is that if I sell PLEX to fill my wallet, I'd effectively eliminate the need for a huge part of gameplay. Basically, anything that produces ISK: industry, exploration, missions, complexes, mining (ok, not mining... mining is doesn't involve any gameplay anyway), PI ... all of that becomes redundant. If I decide to fill my wallet by selling PLEXes, I know that I would always do that, so playing anything that is in the game purely for making ISK would quickly become unjustified for me, since at that point I'd have enough ISK, I'd have an endless source of ISK and I'd always have something else other than making ISK to do in the game. I would distance myself from huge parts of the game. The reason why I started and continued to play EVE is because of its diversity and that diversity would be gone if I start PLEXing my wallet.

For me, the only useful and non game breaking use of the PLEX is to sell a couple of them as an investment which will, by active gameplay, produce more ISK in the future.

TL;DR:
- PLEX is a "cheat code" for giving you game resources;
- There is no limit on the amount of ISK that covers all game's goals that I can have;
- PLEXing the wallet ruins my gameplay experience by making huge parts of the game obsolete;
- For me, PLEX is only useful as an investment that would yield more ISK;

edit: Maybe bad and controversial TL;DR, but if you are interested in the subject, it's all explained in the post. Also, this is NOT, by any means "I hate PLEX" kind of a thread

I agree with most of your post. The big problem is that this is an MMO. People will always try to gain an advantage, and if it isnt through plexes, it would just be through RMT from 3rd parties. So plexing is really the lesser of evils. With that said a game is meant to be fun. For some people the part of game required for making isk just isnt fun. I personally mostly passive isk making, but if I wanted more than I make that way, I would personally rather spend 20-30 minutes at work than a whole weekend day grinding isk as that would give me more fun as the boring part would be over fast.

While I understand the point you are getting at.... I dont actually get what point you are actually trying to make

if that makes sense.

oh, well in that case:

plex is kinda a cheat, yeah. But, its not that different than any other form of getting isk fast. Look at scammers. they barely do more than post a few fraudulent offers in local. are they cheating? miners can make tons of ISK sitting in a ship all day, are they cheating (obligatory "go away new order, i dont need your sass here"). I wouldn't call it cheating so much as using your resources. Some people can use rl currency to get more isk, and some people can scam poor unsuspecting victims for isk with little effort.

besides, unless youre cheating IRL and stealing cash, you worked for the money you made into a PLEX anyhow

If you look at it from another perspective, a scammer doesn't always know the outcome of his advert and can't control the time point where he would get ISK from his scheme. Expectations are involved and waiting time for a reward that is ISK. It's a mental game used even in RL as well. Waiting and hoping can produce happiness when the result is presented. Lottery players know that the best.

- Yes but it doesn't mean you have pressed the i win button
- Therefore selling plex doesn't matter as you will always need more
- Then don't buy plex. Other people may not want to play those parts of the game (mining/manufactoring/ratting etc)
- Thats for you. Other people use it to pay for alt accounts or their own account. Or for ship skins or for clothes etc.

So this is another 'I don't like something so remove it from the game post'.

I don't like scams and the captains quarters, should they be removed from the game, no as that is part of the game.

HTFU on Plex and stop worrying about something that doesn't affect you if you don't buy/use them.

Rich people get advantages the rest of us work hard to call equality

Welcome to capitalism

I personally choose to sell plex for isk as my game time is limited to weekends only because I work away from home. I could, if I chose to, spend one day of the weekend working for isk, but I prefer to spend my available time fighting in FW, so a plex or 2 a month keeps me supplied with whatever I need. I don't see it as cheating, just optimising how I get to use my gametime.

You said you were repeating the game with cheat codes, and you did know how it will end. In EVE you can repeat the same gameplay and expect mixed results, and its called PvP.
PvE is predictable and CCP could be leaving it in that state for an eternity, because people will in some time go into PvP when they grow some wallet, they will become prey for those who buy plex solely for PvP reasons. Things are happening, people are entertained.

PLEX is like breaking the game without breaking the game (you pay PLEX for ISK that someone is doing, and you dont need to). Its breaking the game a little, when more ISK is made then people are able to consume, but then prices are rising for everything, even minerals and PLEX. Self regulating system, but your ISK in wallet is gradually losing its value with time as prices everywhere rise, so that's why you are hoarding PLEX, to save the value. PLEX prices then could eventually rise more than inflation and its more ISK for people that buy PLEX. As people who buys PLEX from CCP and buys freighter or titan, or pay PLEX to a capital ship pilot for his service, then other player in Tornado can gank this freighter or titan, earn fun and take a part of PLEX in vallue of loot.



And you don't need to make your ISK this way if you do not want. By buying PLEX from CCP you can repeat funnier/riskier part od game more often and that means you will risk something more often, eventually losing it, and buying another PLEX, risk is addictive.

Sorry Im still not following you

Someone with a lot of Isk has an advantage that someone without any isk has

It doesnt make it impossible to do anything without Isk, it just requires more effort