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Thoughts on PLEX prices and what can possibly be done.
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Shade Alidiana
PROSPERO Corporation
#41 - 2015-10-18 07:30:47 UTC  |  Edited by: Shade Alidiana
Scipio Artelius wrote:
Calum Raholan wrote:
Now lets take some facts into account shall we? Now I'm a British scrub so I'm not sure if this is just for us, but... Plex cost more than a subscription. Now can we think about this from CCP's point of view? CCP would, I assume, rather someone bought a plex and it was used rather than someone subscribing to the game for a month and then hitting cancel as many players do now the reoccurring payment system has been introduced. So in fact, its more beneficial to CCP if these players don't get a job and then purchase a plex off the market, removing it from circulation and allowing for its position as cheapest in the market to be taken by another plex which will then be sold and so on and so forth.

I'm not an accountant, so the following is not necessarily fact, just a layman's view.

While PLEX income is higher than subscription income on a per unit basis, it's not as stable a source of income and so may make business planning more difficult than the equivalent number of subscriptions.

For example, take 2 groups of 100 players. Group 1 pays subscription on an annual basis, while the other group uses PLEX on a monthly basis.

In the case of Group 1, CCP receive a full year of 100 subscriptions up front. That represents a real ~$10,000 in revenue to CCP that allows them to plan ahead for the coming year.

In the case of Group 2, it's not guaranteed that all 100 people will continue to purchase PLEX every month and the income only allows planning for a short period.

What would you rather have? A guaranteed $10,000 up front that is in your account, or the possibility of double that, but only receiving it in ~$2000 amounts per month, but not really knowing if that full revenue will arrive.

I'm sure there is a way that the average PLEX income helps CCP to make business plans, but I think there is something more stable/secure about income received 12 months in advance than there is about a variable, monthly approach to income.

So yeah, PLEX income represents a potential for higher income, but is much more volatile. So I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both that doesn't automatically make PLEX a better choice for CCP.


You surely do make sense, but EVE doesn't seem to be a game you can easily abandon, so shouldn't be really too unstable. This may be still working well for alts though.
Also, business plan wise, a combination of the two looks best to me.
Shade Alidiana
PROSPERO Corporation
#42 - 2015-10-18 07:36:51 UTC
malcovas Henderson wrote:
Scipio Artelius wrote:
Calum Raholan wrote:
Now lets take some facts into account shall we? Now I'm a British scrub so I'm not sure if this is just for us, but... Plex cost more than a subscription. Now can we think about this from CCP's point of view? CCP would, I assume, rather someone bought a plex and it was used rather than someone subscribing to the game for a month and then hitting cancel as many players do now the reoccurring payment system has been introduced. So in fact, its more beneficial to CCP if these players don't get a job and then purchase a plex off the market, removing it from circulation and allowing for its position as cheapest in the market to be taken by another plex which will then be sold and so on and so forth.

I'm not an accountant, so the following is not necessarily fact, just a layman's view.

While PLEX income is higher than subscription income on a per unit basis, it's not as stable a source of income and so may make business planning more difficult than the equivalent number of subscriptions.

For example, take 2 groups of 100 players. Group 1 pays subscription on an annual basis, while the other group uses PLEX on a monthly basis.

In the case of Group 1, CCP receive a full year of 100 subscriptions up front. That represents a real ~$10,000 in revenue to CCP that allows them to plan ahead for the coming year.

In the case of Group 2, it's not guaranteed that all 100 people will continue to purchase PLEX every month and the income only allows planning for a short period.

What would you rather have? A guaranteed $10,000 up front that is in your account, or the possibility of double that, but only receiving it in ~$2000 amounts per month, but not really knowing if that full revenue will arrive.

I'm sure there is a way that the average PLEX income helps CCP to make business plans, but I think there is something more stable/secure about income received 12 months in advance than there is about a variable, monthly approach to income.

So yeah, PLEX income represents a potential for higher income, but is much more volatile. So I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both that doesn't automatically make PLEX a better choice for CCP.


Just to add, if only 25 of the sub playing group bought 1 plex each per month.the demand would be ridiculously high and prices astronomical high. Also leaving 75% non sub players either subbing or not playing. CCP needs sub paying players to drive plex sales. So more free to play players occasionally pay a sub, when demand gets too high.


Initial goal of my suggestion was to increase the PLEX supply to market, so that more players actually buy PLEX, and it may also increase raw amount of money they spend (not only on PLEX). And yes, I buy a 1 month sub and unsub it with a "PLEX" in reason, when I don't have time or will to make it for ISK (or want to use them for different stuff). This happens more frequently as PLEX goes up, soo you can consider CCP potentially losing something during that time. I knew I'm not one
Scipio Artelius
Weaponised Vegemite
Flying Dangerous
#43 - 2015-10-18 07:48:08 UTC
Shade Alidiana wrote:
Initial goal of my suggestion was to increase the PLEX supply to market, so that more players actually buy PLEX, and it may also increase raw amount of money they spend (not only on PLEX). And yes, I buy a 1 month sub and unsub it with a "PLEX" in reason, when I don't have time or will to make it for ISK (or want to use them for different stuff). This happens more frequently as PLEX goes up, soo you can consider CCP potentially losing something during that time. I knew I'm not one

The problem with your suggestion from my perspective is that in the PLEX transaction, the seller wants good value for their RL money and the buyer wants good value for their RL time.

Both the buyer and seller want value and only they can individually decide what that means for them.

All the suggestions to reduce the price of PLEX favour the buyer over the seller. They are all ways of making PLEX cheaper in game so that the seller gets less value for their dollar while the buyer gets greater value for their time.

That's not a view I think is necessarily fair to both sides. The free market is the best approach. If there wasn't demand to allow prices to rise, the prices would naturally fall.

CCP have in the past adjusted the PLEX market and clearly that's a business decision for them, but they also maintain a fairly hands-off approach to the market, allowing it to set itself. That seems the most reasonable to me personally.
malcovas Henderson
THoF
#44 - 2015-10-18 07:57:17 UTC
Shade Alidiana wrote:
malcovas Henderson wrote:
Scipio Artelius wrote:
Calum Raholan wrote:
Now lets take some facts into account shall we? Now I'm a British scrub so I'm not sure if this is just for us, but... Plex cost more than a subscription. Now can we think about this from CCP's point of view? CCP would, I assume, rather someone bought a plex and it was used rather than someone subscribing to the game for a month and then hitting cancel as many players do now the reoccurring payment system has been introduced. So in fact, its more beneficial to CCP if these players don't get a job and then purchase a plex off the market, removing it from circulation and allowing for its position as cheapest in the market to be taken by another plex which will then be sold and so on and so forth.

I'm not an accountant, so the following is not necessarily fact, just a layman's view.

While PLEX income is higher than subscription income on a per unit basis, it's not as stable a source of income and so may make business planning more difficult than the equivalent number of subscriptions.

For example, take 2 groups of 100 players. Group 1 pays subscription on an annual basis, while the other group uses PLEX on a monthly basis.

In the case of Group 1, CCP receive a full year of 100 subscriptions up front. That represents a real ~$10,000 in revenue to CCP that allows them to plan ahead for the coming year.

In the case of Group 2, it's not guaranteed that all 100 people will continue to purchase PLEX every month and the income only allows planning for a short period.

What would you rather have? A guaranteed $10,000 up front that is in your account, or the possibility of double that, but only receiving it in ~$2000 amounts per month, but not really knowing if that full revenue will arrive.

I'm sure there is a way that the average PLEX income helps CCP to make business plans, but I think there is something more stable/secure about income received 12 months in advance than there is about a variable, monthly approach to income.

So yeah, PLEX income represents a potential for higher income, but is much more volatile. So I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both that doesn't automatically make PLEX a better choice for CCP.


Just to add, if only 25 of the sub playing group bought 1 plex each per month.the demand would be ridiculously high and prices astronomical high. Also leaving 75% non sub players either subbing or not playing. CCP needs sub paying players to drive plex sales. So more free to play players occasionally pay a sub, when demand gets too high.


Initial goal of my suggestion was to increase the PLEX supply to market, so that more players actually buy PLEX, and it may also increase raw amount of money they spend (not only on PLEX). And yes, I buy a 1 month sub and unsub it with a "PLEX" in reason, when I don't have time or will to make it for ISK (or want to use them for different stuff). This happens more frequently as PLEX goes up, soo you can consider CCP potentially losing something during that time. I knew I'm not one



Oh dear.

CCP are likely to make more when plex is high. Sub players will be more inclined to buy plex when exchange rate is good. And free to play are more likely to sub during this time. Those that don't pay a sub and cannot afford a plex from market, don't pay anything anyway and are not a loss in financial terms

Also used plexes are good. The more ways of using them creates more demand.
Shade Alidiana
PROSPERO Corporation
#45 - 2015-10-18 08:08:27 UTC
Scipio Artelius wrote:
...

malcovas Henderson wrote:
...

To both of you: there is a closed loop. Higher plex ISK price -> less plex needed for any goal you may beed them for. Less plex sold -> higher plex price. This can/will go over and over.
Jonah Gravenstein
Machiavellian Space Bastards
#46 - 2015-10-18 08:23:56 UTC
Shade Alidiana wrote:
Scipio Artelius wrote:
...

malcovas Henderson wrote:
...

To both of you: there is a closed loop. Higher plex ISK price -> less plex needed for any goal you may beed them for. Less plex sold -> higher plex price. This can/will go over and over.
You're missing the fact that PLEX is essentially Eve's gold standard, speculators sit on piles of the stuff suppressing supply and keeping both demand and prices high; it is an investment good and it is in their interests to do so.

CCP are unlikely to establish any kind of price ceiling for PLEX, the only time that they have interfered was to slow down what they saw as excessive price acceleration, and they thought long and hard before doing so. If your friends can't afford a sub, the price of an ingame item is the least of their worries.


In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded.

New Player FAQ

Feyd's Survival Pack
Scipio Artelius
Weaponised Vegemite
Flying Dangerous
#47 - 2015-10-18 08:36:16 UTC
Shade Alidiana wrote:
Scipio Artelius wrote:
...

malcovas Henderson wrote:
...

To both of you: there is a closed loop. Higher plex ISK price -> less plex needed for any goal you may beed them for. Less plex sold -> higher plex price. This can/will go over and over.

I think the last published figure was tha there were 200,000 PLEX in circulation/people's stock.

A recent estimate suggested that based on previous published volumes, that figure would be now about 250,000.

There's plenty of PLEX in characters accounts. The availability of it isn't a problem. Willingness of people to sell it is another thing. It's a peak investment vehicle in the game.
Calum Raholan
Sektor 17
#48 - 2015-10-18 08:53:49 UTC
Scipio Artelius wrote:
Calum Raholan wrote:
Now lets take some facts into account shall we? Now I'm a British scrub so I'm not sure if this is just for us, but... Plex cost more than a subscription. Now can we think about this from CCP's point of view? CCP would, I assume, rather someone bought a plex and it was used rather than someone subscribing to the game for a month and then hitting cancel as many players do now the reoccurring payment system has been introduced. So in fact, its more beneficial to CCP if these players don't get a job and then purchase a plex off the market, removing it from circulation and allowing for its position as cheapest in the market to be taken by another plex which will then be sold and so on and so forth.

I'm not an accountant, so the following is not necessarily fact, just a layman's view.

While PLEX income is higher than subscription income on a per unit basis, it's not as stable a source of income and so may make business planning more difficult than the equivalent number of subscriptions.

For example, take 2 groups of 100 players. Group 1 pays subscription on an annual basis, while the other group uses PLEX on a monthly basis.

In the case of Group 1, CCP receive a full year of 100 subscriptions up front. That represents a real ~$10,000 in revenue to CCP that allows them to plan ahead for the coming year.

In the case of Group 2, it's not guaranteed that all 100 people will continue to purchase PLEX every month and the income only allows planning for a short period.

What would you rather have? A guaranteed $10,000 up front that is in your account, or the possibility of double that, but only receiving it in ~$2000 amounts per month, but not really knowing if that full revenue will arrive.

I'm sure there is a way that the average PLEX income helps CCP to make business plans, but I think there is something more stable/secure about income received 12 months in advance than there is about a variable, monthly approach to income.

So yeah, PLEX income represents a potential for higher income, but is much more volatile. So I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both that doesn't automatically make PLEX a better choice for CCP.


As I said I could keep arguing for and against this all day and the point you make here is one that I would completely agree with, however I do think we need to take into account that it is not just plex sales that are unstable, at least to a certain extent in a books basis. As I also implied in my original post, under that paragraph you quoted, many players don't actually pay for an entire year at once and I am one of them and even though I hold accounts with a subscription that's lasted since there creation I choose to pay each a single month at a time. I also know that that I am not the only one that does this due to the drama that created after changes were made that forced a reoccurring subscription. I think for many players this is to allow flexibility as they might decide that next month they don't have the time to make the subscription worthwhile so as soon as they purchase a month they cancel their subscription to prevent a reoccurring payment. Even though CCP can predict that these players will go onto subscribe again, from a books perspective this would appear an unstable source of subscription income.
Shade Alidiana
PROSPERO Corporation
#49 - 2015-10-18 09:57:32 UTC  |  Edited by: Shade Alidiana
Scipio Artelius wrote:
Shade Alidiana wrote:
Scipio Artelius wrote:
...

malcovas Henderson wrote:
...

To both of you: there is a closed loop. Higher plex ISK price -> less plex needed for any goal you may beed them for. Less plex sold -> higher plex price. This can/will go over and over.

I think the last published figure was tha there were 200,000 PLEX in circulation/people's stock.

A recent estimate suggested that based on previous published volumes, that figure would be now about 250,000.

There's plenty of PLEX in characters accounts. The availability of it isn't a problem. Willingness of people to sell it is another thing. It's a peak investment vehicle in the game.


Yep that actually takes place.

The market can re-stabilize on its own if sufficient amounts of "carebears" (mission runners, miners and other people that flood market with stuff PVPers and ...well, people who want to accelerate things through $->ISK) will either leave or change their activities. Or, alternatively, if huge amounts of similar kinds of stuff get destroyed (which can make somepeople ragequit, so not the best option). But that will take time, and it might be too late. Nerfing concord a little can help this, though. I personally consider gankers a healthy and good thing in eve, even though won't miss a chance to shoot some.

Also, among that amount of PLEX. I personally do and know people who leave a PLEX in hangar when they plan to leave game for some time. Not all of those are in hands of market speculators... And 250k actually doesn't look impressive and frightening at all, since there are some sitting in market orders, some kept for the reason I mentioned or just as a precaution, and only some kept to get a better price. It won't be enough even to resub all the currently unsubbed accounts!
Deck Cadelanne
CAStabouts
#50 - 2015-10-18 10:26:43 UTC
Let me explain this as simply as possible. Assume I am somebody who pays a subscription and occasionally buys PLEX with RL cash when I want a pile of ISK:

There are people who believe they ought to be allowed to play for free. But it isn't free. PLEX is a mechanism by which they get to trade their ISK in the game to me for game time (PLEX) I bought with real life cash. Fair enough. Everybody wins.

If I already have enough ISK to do what I want and there is nothing I want in the game at the moment that I need another pile of ISK to acquire, I won't be paying any real-life cash to inject PLEX into the game. That's the heart of the current supply v. demand problem right there. Supply has very obviously dropped even faster than demand, mostly because of this.

If I am going to pay real-life cash to inject PLEX into this game, I want the in game price to be as high as possible. Duh. If the price isn't acceptably high, I won't be doing it. If I have PLEX but no urgent need for ISK and the price is going up, I am going to hold it until I think the price is peaking.

Basic principles of trade right there.

There are two ways to drive PLEX price in game down:

1. Increase supply. CCP needs to introduce some pretty motivating new changes and sandbox tools to accomplish this. You want me to spend my PLEX? Give me something worth spending it on that I don't already have six of.

2. Decrease demand. Maybe de-coupling AUR from PLEX helps but I suspect that is literally a drop in the bucket in terms of impact overall. No, this means decreasing the player count even further which we can probably all agree is a very bad thing

Something you folks really need to get through your heads: player numbers have dropped for a lot of reasons, including but by no means limited to:


  • Banning ISBoxer/input automation - this also likely decreased the demand for PLEX
  • Stagnation in terms of gameplay options and "stuff to do" - this likely decreases the supply of PLEX
  • Competition from other games - ELITE:DANGEROUS, World of Tanks, whatever
  • Boredom - anything gets boring when you do it long enough


So the key here seems (to me at least) pretty obvious:

CCP needs to make changes, perhaps urgent ones, to create incentives to bring more players (old and new) into the game. This constant whining about PLEX price is, at best, a distraction from that. Fix the underlying problems and PLEX price will take care of itself.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional."

- Hunter S. Thompson
Aoife Fraoch
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#51 - 2015-10-18 10:34:45 UTC
People are still buying plex for isk, I don't really see the problem here.
Top Guac
Doomheim
#52 - 2015-10-18 10:47:39 UTC
Deck Cadelanne wrote:
Something you folks really need to get through your heads: player numbers have dropped for a lot of reasons, ...

Thanks. Apparently you think you're the only one that knows this.

You win the Daily Guac for JamesBeam levels of BS.

Send me any amount of ISK in game and I will double it.
Gillia Winddancer
Aliastra
Gallente Federation
#53 - 2015-10-18 10:59:57 UTC
What needs to be done about PLEX prices? Absolutely nothing.

This rapid increase is an obvious outcome now that there are more and more uses for PLEX. Throw in the usual inflation on top and this is what you end up with.

I've said it before and I'm saying it again: if you don't like the PLEX prices then you either ask mommy to lend you her credit card, you grind more in order to keep up with market demand or you stop playing the game.
Deck Cadelanne
CAStabouts
#54 - 2015-10-18 11:25:31 UTC
Top Guac wrote:
Deck Cadelanne wrote:
Something you folks really need to get through your heads: player numbers have dropped for a lot of reasons, ...

Thanks. Apparently you think you're the only one that knows this.

You win the Daily Guac for JamesBeam levels of BS.

Send me any amount of ISK in game and I will double it.


0/10. Try harder.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional."

- Hunter S. Thompson
Calum Raholan
Sektor 17
#55 - 2015-10-18 11:25:51 UTC
Gillia Winddancer wrote:
What needs to be done about PLEX prices? Absolutely nothing.

This rapid increase is an obvious outcome now that there are more and more uses for PLEX. Throw in the usual inflation on top and this is what you end up with.

I've said it before and I'm saying it again: if you don't like the PLEX prices then you either ask mommy to lend you her credit card, you grind more in order to keep up with market demand or you stop playing the game.


And here we have the key issue with this debate, "or you stop playing the game."

I've made many points in my previous posts about why people may not want to subscribe to EVE, such as already being subscribed to another game they are committed to. We are trying to address the issue of people leaving and the problem is there seems to be three main groups that are involved when these threads on plex prices pop up:

Group 1 - The people who buy PLEX with ISK, these people want prices to go down.
Group 2 - The people selling ISK they have either purchased from CCP or bought at lower prices, these people want the prices to go up.
Group 3 - The people have no interests in PLEX who decide to not add to the actual conversation and simply make the comment get a job, which we've already disproved as a reason people may not be subscribing. Now we can argue here that there is a 4th group that support a decrease in PLEX prices, but have to interest in them, however I have observed this to be a far smaller minority.

Now what we need is a 4th (or 5th depending on your opinion of Group 3) group that consists of people that both have an interest and don't have an interest in price of PLEX. Rather a group that is interested in the well being of CCP and EVE Online as a whole. This discussion is focused round plex prices in terms of losing players which will have both a negative impact on CCP and the game. Now many of you have demonstrated that you are part of this 4th (or 5th) group throughout this topic and I greatly appreciate that, however can we please leave comments such as those quoted here out of the discussion.
ArmyOfMe
Stay Frosty.
A Band Apart.
#56 - 2015-10-18 11:32:59 UTC
Gillia Winddancer wrote:
What needs to be done about PLEX prices? Absolutely nothing.

This rapid increase is an obvious outcome now that there are more and more uses for PLEX. Throw in the usual inflation on top and this is what you end up with.

I've said it before and I'm saying it again: if you don't like the PLEX prices then you either ask mommy to lend you her credit card, you grind more in order to keep up with market demand or you stop playing the game.

The problem here is that at the moment, the current plex prices actually hurt the player count in eve, which again hurts CCP. I know some players have a hard time accepting that fact, or they have a hard time accepting that eve actually needs those players. But im quite sure that from CCP's perspective its a weee bit more important, as those players do create a large portion of their income. So please, rather then just thinking of those inside your little bubble when you comment, start thinking of the bigger picture here.

GM Guard > I must ask you not to use the petition option like this again but i personally would finish the chicken sandwich first so it won´t go to waste. The spaghetti will keep and you can use it the next time you get hungry. Best regards.
Jonah Gravenstein
Machiavellian Space Bastards
#57 - 2015-10-18 11:45:45 UTC  |  Edited by: Jonah Gravenstein
ArmyOfMe wrote:
The problem here is that at the moment, the current plex prices actually hurt the player count in eve, which again hurts CCP. I know some players have a hard time accepting that fact, or they have a hard time accepting that eve actually needs those players.
Bearing in mind that every PLEX that is currently ingame is already paid for and thus money in the bank, how does that hurt CCP?

The number of PLEX that are ingame either for sale or stockpiled as an investment doesn't alter the real world price or demand for them. What alters real world demand, and thus income is uses for PLEX, not the number that have already been paid for and delivered that now only exist as intangible items in a database.


Quote:
But im quite sure that from CCP's perspective its a weee bit more important, as those players do create a large portion of their income.
No, you have that the wrong way round, the people that create the income are the ones that purchase PLEX with RL cash. The people that purchase PLEX ingame create a demand that drives the ingame price; as long as demand exceeds available supply, whether real or artificially suppressed, the price will be what the market can bear. Evidentially there is currently enough demand that the market will bear prices in excess of 1 Billion, which makes the people who invest in PLEX happy with their ROI.

Quote:
So please, rather then just thinking of those inside your little bubble when you comment, start thinking of the bigger picture here.
Irony.

In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded.

New Player FAQ

Feyd's Survival Pack
Aoife Fraoch
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#58 - 2015-10-18 11:47:41 UTC
Rather than quote everyone I will use this strawman:

Convenient Strawman wrote:
But if people can not play for free then it is terrible and not good, and this is a thing that needs to change and be addressed.


Why?

Seriously, please explain why when there is a robust market for PLEX the number of players using it to keep their accounts going versus those buying them in game for other reasons actually matters?

In all these threads this never gets addressed.

One more point, it is CCP who has been steadily increasing the utility of plex over time by linking it to other ingame items. Perhaps CCP are far more interested in increasing the lifetime value of their customers and ghe ingame value of PLEX to drive more out of game purchases?
Shade Alidiana
PROSPERO Corporation
#59 - 2015-10-18 11:51:02 UTC
Calum Raholan wrote:
...

Now what we need is a 4th (or 5th depending on your opinion of Group 3) group that consists of people that both have an interest and don't have an interest in price of PLEX. Rather a group that is interested in the well being of CCP and EVE Online as a whole. This discussion is focused round plex prices in terms of losing players which will have both a negative impact on CCP and the game. Now many of you have demonstrated that you are part of this 4th (or 5th) group throughout this topic and I greatly appreciate that, however can we please leave comments such as those quoted here out of the discussion.


As I stated earlier, I am mostly OK with PLEX prices myself. I indeed do PLEX my account but this isn't taxing enough to be prohibitive, and isk generally come with the everyday activities themselves. After all, my collection of faction battleships is half completed and has ones I wanted the most. I'm not in hurry at all and so PLEX is almost a natural way to use the isk I make. Or, as I also said, sometimes not make.
The reason I created this topic was to give CCP what they want (money) and prevent them from potentially screwing something up in the game I play (and want to play), while trying to get more money. Because I still want to play it. Because EVE I started playing was awesome, and it's still playable now. But am already looking at a different project, that would not give me even 30% what eve does, but seems to have potential for different kinds of interesting things (talking about rogue system now).
ArmyOfMe
Stay Frosty.
A Band Apart.
#60 - 2015-10-18 11:53:41 UTC
Jonah Gravenstein wrote:
ArmyOfMe wrote:
The problem here is that at the moment, the current plex prices actually hurt the player count in eve, which again hurts CCP. I know some players have a hard time accepting that fact, or they have a hard time accepting that eve actually needs those players.
Bearing in mind that every PLEX that is currently ingame is already paid for and thus money in the bank, how does that hurt CCP?

The number of PLEX that are ingame either for sale or stockpiled as an investment doesn't alter the real world price or demand for them. What alters real world demand, and thus income is uses for PLEX, not the number that have already been paid for and delivered that now only exist as intangible items in a database.


Quote:
But im quite sure that from CCP's perspective its a weee bit more important, as those players do create a large portion of their income. So please, rather then just thinking of those inside your little bubble when you comment, start thinking of the bigger picture here.
No, you have that the wrong way round, the people that create the income are the ones that purchase PLEX with RL cash. The people that purchase PLEX ingame create a demand that drives the ingame price, as long as demand exceeds available supply, whether real or artificially suppressed, the price will be what the market can bear, and currently there is evidentially enough demand that the market will bear prices in excess of 1 Billion.


The problem here is that atm only a very little % of the plex ingame are actually on the market, so there is no way of knowing how many new plex CCP sells. So if the current plex speculators sit on large stockpiles of plex, they wont need to buy more plex from CCP anytime soon, and if that also causes a lack of player retention, then it does indeed hurt CCP as no new income happens.

So unless we can actually see that current plex sale numbers from CCP are as high as they have used to be, then there is no reason to claim it wont hurt CCP.

GM Guard > I must ask you not to use the petition option like this again but i personally would finish the chicken sandwich first so it won´t go to waste. The spaghetti will keep and you can use it the next time you get hungry. Best regards.