I admit to being shaken by the events of the past week.
- The insane price of items in the Noble Exchange
- Reports from others of hardware issues due to captian's quarters
- The supposedly leaked internal CCP memo listing possible future micro transactions for standings, ammo, ships as "convenience" (read: advantage)
Of the three items, the hardware issues worry me the least in the long term because I'm willing to be there are programming solutions that CCP is working on right now. The high price of the vanity items is offputting but if that is there business model than whatever.
But the internal memo is the most disturbing because it starts to go against the line that players have been insistent upon from the start: vanity items only. If they start to offer "convenience" instead of just "vanity" then we've gone too far down that slippery slope we've heard the doomsayers talk so much about and I'm not happy about it.
This is assuming that the memo is authentic and reflects the opinion of the product managers driving Eve's development.
Right now I'm using the wait and see option. We're watching, CCP; your move.
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The memo looks at both sides of micro-transactions. It does not say the the ARE doing it. So whether its true or not doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteWhat matters is that we have to chose to play the game they (CCP) owns and develops or to find other games to play. If they decide to take the game in a completely different direction, its a choice we have to make.
You can be as vocal as you want but ultimately the only way to let them know you are unhappy with it is to stop giving them your money.
I, however, have no issues with where the game is or is going and plan to play for as long as I continue to enjoy it.
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ReplyDeleteNonsense. If you don't want to buy overpriced vanity items don't. I agree CCP has screwed up their pricing, but who cares?
ReplyDeleteAs a LOTRO player I can tell you Turbine has offered convenience/time saving/grind reducing items for sale from day one. Who cares? I can afford to buy them, but I think they are a rip off so I don't. It has had zero effect on the game.
EVE players are a funny bunch - all this uproar when anyone with $$ has been able to buy unlimited plex to generate all the ISK they want and buy anything they want for a long long time. The 'advantage' - which is weak at best - is already available to anyone.
I do think they will go to convenience items when Dust 514 hits. Dust is F2P and the only way they are going make a hood profit is to do micro transactions and EVE is the experiment till then.
ReplyDeleteHave you read the complete memo, or just the one that a certain eve news website cut up and password locked?
ReplyDeleteI have read both, and the complete memo makes it clear that 1) it was an internal document talking about microtransactions and the personal opinions of some developers (some of them important folks) 2) that the opinions expressed are not official CCP positions 3) that the issue of microtransactions in EVE is a tricky beast and CCP is struggling with it
I agree that the hardware issue and the current pricing issue will pass by quickly. As for those wailing at the wall regarding CCP's *new* position on microtransactions, well as you say, time will tell.
I have played F2P with microtransactions and it was ok. Those transactions were for performance enhancements, and made it almost necessary if you wanted to grind faster. You want to pay $ to get a 10% damage increase? Well, right now there are all sorts of ingame items and ships that can give you that. Oh, CCP wants to compete with players and make it so they sell directly to the buyers, without making it so a player buys the mods(ships, whatever) from the market - that sucks, but who cares. I've lived playing against players equipped with implants I can only dream about.
Where were these complaints when the latest boxed version of EVE came with an officer's implant that boosted skill point accumulation?
I totally agree KK and am also waiting to see how it all shakes out. In fact I wrote a similar post, although mine is a tad more pointed, but we share the same opinion. Worried, but still willing to hope.
ReplyDeleteThey need to be careful with MT's, but I think we could use a few "advantageous" ones, as long as they're available through PLEX.
ReplyDelete1. Neural remaps. Shouting these down was a stupid idea. The current "One Remap a year" system is off-putting to new players, and it can be limiting. I never thought of training leadership skills when I remapped 4 months ago, but now that I'm settled into a new corp/alliance, I want to do a little FC'ing. Training Leadership V is gonna take me almost 6 days, though! This doesn't give people a huge advantage, and it is available to everyone through PLEX.
2. I've heard that people want name changes. this would be a great PLEX thing. As for "making spais more prevalent," I think the name change should appear in the Corp history. After all, now that we're incarnated, quite a few names are ill-fitting.
3. Character re-customizations (including race, bloodline, etc.).
I support CCP making money through MT's, though I do think $60 monocle is kinda ridiculous...
What i want to see is the ability to increase ones sec status to get rid of one of the most boring grinds in the game. That being said i'd prefer they fix the core gameplay to make sec/standings grinding a bit less tedious than its present kill a rat jump to next system method.
ReplyDeleteAfter 6 years of playing I've decided to cancel my two subs regarding this. It's kind of sad. I've really enjoyed the game and all the time, effort (and money!) I've put into those toons. But I'm kind of done with CCP's latest direction. Incarna could have been epic and they really did flop it, I think.
ReplyDeleteI've gotta say - I don't get the anger. As Hunt4rr said, above, you can already use RealCashMoney (tm) to buy advantage (PLEX) in EVE.... what's the big deal if there are some more targeted convenience/advantage items?!?
ReplyDelete