EVE General Discussion

This is your right of course. So why not add items to the free market and LP stores and buy with isk and build in the sandbox? Some items could be loot drops etc.

If you want a shortcut then PLEX for the isk. I just fail to see why the NeX store is in any way a 'good' thing.

NEx store was intended to be a way to implement micro-transactions and earn money without damaging the game, and as a concept made (and makes) a lot of sense. This is why NEx must be fueled with cold cash payments aka PLEXes.

The path taken was convoluted but it could work if the thing had been done properly: a wide range of assets, a clear pricing strategy (WHY is THIS low, mdidle, high?), and FOR CHRIST'S sake, a MICRO-TRANSACTION price tag!!! It was as difficult as CCP Zinfandel asking the CSM prior to pooping the 70 $ monocle.

Then some people could had ignored the NEx by not entering the tab. And those interested could get more gameplay and fuel CCP's income.

Then everything went wrong and still is wrong. "Gold ammo fear" has been more or less written off, but the NEx store still is a PITA, without enough choices, all of them are ludicrously overpriced, and of moot interest/quality.

it's yet another half-cooked feature that has been abandoned without iteration and looks deserted from every front, nobody CCP even TALKS about it.

Put that on top of how Crucible really hasn't added content for casuals, soloers and empire dwellers and how that's a trend several expansions old, and you get some customers wondering wether CCP is interested in having their money or don't...

There are literally dozens of features dating back several years waiting to be "iterated on", "fixed" or updated. I frankly could hardly care less about barbie-in-space, and would much rather see updates on (just some, in random order) FW, Cosmos, POS-mechanics and boosters. As such, your remark that if only somehow CCP had done what you wanted and "did what their playerbase asked for" seems at least a tiny bit wrong, and makes me hope CCPs not iterating on barbie-in-space now might lead you to find a game more suited to your liking.

In short: I'm calling dibs on your stuff for if when you leave.

Firstly thank you for your post here CCP Manifest. Its good to read your extended view of events in addition to the Edge article but I do have some questions about your quote on Microtransactions;



You state there is "interest" in the player base for microtransactions (virtual goods sales) but would like to know where you have taken this statement from. The largest scale direct poll on the issue (CSM crowdsourcing http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1395464) showed that 79% of respondants were against ANY form of microtransactions whatsover. 10% were in favour of the so-called "vanity only" microtransactions and only 5% were for actual convenience game-effecting microtransactions.

So in the strictest sense of the word sure - there is "interest" but its not majority interest and it by no means respresents the likely expressed opinon of the player base.

And bare in mind this crowdsourcing survey came way before NeXCarna and the summer of rage protests where the implications of where you were going on Microtransactions became clearer.

What I'd like to ask you directly CCP Manifest is do you fully understand (and agree or disagree) with the position many take, that since we are already paying a premium rate subscription to play Eve online, it is unreasonable to spend our subscription money on "optional" MT-delivered content (the hybrid model) - and in doing so increase anger and resentment in the player base.

CCP already has the PLEX system to raise extra income from players who want the "convenience" of instant ISK to give them advantage in game and this doesn't damage the integrity of the sandbox by injecting non player manufactured items.

CCP already has "monetized" the eve universe by introducing content and systems that many find advantageous to access via multiple accounts. Everything from cyno to market alts, gang leadership bonus givers, salvage, ganking, mining whatever - all these things can be done with multiple accounts and each accout is in essence a conventience "microtransaction" that gives ccp more money.

So my point is I don't believe CCP has either the need (or should consider) introducing additional microtransactions based on in-game content behind microtransaction paywalls beyond the basic subscription and it frankly angers me a lot to see CCP talking about these things as if they were somehow "for the good of the game."

I don't believe in the notion of "vanity items" in a game where so much content is vanity. All the graphic content you delivered with Crucible was "vanity" - its not needed to play the game but it sure looks nice. It makes Eve more immersive, more involving, more satisfying to play inside.

Tell me how you can talk about ship skins and alliance logos on ships in a different way? Because I tell you now I've waited to paint my ships and put alliance logos on for the best part of eight years (since we could do it in homeworld to be honest) my alliance t2 producers have wanted to brand their stuff with logos for just as long. This stuff is core Eve gameplay to increase immersion in the setting. Making it a "vanity" microtransaction and claiming it was an "optional customization" (that you didn't need to buy) is no less jarring than charging people 2500 aurum to see the new nebulas would have been.

In conclusion though. I honestly believe your virtual goods team should go back to working on genuine content for the Eve subscriber. Remove the NeX store from the game. Divide the current NeX content between the default character designer and faction loyal point stores and turn the Aurum into Snowballs that we get to fire at each other on December the 25th.

I confidently predict by doing this you will make more money from the subscriptions you will regain from lapsed angry players than you will from dribbling NeX income over the next 12 months.

Sometimes the truly "fearless" thing to do is to shoot the bad idea in the face with a large calibre pistol.

I wasnt asked about the mentioned poll... I ask people in my 400 local and not a single one of them knew what I was talking about.

Guess what? I am charged money too for developing all the nullsec content I don't use.

And BTW, i don't ask to be charged. I ask that NEx can be used with moderate grinding for PLEX so someone else gets charged for his fast ISK.

It is so sad that this sums up the analogy perfectly.

Sorry if this is going to sound as a 'haters gonna hate' post, but it's not my intention, this is just what I perceive from that post compared to evertyhing that I saw/read happen during incarna 'issues'.

After reading the whole interview, I get this feeling that you make it sound like this was CCP plan all along, and players had no influence in the decision making of CCP getting back to FiS. You make it sound like CCP had planned 18 months to dedicate itself into Incarna, Carbon, and WiS (At least as much as it would possibly be done in that period of time) and then return to FiS (read crucible).

Am I reading wrong ? If I'm not, then I completely disagree with that Interview 'content' regarding what happened, what changed, and why.

Best regards,

I agree with you here, it sounds like "we were planning to be awesome, but you fuckin didn't get it"