EVE General Discussion

Lets quickly establish that 1 PLEX = $20 = 3,500 Aurum, and that multiple PLEX are $17.5/ea.
TL;DR: When CCP switched the NEX to the NES, they did not add back in the old legacy content initially. Instead they are adding it back in over time at drastically reduced prices. In the process, items that were once worth $20 are now worth ~$3, and the players are the ones taking the hit. So that 12,000 Aurum($60) Monocle or 9,000 Aurum($45) Field Marshal Coat could be worth next to nothing in the near future.

THE IDEA: Stop releasing the old items for lower prices. There is already a plethora of unreleased items in the database that can fill out the low-cost tier of items. There is no need to ruin the legacy items in the process of filling up the NES store.

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The Long Read:
When CCP switched the NEX to the NES they did not add back in the old legacy content initially. Instead, some items that had been worth 300 Aurum were reintroduced at 100 Aurum, and no Aurum was refunded to current holders for this huge 66% reduction. This cut seemed drastic and unneeded, but was on small value items so it didn't seem a large enough issue at the time to say anything. Especially since it was quickly coupled with a release of 200 Aurum NES items that had been 100 Aurum NEX items. Some value gained back. Then there was some items worth 300 Aurum that were released for 200 Aurum, but all of this was peanuts - just testing the waters really - compared with the latest release.
The Women's 'Executor' Coat had a price of 3,500 Aurum or $20 on the NEX, but has been added to the NES at the price of 600 Aurum or $3.42. That is a 82.9% reduction in the value of the item. People were sold the item initially on its price and exclusivity and now that is being changed I imagine to "make them fit with the other women's executor coats". But why did this need to be changed and why couldn't one of the versions/colors be more expensive than the others? Especially since it had already been marketed and sold this way, and other clothing sets already have varied prices for colors within the set i.e. Sterling Dress Shirts. Not everything has to be the same.
Now, CCP changes the game all the time in a way that effects prices, and players either gain or lose ISK in the process without compensation, this is the nature of the game. But these are items are worth real money and should be treated as such. Also, Aurum costs CCP nothing and costs the players real money. How much confidence will players have in investing their money to get something shiny if their expensive shiny will be next weeks cheap generic?

I'd be prepared for cuts of this nature across the board. And yes that includes your monocles, synthetic eyes, field marshals coat, and sterling dress shirts.

The Community was initially - imo - outraged by the high prices. But this seemed like a straight cash grab($9000 jeans anyone) with no cheaper options. Ya, let the rich guy blow $60 on a monocle. The digital asset has already been made and paid for. All the proceeds from the sale go towards developing the game. But the common player-base who don't have loads of money to blow online needed a cheaper option. Just because that cheaper option is now being made available does not necessarily mean that all the more expensive items should go as well.
< /1st world problems>

Is this value evaporation something the community should be worried about?

Edit: Initially mentioned some kind of refund, but brought the thread closer to original intent.

*reads TL;DR starts laughing, walks away*

You paid that price for the privilege of having the item for this long. Even if that weren't the case, the deprecation in value of freely available items is normal and to be expected.

I'm fine with my items being devalued- I paid what I was willing to at the time, so no regrets.

I'm hijacking this thread to say that CCP REALLY need to remove AURs connection with PLEX and make AUR tokens into an entirely separate thing in which a 3500 AUR token costs the same as a PLEX so that the community that has no interest in NES don't get shafted by its market trends.

I completely agree and thought the same thing years ago. A PLEX should be 1 month of game time period. How all this other **** got attached to it is beyond me.

Confirming that buying something from the NES is speculation and that no one, including me, should do it. There is just no telling when CCP will come in and decide to slash prices.

I disagree. I like those dark Amarr ship skins.

Well I don't think you got the memo.. apparently.. Greed.. is good.

Step 1: play amarr
step 2: Hood
step 3: win

I would love to see more monocles everywhere. The tears. My god. . . It's full of tears.