Market Discussions

i'm expecting a rise in prices if anything

The people that are gonna come into the game because of this are not the people that spend $15 on a plex to get isk, they are the people that will rat for 100 hours and then buy a plex with isk to get gametime.

Though on the other hand looking at the skill list, the most expensive stuff they can use is Navy versions of everything
ie. caracal navy issue with navy launchers, navy shield extenders etc.
I foresee that such fits will increase in popularity.

Hint: Wonder what will happen to prices of Navy things ;)

I could foresee them buying maybe 1 plex, but that is still something.

That's the most likely scenario, though not considering potential interventions of CCP, and PLEX prices at 3-4B will attract real money converters.

See, I tend to disagree. What is important is not that more people will grind for a plex, but rather, what is the ratio of people that will grind vs those that will buy plex with RL money and sell it on the market.

At least initially, I wouldn't be surprised if the new players decide to fork out $20-$60 to sell plex on the market and "be rich". Only once they are rich (which is not easy to do with t1 mods and non-faction ships), would they upgrade.

This would mean that, at least initially, plex prices would drop.

Is there detailed information on what are the skill/gameplay restrictions of being an Alpha Clone yet? As a permanently docked Jita resident I may actually convert myself to this - but not if it takes away my trade skills or anything related to my performing these activities as it is, or gimps the communication or corporation management tools present to me now.

You know the problem: they have nothing to use their ISK for. Skillset is so limiting that their most expensive fits will be around 20-30mil a pop (not talking about artificially inflated prices of meta stuff).

The same can be said about 'returning vets': most of their stuff they will not be able to use if they return as alphas. Not sure if i personally would enjoy to return to the game if i would need to buy new 'limited' stuff just to be able to do anything when my t2/deaspace stuff collecting dust in stations. And used to run lvl4s i will only be able to touch lvl2 (maybe)..... Or after pvp-eing in pirate/t2 ships i will enjoy to pvp in t1/meta stuff getting dunked all the time by omegas.

time will show ....

I think this whole thread is missing the main point. Right now there are two theories:

1. F2P players will grind to plex.

2. F2P players will buy plex for isk.

Both of these are misguided in my opinion, so let's start looking at 1.

1. F2P players will grind to plex their accounts. If this is true, then technically this player is no longer F2P. They are just another player who grinds to plex their account. Now yes, some of you will say that they can use plex to gain skills, and yes this is true, but if the person does not continuously plex the account then those skills are useless. According to the block, any skills not in the alpha list will not work even if trained. Those two statements mean we should not be looking at what a F2P player will do but rather a player who is just plexing rather than playing (something we already have).

2. F2P players will buy plex to sell for isk. What does this really get them? They either grind for their isk or pay money for the isk. If they buy plex (even if it is just for isk) then even if they are still alphas, they are no longer pure F2P. They are for the most part the same as a sub person (in the eyes of CCP) except for the skills they can train.


IMPORTANT NOTE: The above viewpoint is purposefully avoiding the implications on FW. The ability to get isk via LP in FW from hundreds of free accounts is something that would change what I said above if looked at in just that vacuum.

I have a different perspective, not on economy, but on F2P crowd. You'd be surprised how much those F2P gamers spend in cash to buy Loot Box, Card Packs, Tokens, whatever they are.

F2P is very commercially successful model atm because people spend a LOT to get ahead on their 'free' game.

People spend thousands of dollars for microtransacrions which often ends up more than flat fee subscription model like EVE.

If CCP 'progress' with microtransacrion successfully without harming the game they could be in for good success.

I don't think F2P with the only commercial goal being turning them into subscribers is what CCP is thinking. That would be too naive.

If the commercial people at CCP have studied and planned for this, I would imagine they have cash cow microtransaction models for future.

Tipa, yes as things stand now and what's announced, what you say is correct. But I have a feeling that there will be more goodies to come as microtransactions for Alpha players. For some time I foresee Omega subscription continuing as we are used to, but I wouldn't be surprised if microtransactions become more varied and available in small chunks for alpha players. They could tie it with Aurum or do direct cash purchase, so you can be Alpha player but can pay $$$ to unlock things like being able to use small T2 weapons, T2 tanks, or some new faction mods suited to these players available through random goodie bag.

I imagine one could be an Alpha player and pay 99 cent to access T2 weapons for a week. 1.99 dollar to buy a goodie bag that contains faction mods useable on Alpha pilots, etc.

CCP cannot just rely on enticing and turning Alpha players into Omega subscription as a commercial model. My tin foil hat says CCP will (or has already in plan) develop microtransactions to monetise from Alpha players. 0.99 dollar here, 1.99 dollar there.

I'm purely thinking from commercial point of view, not eve pov. So yes, I could be wrong, but I see this as the way forward for CCP yo rake in cash.

You shouldn't underestimate the marketing that will be associated with this F2P event. The way I understand it, CCP will use this to re-brand itself - and try to get a ton of new players. CCP is not going to target the F2P audience. F2P is only there to get them started.

With this influx of new people that know little to nothing about the game, I suspect that a lot of the new players who fall in love will subscribe and some fork out the $ for a plex. I don't think that people will want to stay in the F2P clone and I don't think that they will want to grind for a plex in a T1 cruiser (certainly not the majority).