Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Lets consider this from new prespective.... what if CCP would not give free PLEX from Buddy Program (many people just use noobs on trial to get free PLEX, by giving them like X00 million isk)...

...but instead would give those free PLEX´s through gameplay???

Well dont see Incursions need to be much fixed, just balanced.

TBH i dont really know how would free PLEX`s from ingame affect prices of PLEX on markets, but would make really more sence than Buddy Program.

Maybe CCP could test it for a month or so?

Well in Jita and Amarr local people beg ISK for renewal of SUB just in few hours :)

Seriously, it can be calculated statistics how many people can or will pay their subs with ISK (PLEX), or use real money for it (or to buy PLEX so they can get ISK)...

But it can NEVER be calculated how many people stop playing because they have neither isk or real money (at that moment, maybe very early after they started).

Why would any game design include free game time as a reward for mission running? Why would anyone think it's a good idea to make such a thing NPC controlled or a drop from loot tables? Who would really believe this is a good idea?

What will happen here, is a bunch of mission runners will end up supplying all the PLEX as loot from LP stores; making a ****ton of ISK off it, and have fee game time for life.

That will be followed by everyone running missions and either hording PLEX, or selling it cheaper and cheaper to beat the competition.

This will be followed by EVE being F2P, because CCP isn't making money on Subs anymore.

Capiche?

You are rewarded with free game time; when you earn the ISK to purchase it.

The buddy system is just that. It encourages players to bring friends into the game, which hopefully turns into more subscriptions. If I recall correctly, CCP is essentially transfering the first months Sub from the buddy system invite, to the player who extended the invitation. It's quite fair and reasonable, and even if the sub drops after the first month; CCP really hasn't lost anything it had before.

I don't know many other games that have a free game time for most active players reward system; perhaps you could name a few for me. Honestly, I can't think of one.

Unless you count the PLEX in EVE of course; which is similar to that model. If you are active enough, and you earn loads of ISK; then you can buy PLEX off the market with it, from another player who has bought it from CCP.

Either way, the game time is payed for.

Your idea is essentially asking that you should have your game time free, at no cost to anybody; which results in no benefit from CCP, who would have to develop the infrastructure to make that happen for you.

I don't see that happening, and I hope it doesn't.

According to the latest summit minutes however, it seems CCP is still keeping track of PLEX and watching the market carefully. They are also working on a Loyalty system and Veteran rewards system, if that makes you happy. I'm not sure what will come of it, and they've neither given or decided on details that I am aware, but that is the case.

Not sure if serious or not...

This seems like a very strange thread. Perhaps we need to talk about the life-cycle of a PLEX.

Step 1- Player #1 with extra cash buys PLEX with real-world money. All PLEX in the game is solely generated by someone spending money. For the buddy program, even though a player may get a PLEX for "free", he/she only receives that PLEX because his "buddy" spent money. To CCP, selling PLEX to players is a means of making capital.

Step 2- Player #1 decides to sell/exchange the PLEX he/she just bought for in-game currency (ISK or NEX). In the case of NEX, the PLEX is consumed and NEX is received. For a PLEX, it now changes hands to Player #2, who has plenty of ISK but generally not much real-world cash.

Step 3 - Player #2 uses the PLEX to grant another 30 days of playing time. PLEX is consumed. Notice- Player #1's expenditure of real-world money enabled Player #2 to continue playing. Player #1 is basically buying ISK. Player #2 is using ISK to "buy" money.

Note in the above- the PLEX did not "create" ISK. The ISK was already present in-game. As others have said before, the ISK simply changes hands.

So how is it that PLEX is so expensive? The price of ISK is primarily set by the interaction of the amount of PLEXes available (supply) and the price people are willing to pay for them (demand). If supply is low, but demand is high, the price of ISK sky-rockets. With the current massive flow of ISK from Incursions, demand is at an all time high as more and more players earn ridiculous amounts of ISK with which they can purchase PLEXes. It is nearly literally raining ISK in EVE right now. With so much ISK in the game, PLEXes and numerous other products have seen their prices become incredibly inflated.

There's a few of ways to reduce PLEX prices, but bottom-line, CCP needs to make money. Providing "free" PLEXes in-game may increase the "supply", but it may cut into CCP's profits. Of course, you could go an buy a 1,000 PLEXes with real-world and dump them in on the market regularly, but few are rich (or foolish) enough to do that. Ultimately, unless you increase supply, the only way to drop prices is to cut into the demand by slowing the flow of ISK, or creating ISK "sinks" for ISK to fall into.

The ISK "sinks" in the game are relatively weak. Buying items off of the LP store, buying NPC skillbooks, buying facilities on a PI planet, market taxes/fees, clone upgrades, jump clones, etc. While this may seem like a lot, what is observed is that these sinks don't pull enough ISK out of the game. Especially considering how much ISK is "created" by MISSION REWARDS and BOUNTIES. Notice- those are really the only two major SOURCES of ISK in the game. Mining, production, research, research agents (unless they give an ISK reward), PI, salvage, & loot do not create ISK- they create "stuff" that can be purchased with ISK. These last activities simply facilitate the transfer of ISK, just like selling a PLEX.

So if you want the price of PLEX to drop in a way that would be supported by CCP, advocate for either- 1.) lower mission rewards or bounties, or 2.) more ISK sinks.