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CCP Deconstructs EVE Online's Microtransaction Missteps

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Jita Alt666
#81 - 2011-10-14 21:51:54 UTC
Vincent Athena wrote:
Quote:
They still don't get it.
It's not about the price or the clothes for characters instead of ships.

................

When CCP makes us pay a subscription AND for new content, they don't just make us pay twice, they are also telling us "Thanks for your investment. Now pay us some more to get access to the result of that investment".



So its like having a health club membership, and having to pay extra if you want an energy bar.

Or cable TV where you have to pay to see a recent movie.

Or a membership department store where not only do you have to pay the membership fee, but you got to pay for all the stuff you want.

Having both a subscription and paying extra for additional stuff is not an uncommon business model. The only question is: In the case of Eve Online is it a good business model.

A case where it was a bad business model: Disneyland use to charge for entering the park and extra for riding a ride. The most expensive rides required you buy an E-ticket. They gave that up for a single entry fee. But even so, they still charge extra for food and gifts.



I think those are good examples.
Disneyland is not in the minority with this business decision. Theme park owners have learned that customers who feel stung by surprise in order to receive premium content stop being customers. Hopefully CCP have learned the same guidelines may apply in Eve Online.
The Apostle
Doomheim
#82 - 2011-10-14 22:07:48 UTC
Jade Constantine wrote:
Rico Minali wrote:
Im still having massive difficulty is understanding what all the crying is really about. Dont want Nex stuff? Dont buy it. Do want Nex stuff but have no RL money? PVE some isk, buy plex, exchange for AUR. Want Nex stuff, dont want to PVE but have RL money? Buy plex, swap it for Aur.

It REALLY changes nothing. PLEX is altready here, its already being used by the rich kids to buy their nightmares, machariels and Supers, RM IS ALREADY USED TO BUY EXPENSIVE BATTLE WINNING STUFF. Aurum wont change anything, its merely another way of trading, you can use in game or out of game money to buy AUR. Just like you can with PLEX.


It changes the method used to bring the content into the game.

Without NeX then things like clothing/ship skins etc would be seeded as blueprints to appropriate in-game npc corporations that people would buy and build by collecting the appropriate materials from missioning/exploration/reactions/PI etc etc. Basically this stuff would make more things for industrialists and pve orientated players to do and enjoy. It gets players in space doing stuff, using the tools the sandbox has provided them and providing competition and challenge (and targets) for other players. It can also make rare (hard to find and build) items truely rare because they are hard to find.

With NeX its just there in a nasty little interface that cuts out the enjoyment of all of the above and cheapens the Eve sandbox. Nothing is truly rare or "prestigious" because nothing actually takes any effort. I make £40-50 pound an hour in my day job. Isn't eve cheapened for me when I can click/buy ANYTHING in the NeX store rather than needing engage in some gameplay for it?

That is the difference between NeX and Plex.

Hang on. I can sit in Jita and without undocking I can buy plex with my CC, convert to isk and fit out a classy BS with officer mods if I spend enough.

Or I can sit in Jita and without undocking buy items with AUR from the NeX store (if it were to happen), and fit out a classy BS with officer mods if I spend enough.

Rico is quite right. I mean, I get your point but the difference is only going to be on new items brought into game, not exisitng items.

And based on your hypothesis we'd need Dressmaking, Bootmaking and Spraypainting skills trained to level 5 to make any money.

[i]Take an aspirin. If pain persists consult your local priest. WTB: An Austrian kangaroo![/i]
Aidan Brooder
Dynasphere Ltd.
#83 - 2011-10-15 01:46:11 UTC  |  Edited by: Aidan Brooder
Read some post here someone stating that ship skins is something we all want. I do not want them, the way it sounds CCP wants to implement them. I think they sound silly... Like leopard tangas. Unsexy...

Good example of clothes and skins as a fun part of the game:
APB Reloaded.

- Design your own logos/textures for cars, place them exactly, create super-looking cars
- Buy basic designs for inGame money in the store if you are too lazy to design your own.
- Unlock even more design options through gameplay
- Invest time and design super-cool clothes (some players in this otherwise fairly mediocre F2P shooter have become known as great designers)

For EVE they would have to reduce the color palette. In APB Reloaded though it is great fun to work on your car or clothes or graffiti tag. Note: I do not say skins could be implemented in EVE that way, but just buying them is not FUN. And wasn't that the reason we didn't get WiS this winter? *smirk*

Bad example for ship skins:

STO
- Select from a very limited palette of patterns. Some look good, some look silly. The universe is half-filled with both, all kinda looking the same anyways.
- Buy more skins for real money (acceptable amount), get even more silly looking spaceships
- See your microscopic fleet logo through big magnifying glass

I think so far CCPs implementation plans sound more STOish to me.

Blog: http://aidanbrooder.wordpress.com My EVE Playlist on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSNuHY7z8n1q1BdLvW2verIfH8vvWtz_x