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Slippery slope - "it's just vanity items!"
neysuforus
Member Posts: 3
A little over a year ago, I posted this. http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/273536/page/1
Now i'm back, CCP have $$$ in their eyes.
So it began, the downward spiral and there was but the tiniest of whimpers, for the masses were content.
I previously started a thread on mmorpg.com (http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/273536/page/1) condemning CCPs choice to attempt and dodge the bot/RMT isk market problems that plague EVE, while all the time in the back of my mind I knew that it reallly didn't make a blind bit of difference.
Those ignorant virtual economists who bark on about RMT ruining the economy and the inbalance created by bot resources flowing into the market really are a laugh a minute.
The market in EVE is completely, utterly, 100% broken. Just as an example of the total market manipulation at a grand scale, there are players mostly of whom aren't botters or hackers but normally they do boil down to one of two things; either exploiters or people who have been in the right place at the right time and had a little foresight, I would mention the T2 lottery or Alliance leadership members but that would just spark off rants and ramblings.
Suffice to say, i'm a nobody in the terms of the grand scheme of things (watch people quote that bit..) and yet I know people in game with trillions of ISK and I stopped 'seriously' playing in 2005. So I dread to think the numbers that some people have now clogging up their wallets.
The problem CCP had and still has, is the bad press associated with RMT, botters and farmers, they wanted to save a little face as they are simply unable to shut the 'illegal' RMT system down, so, they attempted to instead gain from the ISK purchasing masses.
This is where those retarded virtual wannabe economists step in and point out that you aren't strictly buying ISK and somehow not damaging the economy or creating goods from nothing etc... /yawn
You can argue all you like, the point is, I pay some $$ and then I click some buttons and I have hundreds of millions (BILLIONS) of ISK in my ingame wallet. Fact.
The system is wholly a legal ISK purchasing item shop.
An item shop, for ISK.
As he viewed his kingdom, the vision of the subjugated masses invigorated him and he yearned for more.
Fast forward along the RMT (item shop) transaction for CCP and we come to stage 2.
The economy is faultering, EU countries are withering into nothing, many are in the process of taking Iceland and its banks to the cleaners to recover lost monies.
Sure you could argue "hey, CCP are doing great! Look at those subscriber numbers, better than ever!"
To that i would simply say, "hey, my second swimming pool isn't going to pay for itself!"
CCP has $$$ in its eyes, it sees a player base of mindless sheep, largely accepting of its ISK item shop and is now following in the footsteps of other larger MMORPG publishers and opening up the next step in the $$$ printing machine.
Blizzard followed the same process and at each and every step, the masses cried out;
"It's ONLY VANITY ITEMS"
Remember this, deny this ever happened, be a fanboi, be a hater, be a sheep, but remember this.
"It's ONLY VANITY ITEMS"
When game breaking, combat altering, playstyle changing services or items come onto the CCP RMT item shop market, remember those words.
For the haters, here, jump on me! For I shall mention Blizzard!
Started with vanity.
Moved onto 'premium services'
Now to play with your friends on battle.net you have to pay $$$
The slippery slope...
Comments
You stopped playing in 2005, but you know the economy is broken? Is this not the same rant I've heard since I installed the EvE client many years ago..."EvE is dead"? If CCP allows players to purchase boots and party hats for virtual avatars...so what? I understand you are making parallels to what Blizzard did with WoW.
All I can tell you is..if you are an unhappy customer, move on. If I feel that CCP is ruining my game experience by allowing some 17 y/o kid to dress up his amarrian slave girl in a Princess Leia metal bikini, then I'll move on. Vote with your wallet. Don't pay for something and complain.
You said it yourself. You are no one. I have several characters, some with over 100 mil sp. So what? If they break the game, I'll biomass them, and move on. Luckily for you, Summer is just around the corner. I know I will be taking advantage of the weather soon.
Doom and gloom posts are blase. I'm going outside to enjoy my day off. You should do the same.
Playing: BF4/BF:Hardline, Subnautica 7 days to die
Hiatus: EvE
Waiting on: World of Darkness(sigh)
Interested in: better games in general
I'm already outside in the sunshine at a coffee shop posting from my smartphone.
There, i'm cooler than you ...
/yawn
Then why do you even care? Move on with your life, that was 6yrs ago. 6 times longer than you could have possibly played.
CCP has RMT. Big deal. Nobody cares. The playerbase is happy with it. This isn't a big surprise. The RMT is well designed and completely unobtrusive, unlike most other games with any sort of RMT. Who would ever think that a Corporation's goal was to make money in any way they could?
If you don't like the RMT as far as the Avatars go, don't buy clothes for your Avatar. It's really that simple. If people aren't buying clothes, then they will change the system to get people to start buying clothes.
Until then, just go back to not playing.
You complain about RMT. Yet, you've been feeding CCP your money for the last 6yrs to keep a character trained that you don't even play. Hypocrite much?
But meh... I should have just realized this is nothing more than a troll anyway.
Got a Game Idea? Look Here!
Think what you want OP. I doubt CCP would add in gamebreaking items to the shop, and just keep it for avatar items/ship paintjobs/furniture. They won't screw up there game in that way, but if you believe otherwise you can.
I have to say I didn't read your post fully, but only skimmed over it. From what I read though, sounded too much like those doomsayers that shout on the side of streets. Guess that's what turned me off.
Instead of assuming wild things, why don't you WAIT and see how things turn out before making a hate post? But that would require you to be rational right?
Tis' not the way of a troll.
Step 1 happened a year ago. I don't need to wait, i've already been proven right.
CCP are on the same slipper slope of RMT and Cash shops as every other MMO.
Come back to the thread when you have a grasp on the situation.
They've been sharing with everyone they have plans to implement a cash shop for awhile now. There is no reason for you to think they will give the ones who use it an upper hand. Since you have such a grasp on the situation, why do you think they are going that route? Can you imagine the backlash they'll get from it? It'd be the worst decision to add it.
It allways amuses me, when threads like this do surface. The EvE-forums are aswell full of people crying about the game being broken because of PLEX, allthough this is total rubbish.
People like me, who have played EvE for the better part of the last six or seven years know, that PLEX didn't change EvE at all. Prior to PLEX there was GTCs being traded in the official forums for years allready and PLEX only made it easier to trade GTCs for ISK and more secure for both parties.
The new stuff that will be made available is tied to Incarna and will have absolutely no effect on the space-part of the game. It doesn't matter if you have hip clothes, when you're in your POD flying your Megathron into a battle.
Yes, people do fear that CCP will introduce items for cash that make you superior in space-battles, but those people don't have the slightest clue about how CCP ticks... CCP won't introduce cash-shop-items that will unbalance combat, as this would drive their customers away faster then you can count to ten.
All the stuff they do currently is done to test out all the features they're planning for World of Darkness, where vanity-items are on high demand by the target-audience.
Oh, and even Blizzard don't offer anything in ther cash-shop that will make you stronger in combat, they do aswell only offer vanity-items. So get a clue please.
Let the thread just die please...
Of course Eve has RMT, but it's not like any other games (that I know of) out there. It's a one way transaction and cannot be tranformed back into real life money. The only exception to this is those who sell it through illegitimate channels, but then again all MMOs have that particular issue.
CCP has developed a system that *ALL* RMT transactions are funneled through the player base. This means that all CCP gets out of it is the purchase game time. The people who purchase ISK legally are trading the game time they just purchased for people's hard (or not so hard) work to farm ISK. At no time does CCP create ISK out of thin air and trade it for real life money.
This new system only adds an extra complexity. People now have the option to sacrifice in game time in exchange for cosmetic currency. This in game time could have been paid for by the player himself/herself or purchased off the market using ISK. Also, I don't think that this will be the only way to gain the new cosmetic currency. More than likely, there will be something similar to the current loyalty point system where players can trade loyalty points for cosmetic currency as well.
All that aside, it astounds me why people feel the need to comment and berate games that they do not play and know nothing about. I have been playing EvE off and on since 2004. The game is no where near the game it used to be 2 years ago, nevermind 5, 6 or 7 years ago.
Also, if you insist on making the leap that this form of RMT is like all of the others (which I don't know of any other games that funnel RMT through players only) - the game itself costs the same amount as the 30 days you get free when purchased and CCP has never charged for any of the expansions that come out 1-2 times per year. CCP has never been about "$$$" as you put it. They are more concerned about quality and the investment they are making in a persistant brand that will contiune to grow for much longer than any other game out there on the MMO market.
I guess since the end of the world didn't happen last week, there's a lot of doomcriers looking for a new target at the moment.
Funny you'd chose a game for that ...
What's this all about? Is there a new form of RMT in the game? Does anyone have any links?
argh nm, OP should have told what this was about pff.
If you are interested in subscription or PCU numbers for MMORPG's, check out my site :
http://mmodata.blogspot.be/
Favorite MMORPG's : DAoC pre ToA-NF, SWG Pre CU-NGE, EVE Online
Apparently, YOU still don't have a grasp on the situation, because you STILL think that selling PLEX generates ISK out of nowhere. As of the original thread, in all your infinite wisdom, you have still ignored the fact that no ISK is created from thin air with PLEX, and thus does not have the effect on the economy you keep insisting it does.
$$$ = PLEX, and PLEX = ISK. The ISK comes from another player, who does not want to pay $$$ for his subscription cost. This is a closed loop. There is no ISK being deposited into the game world at any stage there in the transactions. There is only revenue going to the company from the purchase price of the PLEX. ISK is merely changing hands. The only ISK entering the game world at all, is from ISK faucets such as mission running, etc. And ISK leaves the economy constantly. PLEX is consumed when used, leaving the game world as well.
The price of PLEX is determined by supply and demand, so I'm baffled as to how you could say this has 'broken' the economy. But I'm sure with your degree in economics, you could come here and explain it to us in detail with all your wisdom.
It's alright, I'm sure you'll ignore the facts with speculation once again so I'm not counting on you to wow me here.
Already covered:
Can we let the thread die now please....? There is nothing to discuss here, really.
Well hmm, I will have to take a deeper look into this, but at first sight, CCP crossed the line and went from Plex ( player RMT ) to microtransactions.
Microtransactions on top of a subscription fee, they are milking the cow, instead of making a good game and get more customers.
I would think that a good implementation of Incarna would increase the playerbase by alot.
This is definatly a step in the wrong direction, how bad it is, time will tell.
If you are interested in subscription or PCU numbers for MMORPG's, check out my site :
http://mmodata.blogspot.be/
Favorite MMORPG's : DAoC pre ToA-NF, SWG Pre CU-NGE, EVE Online
OP title got it correct, "it's just vanity items"
Should have stopped right there, nothing factual in his post after that.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
This is a non-subject to most of the current player base. To be honest, you've not played the game in five years and you need to do some research. CCP have/are implemented a lot of things to deal with these issues and it's no longer half of the problem it was. Unlike other MMORPG's out there that completely ignore the problem totally.
As for the item shop, it's also a non-subject. Because it's an extension of the current system. I also know one thing, if I do decided to buy anything from it. I won't need to spend any real life money, all I need to do is to earn the ISK to buy the plex. In my opinion, CCP have put a lot of thought into the new item shop. So if it brings in a little extra money to improve EVE, then good on them. I also can't see CCP adding things to the item shop that will unbalance the universe, because if they did the player base would vote with their wallets.
Except that there will be a cash shop now with microtransactions ...
The old system did not allow you to buy directly from CCP, this will change when the new cash shop goes live.
If you are interested in subscription or PCU numbers for MMORPG's, check out my site :
http://mmodata.blogspot.be/
Favorite MMORPG's : DAoC pre ToA-NF, SWG Pre CU-NGE, EVE Online
Except for the fact that the market will likely be flooded with items from the cash shop, and that people will be able to purchase them with ISK. Which means that even though some people may be willing to spend $$$, others aren't, and will still be able to take part in all the content just the same. So essentially, it's the same as PLEX, which is not a downside at all to most EVE players.
Argh, seriously, it is definatly not just an extension of the current system, it introduces microtransactions.
Where in the current system you can only trade isk for plex with players, in the new system you will be able to buy a plex, convert to Aurum and buy from CCP directly.
Just like plex for remaps would have, thank god it was not released.
Now if you are ok with microtransactions for vanity items, then fine, but don't say it is just an extension of the current system, because it most definatly is not.
If you are interested in subscription or PCU numbers for MMORPG's, check out my site :
http://mmodata.blogspot.be/
Favorite MMORPG's : DAoC pre ToA-NF, SWG Pre CU-NGE, EVE Online
Why would people buy a plex, convert it to Aurum and then sell it on the market?
They can just as easely sell plex if they want ISK.
Either way, this is the first introduction of microtransactions to EVE, wether you are for or against them, at least you have to acknowledge that and think about it if you really want that.
If you are interested in subscription or PCU numbers for MMORPG's, check out my site :
http://mmodata.blogspot.be/
Favorite MMORPG's : DAoC pre ToA-NF, SWG Pre CU-NGE, EVE Online
I won't argue the point with you.
I don't see this as a problem.
Cash shops are here to stay. Get used to it.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I hate to tell you this, but the plex system is a micro transaction and this is just a natural evolution of that system. Of course the system also serves as a lot more than just a transaction. Because it also gives players a legitimate way of getting ISK for real money, that's the end truth of the matter. To be honest, it's the best transaction system in any MMORPG I've seen to date. I think that if more MMORPG's had a system similar to CCP's, the RM's of this world would have a very hard life indeed.