Market Discussions

Yes...that could be an explanation....of several. Another is the amount of ISK entering the game economy as well.

449 plex went poof in the course of couple weeks

These prices might be here for a while

So the price will come down. v0v

One way CCP can reduce the price of plexes is by making the servers only allow one account for one computer. I doubt the majority of the player base can afford 7 accounts along with 7 different machines running and then the money lost on the maintenance needs of such a set up.

Although, I feel like I'm the only one with the opinion that there shouldn't be alt accounts. I feel that both CCP and the player base is against this. I had to put my two cents in anyways because I can and felt like it.

An interesting suggestion, which I'd like to respond to in detail.

First off, I would like to make it clear that I am in the opposing school of thought. I'll give you a little background about me so that you can understand where I am coming from and maybe get a little insight into someone who plays the game differently to you.

I like alts, I have lots of them, I always have had lots of them and I doubt I would play EVE at all if I could not continue to have lots of them. For me, EVE is an RTS or party-based RPG game, and I use my alt army as a team to achieve my goals. This makes the game interesting for me and helps compensate for many of the game's shortcomings in depth, engagement and useability.

I will take this opportunity to point out that I have never used ISBOXER or any similar tool. I started out using one PC with one screen, alt-tabbing between clients. I moved to dual screens. Then two PCs with four screens. Then three PCs with six screens. Throughout this period I was using a separate keyboard and mouse for each PC.

I then discovered the Microsoft Garage tool, "Mouse Without Borders" and was able to replace three keyboards and mice on my desk with only one. The single set of input devices could be used to control all three PCs, as if they were one PC with a massive desktop, no input multipexing was used and every click and keypress was made by me on each client separately. This allowed me to reduce the size of my desk a great deal, which was a godsend for my console collection which has been fighting my PC for space in my room for many years.

I then replaced all three PCs with one eight-core machine with three video cards, hosting six screens.

The largest number of accounts I have used effectively at once is 20. The largest number of accounts I've had subbed is somewhere in the mid-20s. I currently have only 8, because I've reduced my investment in EVE and reduced my playtime as a result of CCP's disastrous customer service performance and the draw of other games on my limited time.

I paid for all my accounts on my credit card for many, many years, long after I had enough ISK income to painlessly support them all on PLEX. I finally made the switch to PLEX supporting my entire account set after I retired from my career in IT and had to make some tough decisions about how I used my money going forward.

I feel that my play style is just as valid as your single account play style. I feel that each player should do what works for them, provided they remain within the rules. However, I do not believe that all players will respect the rules if there are ways to circumvent them.

If a one account limit was placed on the game, I would simply quit, along with many other players. However, many other serious multi-boxers who are not as rule abiding as I am would use software and networking tools to circumvent the one account limit and proceed as if nothing had changed. The people who would suffer most, other than CCP (from the lost income) would be those that just run two accounts on one PC. For extreme multi-boxers it would just be a minor bump in the road, but for casual multi-boxers it could ruin their game experience or force them in to rule-breaking behavior which may be the start of a slipperly slope.

For those that will read this massive tract of text and say: why don't you just play with other people. I'll point out that I do personally prefer to play with others, I have been or still am a prolific FC, a CEO of many player corps, an alliance leader, Alliance Tournament captain, I spent about three years flying with Pandemic Legion and many more years (I lose count) with HYDRA RELOADED and other PvP focused groups. I don't just (or indeed ever) sit with 20 hulks mining solo in some dead end 0.0 system farming to pay for my PLEX (not that there is anything wrong with that if you enjoy that kind of thing).

So TLDR:

1. A limit would not be enforceable, it would be trivial to circumvent for anyone who cares to.
2. You should not underestimate the lengths that some people will go to in order to play the game the way they want to.
3. It would be terrible for CCP to do this, from both a financial and customer service perspective.
4. The people most harmed would be the casual players.

Oh and pics or it didn't happen:

http://imgur.com/ZZVqvpi
http://imgur.com/xlSJpc3

Of course it is.

Well, at least I know you'll be around to keep me company for some time.

That was always my plan to, but CCP does like to try my resolve... or maybe they're just trying to find the light switch?

Honestly though, there is no other game like EVE. Even EVE itself struggles to remain like EVE and is becoming less and less with each passing month. It's great to be able to look back on over a decade of playing a classic game and the massive player achievements that have occurred in that time (some of them I even participated in). I find it difficult to explain it to people who don't play EVE or only have a casual relationship with the game.

Here's my story.

I haven't payed for an account for a long time and I would never play EVE if I had to.

When I started, PLEX was about 300-350 mil. For 2 accounts that amounted to a week of missionrunning. Rest of the month I could do whatever I wanted. Interact will all of you guys, I was active in different type of Corps, wormhole, nullsec, missionrunning, helping new players.

Today, when a Plex costs 900+ mil that means I need almost 2 bil ISK every month to keep playing. And missionrunning hasn't gotten one bit more profitable. This means I spend more and more time missionrunning. Meaning, I interact with other players less and less. I've been soloing with 2 accounts for years now. I could rat in nullsec if I wanted to but it's not more profitable with 2 cloaky ships and people entering same system as I am in. Exploration is very much a hit and miss. Once have I gotten a module worth 800 mil. Once. I have been exploring, scanning down sites for probably years in total now. Mostly in lowsec.
Exploration and Missionrunnign is the reason I have 2 accounts. It takes time to train and training 2 accounts is just more effective in this game, in every way.

My motivation to keep playing this game and grinding plexes goes down with increase in PLEX prices.
And these new expeansions doesn't really change the game for me in any meaningful way. Last good expansion was Apocrypha, I believe. Wormholes, T3s. New modules are nice but it's a drop in the bucket. Gameplay really hasn't changed in years, not PVE. It's the same 2003-Formula.

Maybe this is a PVP game for you but it isn't for me. I play the way I want to. If my gamestyle doesn't fit your formula or pattern of how Eve should be played...I really don't care. Isn't that really the point of Eve?

Exploration "upgrade" with the hacking nodes stuff...doesn't really add anything. Just gets more annoying than it already was.
And reward for hacking those containers is just a waste, I could earn more cash killing frigates in a belt..

If you want a positive change in your circumstances, you are going to have to be willing to change them yourself.

It's no use hoping to forever cover PLEX costs while still doing the EVE equivalent of a minimum wage job.

While all play styles are valid, some simply don't pay the bills.