EVE General Discussion

Without trying to go deep on explaining why, my preference for these types of rewards in future would run along the lines of:

• Untradable/otherwise technically valueless (and not able to be made valuable by demand) items or indicators of some kind to recognize player contributions. I was thinking there could be a faction that people could have standings towards, it could even give them a few perks in the right locations or something, but, unless that player sold their character entirely, which would be an unstoppable out of game action anyway, these perks would have no value to compete over in the economy.
• PLEX is a pretty safe and stable straight gift, especially given the total existing PLEX vs. the rate of gift giving, it would have no measurable or detectable impact on in-game economy and also represents a pretty predictable and comprehensible value, even if players openly brag about it. "It's just a plex, big deal, anyone can get one".
• But if you want something really clearly visible, such as a skinned ship, I would suggest one of two things. Either you make the ships unsellable, or (my preference) you make the skin an effect that appears on a normal ship, attached to the player, with their option to disable it if they want. So the dudes flying around in BRIGHT SHINY GOLD MYRMIDONS or something, everyone can see right away that they got recognition, but, otherwise it's just another ship-in-game. The side benefit is the player won't be afraid to actually fly that ship since the effect could show up for any new replacement they had to buy as well.

I think it would very interesting if CCP would peer into their database and tell us how many of the Ishukone ships are still owned by original recipients AND are not currently listed for sale in the market.

If it's a large proportion, it reinforces the notion that unique gifts are not primarily valued for the ISK they can be traded for. If not, it would indicate that a different mechanism might be better to introduce rare items into the game.

I have seen plenty for sale on the market, but it could be the same ones over and over.

Before I have had the chance of reading all the other posts I just want to comment: you still don't get it, do you? SOMEr is the WORST "fan site" you could have chosen to "reward" for its contributions to the GAME. I am very sad.

Not sure if this got missed pre- well earned Pizza break... I'll post again in case it was missed accidentally, if it was intentionally ignored feel free to do so again and sorry for spam.



Edit: If there is a maximum markup on GTC price or maximum ISK value that can be gifted with a GTC what are those maximums?

oops double post

You assume that it is a problem, or that there was actually any significant damage. Even schoolchildren know that it is easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.

As a bonus, CCP now has raw data on how many people will scream bloody murder over things like this in the future, and how it does or does not significantly impact subscription numbers. You can be certain that this data will hold more weight in their decision making process than anything the CSM or anyone else has to say.

But that is not all the community is worried about. The give-away of trillions of isk to favoured sites is perhaps an even bigger issue than just rare items being handed over. Please take all issues under consideration.

This approach of giving rewards to third-party EVE related sites (which has the potential to be converted into ingame isk or create a player advantage) has to stop. You will breed nothing of any real value when you start putting a price reward (read bribe) to fandom. It'll be fertile ground for distrust and alienation between the haves and have nots. It erodes a lot of goodwill towards CCP.

A truly passionate community does need any cajouling, prodding or bribes, to do whatever they do. Remember that.

Find other ways to recognize their contributions without raising the players' hackles. Very simple things like a CCP Recognition Seal which can be displayed on their sites ... an official CCP Fansite Hall of Fame ... unique plaque to display in their Captains Quarters ... an ingame monument somewhere .. etc etc. ... you get the idea. These things will remain immortal until EVE closes down. Your "one time" monetary rewards will be forgotten long before that happens ... now wasn't that a pointless exercise?

Deep down, fans want to be remembered and immortalized in some way or another.

Give the man a raise or a bonus.

(not a guard alt btw)

You are still being very vague about what exactly SOMER Blink did to deserve such rewards. Please give a detailed description of what exaclty makes them so deserving.

Note:
- Being "good at what they do" is not a valid reason; what they "do" is make ISK. If you are going to reward them for this, then you must reward every other player organization who earns above a set level of ISK.
- Sponsoring events is also not a valid reason; like any other business, the reward for sponsorship is greater public visibility potentially resulting in additional business. Receiving an advantage over other participants is not a legitimate reward for sponsorship.

It's perfectly clear though that you were not "recognizing" SOMER for anything; by defintion, "recognition" requires some level of public awareness, and whether by intent or neglect, this was all kept under wraps. This has the result of looking a lot like market manipulation in order to favor one particular group of players.



Let's be perfectly clear on one thing: SOMER Blink is NOT a fansite! It is a for-profit business which supports an in-game player organization's activities. Please stop lumping them in with true fansites that actually benefit the community instead of taking from it.



I find it highly disturbing that you consider this an "interesting angle," rather than this being something that was carefully considered before deciding to benefit a single for-profit business to the detriment of their competitors by driving traffic to their site and away from others. This should have been an obvious consequence of the lottery giveaway, yet your response seems to indicate that the thought never occured to you. To top it off, a certain CCP representative's remarks endorsing one particular site (effectively over others) just threw more fuel on the fire, and reeks of a lack of forethought on the effects of your actions as a company on the fairness of the game.

When all of this started, I held off on making any decisions with regards to the continuation of my account until after CCP had a reasonable opportunity to fix the situation. So far, I see no solutions, only PR spin. I'll give it a little more time as my account is not up right away, but if nothing changes soon I will be unsubscribing.