EVE General Discussion

Yes, PLEX is a cheat, so are alts.

Well, not a cheat code in a classic meaning of the word. But I still feel that I'm taking an easy way if I sell PLEX without investing ISK from it. If I don't invest ISK from PLEX it means that I'm consuming PLEX in order to gain resources that I would normally obtain with in-game means.

I'm fully aware that views on the use of PLEX differs between players who like different play styles. Those who like PvP part only, have all the right to use the PLEX as they see fit. For them PLEX is still a tool that serves its intended purpose. That's what's great about PLEX - a simple item that adds game time and can be traded for ISK have many uses and purposes depending on how you decide to play your EVE.

But it still feels like I'm somehow cheating the game if I cash out using PLEX. That's based on my play style and my view on the PLEX as an item.

Well, if you're completely broke (space and RL), skill at playing the game won't help you very much, since you won't get a chance at applying it, so there is that ;).

Inb4 Tippia trying to convince you over 12 pages that you're wrong. Just wait for it. Nobody points out what the PLEX system essentially is and gets away with it!

EDIT: Nonetheless, I think all in all, PLEX is a good thing. It lets me make rich people buy my gametime because they're stupid. It's nice. You can easily scam 5-10 PLEX per week in Jita.

I read the beginning of it. Your argumentation is based on the belief (or fact) that RMT'ers run bots to create ISK that otherwise wouldn't be created, in order to make money.

However with the PLEX system, players mine or do missions to create ISK that otherwise wouldn't be created. PLEX makes players do mindnumbing tasks that they'd otherwise never do, for ISK. PLEX turns players into bots. Are you seriously calling that a good thing?

There are two negative things that PLEX has caused the EVE Universe since its introduction;

1. Running accounts with a PLEX has become a standard rather than a luxery and as a result people have started whining (and whining and whining and whining) that the price of a PLEX is too high to support their 50.000 accounts. Saving up for a PLEX has become a goal in and of itself for many people which is completely ridiculous. The idea of paying for game time the regular way and spending your ISK on stuff that is actually fun has completely disappeared. This is bad for the game because new players are convinced by this that they absolutely need to PLEX their account for some reason and then leaving the game because they have to do so much grinding to get the ISK.

2. People running around multiboxing (also known as botting, but that's a discussion for another time) 30 miner accounts just so they can PLEX their 30 miner accounts and sucking dry every ice and ore belt in their reach, ruining the game experience for anyone else in their area.

Heh... that TL;DR still makes trouble I'm bad at creating posts

I agree with some of the sentiment Antihrist, but there are variations between players to take into consideration.

Very new players selling plex might not be a sensible move. It allows them to skip too many of the lessons you need to get out of the way early on, and devalues the rewards of competent gameplay.

For older players I really don't see it as a cheat though. Might be a bit dumb to drop thousands into plex to buy a supercap for example, because if it dies you really did just burn real money. Having said that, grinding for 1000s of hours and losing it is probably just as annoying. For those who just sell the odd few it allows them to do what they enjoy doing without grinding.

If you're going to use plex you should be looking for the most efficient passive income generation, not make it into a second job by doing 100s of hours of missions or mining a month. Defeats the object of playing for fun, and I can see in those instances why people remark RL income probably exceeds ingame ISK ph generation.


I'd tend to see it more as, it allows someone else to sell you game resources. They don't sell their expertise though ;)

So does having a fairly large wallet if you treat (non-PVP) activities as entirely about ISK generation. I can't stand PVE, but I'll do it occasionally just to do something different. Despite making more ISK ph via other activities.

however, CCP dont have to sell an equal number of PLEX to subbed accounts since PLEX is usually more expensive than a subbed account, not to mention not all PLEX gets redeemed for gametime, or redeemed at all, but CCP still made money of thsoe PLEX that were destroyed.

So in the end it balances out to every PLEX being more money for CCP.

I think the PLEX system is the best implementation of "Free to Play" I've seen in an mmo, for all the reasons Malcanis pointed out.

Putting labels on it like "cheat code" are irrelevant, because everyone involved gets a more engaging gameplay experience. Even people who don't participate in plex at least get more juicy targets to kill or more stuff to buy.

Call it whatever you want., it's a great mechanic.