EVE New Citizens Q&A

Hello, I'm in a bit of a conflict over EvE and was wondering if some of the more experienced players could help me out. I'm a first time player who bought a 6-month subscription 4 months ago after hearing how deep of a game EvE is, but in the next two months I need to decide whether or not I want to keep playing. I confess I'm very torn. On one hand I like EvE. It’s a deep and fun experience if you play with the right people. The community in general, disregarding the PvP - PvE arguments, is very helpful and knowledgeable and I love what EvE can do on both micro and macro scales. Yet on the other-hand I admit I have no love at all for subscription models. I feel they are very bad values that offer token paybacks and bare-bone additions compared to the revenue earned. Call it what you may, but for $120 a year I expect quite a bit of content to be added; at minimum a stand-alone $60 game worth. Yet in all the subscription games I've ever tried (EvE discounted because I have little experience here) it's the equivalent of one or two small DLCs a year.

So my questions are:

a.) How often does EvE receive expansions?
b.) Compared to the latest Rubicon, how large are the additions?
c.) How often are sales held? (Like the Winter sale where prices had been reduced 50% iirc)
d.) Has any information been released as to what the subscription money goes toward such as statistical breakdowns?


Thanks a bunch!

b) the same;
c) 2-3 times per year (September-October, x-mas);
d) yes. However it's CCP's statistic - it doesn't has per-project breakdown (Dust, WoD, Valkyrie, EVE). Annual research and development budget is around $12M. Try to compare content of Rubicon to this sum assuming Rubicon took ~1/2 of EVE's R&D budget.

The way I see it...

- a bottle of so-so wine or 6-pack of beer is about $10 and usually won't last 2 or 3 days (maybe not even a day if you're like me).
- a NICE meal at a restaurant is about $10 to $15 and won't last more than 30 minutes to an hour.
- a monthly gym membership is about $10 to $20 a month and, on average, people don't go to it more than 3 days a week for an hour or two at a time.
- a good night at the bar with friends will EASILY cost $50 and MAYBE you remember about 3 hours of the experience, followed by hours of pain the morning after.

- EVE costs about $15 a month (less if you get an extended subscriptoon) and allows you unlimited access for 30 days to a world where you can freely interact (for better or worse) with several thousand similar people (see: nerds) in ways that can keep you occupied for hours.


As far as entertainment and services go... EVE is a bargain.


edit: here's another way to look at it... you have probably spent more money on dumber **** that provides way less in the form of enjoyment. *pokes anatomically correct ukulele girl toy on desk*

If ~33 cents a day is a significant enough ammount of money in your life to warrant this post there are probably better things you could be doing with your time than eve

Well, don't even get me started on f2p (aka free to pay) online-games. There are a number of different models, for mmo's, but I prefer the traditional sub model (little to no RMT) or truly free to play models which are few and far between - and usually opensource. I hate being nickle and dimed to death (ie marketeers constantly reaching into my pockets for little coins).

Why sub? So yeah $120yr (+included updates/expansion here) vs. "stand-alone $60 game worth". Well, I wouldn't pay a sub for a stand-alone, but just speaking of the $60, how often do you spend that in a year? 1 game? 3? 7? adds up. Then factor in how long each of those games last you, six months? 3? 1 month? 1 week until you realize the game is not for you? It's rare for me to get four months out of a $60 stand-alone game. You know, a Skyrim or a Fallout 3 just isn't released very often, where you might get years of game play out of.

Not that EVE is the only game I play. I still buy stand-alone games, but more so selectively. And I play an opensource mmo that's been around for some time. Then my life isn't all about games, just a respectable chunk of time. If one night I rather stay home and play EVE rather than going out and buying a movie ticket +etc etc, well it adds up to at least two months of EVE sub, from just one evening. So, a sub works perfectly for me, and without all the f2p drawbacks.

Expansions = ok. You gotta understand 1. this is a sandbox game and 2. the majority voiced their concern a couple years back to focus development into spit and polish to this game over new things (particularly walking in station WiS).

(1) As a sandbox game, it's a bit harder to develop. So you can't just increase the level cap and slap in new zones full of stuff. A sandbox needs tools for player interaction, which is a bit more complicated than just rehashing quest code for new zones. Although, this game has been around for some time, you probably haven't even experienced a sliver of the overall game, all the places and possibilities. http://swiftandbitter.com/eve/wtd/ Anywhere close to that? So really, EVE isn't lacking in content, even if there were no content expansion for years.

(2) Years back the game had lots of content but very buggy. More of a focus on rush development of new things then move on leaving too many things broken. If you browse the 'oldforums' you would see a lot of complaining about that. Now things are much better, not perfect but so much better than before. Adding new stuff has been less of priority while bug squashing and balancing is the higher priority. I'd say pretty soon, they may be adding more content in the updates, as the game is becoming better polished.

How much of the revenue from subs do they put into the game? I don't know the numbers, but a good deal into other projects. But they have also gone with outside investors so it's not as much directly from EVE. So I think like the playstation FPS, it wasn't solely built on EVE revenue. However CCP, you need to get a PC version of it going now, wasn't it just a 1yr contract for PS exclusiveness?

So all in all, the sub model is a safe bet here. And after a year or so, you can always offset to cost by buying some PLEX with ISK to add a little more to your sub.

How can a p2p game be a bad value for your money at all? 15 bucks a month for unrestricted content when other f2p games sell costumes and mounts for 20$ each not to mention youre subject to pay2win features, or other gambling boxes that can easily eat you over $100 of value and often give nothing back. Considering you can pay eve with plex as well, how is $15 for 1 month of play on a AAA game with FREE expansions a bad deal?

a) who cares
b) who cares
c) who cares
d) who cares

How about the one important question?

IS IT FUN FOR ME?

Yes/keep playing No/find another game.


Mr Epeen

Eve players make their own content, if you're looking for new ways to shoot red-crosses on a screen, you'll either burn out, or work your way until you get and expensive ship to do it well, then the gankers will pay you a visit, and tear down all you've worked for.

What you need in Eve is friends, politics, and folks who can keep the fun flowing. The PVE is quite bad after you've played through it a few times.

Once I have paid my Eve sub I can't afford food. I prey on local cats who are foolish enough to get close.

Fire is a problem though. Finding dry twigs where I live is hard.

Still. Once you have eaten raw-paws you get used to the rest.

I guess I should re-phase.

"a NICE non-student meal at a restaurant is about $10 to $15 and won't last more than 30 minutes to an hour."