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Why do we have Aurum?
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Doireen Kaundur
Doomheim
#1 - 2014-03-07 02:34:40 UTC
Why not just do it all with ISK? What is the purpose of having another currency?

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Pix Severus
Empty You
#2 - 2014-03-07 02:39:12 UTC
It was introduced as a way to enable microtransactions in the game.

It wasn't well received by the community.

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Scipio Artelius
Weaponised Vegemite
Flying Dangerous
#3 - 2014-03-07 02:50:13 UTC  |  Edited by: Scipio Artelius
Pix Severus wrote:
It wasn't well received by the community.


But it was going to be gold for CCP, until they realised it was little more than quartz after all.

I hear even Hilmar says Grr Goons now.
Unsuccessful At Everything
The Troll Bridge
#4 - 2014-03-07 02:56:28 UTC
Scipio Artelius wrote:
I hear even Hilmar says Grr Goons now.



Grrrrrrrrr Hilmar's Grrrrrrrrrrring of goons.

Since the cessation of their usefulness is imminent, may I appropriate your belongings?
GreenSeed
#5 - 2014-03-07 02:58:25 UTC  |  Edited by: GreenSeed
the golden ammo wasn't well received, the microtransactions are fine, and will be back shortly with the new paint jobs.

hopefully we can eventually get a working store and a QA pipeline set up to have a player studio of sorts, like the one DOTA and PS2 have.

player designed ships are awesome, and having "civilian" ships with unique models would be worth the PLEX. if only to ship spin or RP being a space trucker.

also, targets.
ACE McFACE
Dirt 'n' Glitter
Local Is Primary
#6 - 2014-03-07 03:09:32 UTC
GreenSeed wrote:
the golden ammo wasn't well received, the microtransactions are fine, and will be back shortly with the new paint jobs.

hopefully we can eventually get a working store and a QA pipeline set up to have a player studio of sorts, like the one DOTA and PS2 have.

player designed ships are awesome, and having "civilian" ships with unique models would be worth the PLEX. if only to ship spin or RP being a space trucker.

also, targets.

There was never any ccp statement about introducing 'golden ammo' what people were mad about was the fact that a monocle cost $70.

Now, more than ever, we need a dislike button.
GreenSeed
#7 - 2014-03-07 03:19:10 UTC
ACE McFACE wrote:
GreenSeed wrote:
the golden ammo wasn't well received, the microtransactions are fine, and will be back shortly with the new paint jobs.

hopefully we can eventually get a working store and a QA pipeline set up to have a player studio of sorts, like the one DOTA and PS2 have.

player designed ships are awesome, and having "civilian" ships with unique models would be worth the PLEX. if only to ship spin or RP being a space trucker.

also, targets.

There was never any ccp statement about introducing 'golden ammo' what people were mad about was the fact that a monocle cost $70.

no.


the store was merely polemic, the **** hit the fan over a month afterwards when constant DTs, bugs, performance issues and ill temper was added to the "leak" of the internal magazine that presented the idea of introducing AUR for items and services that would break the sandbox, such as standings, ammo, ships, etc.

the myth that it was the microtransactions needs to die.
Scipio Artelius
Weaponised Vegemite
Flying Dangerous
#8 - 2014-03-07 03:21:56 UTC  |  Edited by: Scipio Artelius
GreenSeed wrote:
the myth that it was the microtransactions needs to die.
I agree. Let's keep repeating it till it does...Smile

Microtransactions was always the wrong term. Not only were they potentially sandbox breaking, but they were never micro. It was macrotransactions all the way.
Tippia
Sunshine and Lollipops
#9 - 2014-03-07 03:27:51 UTC
ACE McFACE wrote:
There was never any ccp statement about introducing 'golden ammo'

…aside from in their internal publications and in the form of the very first thing they tried to introduce (the IshuScorp) until people pointed out to them that what they were trying to do was sheer idiocy.

Quote:
what people were mad about was the fact that a monocle cost $70.
Not really, no. That was just something that unequivocally drove the point home that CCP was trying to dabble in a business model that they were utterly clueless about and that they had lost every last bit of touch with the community. The monocles simply became the symbol of their absolute ignorance.
Crasniya
The Aussienauts
#10 - 2014-03-07 03:29:18 UTC
You don't want your microtransaction currency to be the same as your in-game currency, because the issue is that PLEXs and AUR can be introduced without flooding the ISK economy of EVE. If you let players directly inject their accounts with ISK from Account Management, it would mess up the economic balance of the game.

Microtransactions are the direction the gaming industry is going.

If you want to talk about pay-to-win macrotransactions, Blizzard is introducing a feature next expansion where you can pay $60 to jump a character straight up to level 90. ;) Meanwhile, people whine about $2 to paint their ship and not affect game balance at all.

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Solhild
Doomheim
#11 - 2014-03-07 06:06:46 UTC
I for one would be happy to see aurum go. No problem with BPC for paint jobs, from mission rewards, loot drops, LP & isks.
Nyla Skin
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#12 - 2014-03-07 08:05:16 UTC  |  Edited by: Nyla Skin
GreenSeed wrote:
the microtransactions are fine


CCP has not really offered enough of what people would have wanted from the nex. In addition to uselessness of avatar stuff because of non-existent avatar gameplay (and badly designed clothes on top of that).

In after the lock :P   - CCP Falcon www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies
Beekeeper Bob
Beekeepers Anonymous
#13 - 2014-03-07 08:07:29 UTC
Pix Severus wrote:
It was introduced as a way to enable microtransactions in the game.

It wasn't well received by the community.


It was only a matter of time before they decided to try again....

Signature removed - CCP Eterne
Lipbite
Express Hauler
#14 - 2014-03-07 08:26:43 UTC
Artificial currencies are used for cash shop to ensure actual cash injections + to confuse players with "complicated" math into spending more cash i.e. "1800 abstract units" price for single-use frigate skin seems low/acceptable compared to "$10.50".

Note: EVE's cash exchange is the most tender variant compared to other games. However the most interesting "real-virtual" cash variant is in Neverwinter - it allow to build very effective forex schemes.
Wacktopia
Fleet-Up.com
Keep It Simple Software Group
#15 - 2014-03-07 10:13:19 UTC
Pix Severus wrote:
It was introduced as a way to enable microtransactions in the game.


No. Microtransactions would and could be possible using PLEX.

AUR was introduced to allow CCP to control the price and exchange rate for CQ goods independently of ISK / PLEX. They control both the price of AUR and the exchange rate with ISK/PLEX.

Kitchen sink? Seriousy, get your ship together -  Fleet-Up.com
Victor Andall
#16 - 2014-03-07 10:15:29 UTC
The existence of Aurum has absolutely no bearing on your playing the game. It does not "need to go". You need to ignore it.

I just undocked for the first time and someone challenged me to a duel. Wat do?

19.08.2014 - Dinsdale gets slammed by CCP Falcon. Never forget.
Mara Rinn
Cosmic Goo Convertor
#17 - 2014-03-07 11:03:00 UTC  |  Edited by: Mara Rinn
Tippia wrote:
ACE McFACE wrote:
what people were mad about was the fact that a monocle cost $70.
Not really, no. That was just something that unequivocally drove the point home that CCP was trying to dabble in a business model that they were utterly clueless about and that they had lost every last bit of touch with the community. The monocles simply became the symbol of their absolute ignorance.


I don't see it that way. It seems to me that the monocle has become adopted for exactly the purpose it was designed: space peen.

Here's what the fracas was about:

  1. The promise through Fearless that CCP was going to introduce "Power Items"
  2. The lack of development on flying in space, and the promise of no development for 18 months
  3. The poorly delivered Incarna, which gave us "Walking in shoebox" rather than "walking in stations", melted players' GPUs, and provided no significant gameplay other than sitting on a couch or standing on a balcony watching your ship spin itself
  4. The perceived exorbitant pricing of Noble Exchange items despite CCP positioning the item store as an exclusive luxury store selling the right to lift your nose at the hoi polloi.
  5. The community's failure to understand the message behind the "thousand dollar jeans" statement
  6. CCP's arrogance in forcing players to use captain's quarters
  7. The removal of ship spinning from the game


In the fallout, the monocle has become the literal "in your face" reminder to some folks, the ultimate trolling tool, and the ultimate accessory for the fashionable super-space-rich elite.

CCP knew what they were doing, it's just that the community had suckled at the teat of free-to-play games for so long that they expected all virtual item stores to be selling cheap disposable crap.

The part where CCP messed up was not expanding on walking in stations to allow the super-expensive and ugly clothes to have a purposed (i.e.: to show other people how fashionable and rich we are).

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voetius
Grundrisse
#18 - 2014-03-07 11:12:42 UTC
Doireen Kaundur wrote:
Why not just do it all with ISK? What is the purpose of having another currency?


Gamasutra on monetization and currencies

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134959/the_design_of_freetoplay_games_.php?print=1

Item-Purchasing

The Principle

This is the main revenue source of free-to-play games -- between 50 and 90 percent. A F2P game uses two types of currency: a so-called soft currency, and a hard one. The former is earned in-game by completing tasks, but the latter can only be obtained by spending real money -- dollars, euros, whatever.

Why two currencies? The main reason is that it allows the game publisher to control the monetization of the game. If any item could be bought with money earned in-game, players could eventually buy the whole game without spending a dime. Another advantage of this dual-money system is that it gives a premium value to whatever can only be bought with hard money.

Note that in many games, there is some gateway to convert between the two currencies, allowing players with different resources (time and cash) to exchange them.
Senfora Anophis
An Errant Venture
#19 - 2014-03-07 12:48:53 UTC
CCP Was ahead of their time. If the NeX hadn't come in right at the same time that WiS (with an engine that most PCs couldn't handle even with a single character) had showed up I suspect there wouldn't have been the same outrage.

You bring up the Ish Scorp? That's exactly what CCP is proposing with ship paints. I was never familiar with anyone from CCP wanting to do any golden ammo/power ships--IMO that's apocryphal unless someone has a link they can point to.

Personally, I've never spent a single Aurum, and would have gladly spent it on my soon-to-be flashy woop woop Comets, except they're going to be LP store.

I get to go around flying random patterns while screaming like a siren on comms again!

Plus it's got the little cylon light.

I, for one, welcome our new Aurum overlords.
MonkeyMagic Thiesant
24th Imperial Crusade
Amarr Empire
#20 - 2014-03-07 13:25:32 UTC
Crasniya wrote:

If you want to talk about pay-to-win macrotransactions, Blizzard is introducing a feature next expansion where you can pay $60 to jump a character straight up to level 90. ;) Meanwhile, people whine about $2 to paint their ship and not affect game balance at all.



At the end of the day, you can buy 600m isk for $20, with which you can then buy ships, weapons ..... even skills essentially, via the char bazaar. We have legitimised macrotransactions, the playerbase has long since accepted it.


Adding microtransiactions of pointless cosmetic stuff really isn't going to make any difference.
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