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This is our soapbox. From time to time we will comment here in the form of articles regarding in-game events or policies that affect players. We will also give you the opportunity to leave your own comments on our future articles (unsuitable comments will be removed). If there is a subject you think we should comment on, contact us here.
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Enough Bang For Your Buck? - 2nd August 2007
I have been playing Eve Online now for nearly 3 years, so I feel I am quite experienced with this game. However, if it wasn't for you my readers, and the monthly commission payments I get from CCP for referring new players (which essentially means I get to play Eve Online for free) then I may have difficulty justifying the cost. Not only the cost in money, but the cost in time required to justify the monthly expense. Let me explain.....
Eve Online is different from the other MMO's in that it offers a real sense of loss. If you die in Eve, you have invariably lost a ship. We all want to fly the biggest most powerful ship we can. It's one of the driving forces that keeps us playing. As a result it is likely you have lost an expensive ship with expensive modules. These need to be replaced. So you had insurance which indeed softens the blow, but you still need to insure the replacement ship. Maybe even get a new clone if you were unlucky enough to get podded too. For the majority of us, i.e. the honest player it often means us getting out a barge and having to graft for a while to replace or raise the ISK required to get the new ship. Whether you sell the minerals or use the minerals the build ships to sell, you still need to mine. Of course there is also mission running and 0.0 ratting. But that too is arduous when you have to keep repeating the same missions over and over and 0.0 ratting comes with high risk. In my opinion the best way to make money is to invest in high end BPO's. Research them, and sell the copies. But that requires a large investment to start with. You could trade in high sec. But again, it's a lot of running around and takes a lot of time. All the methods of making ISK are either very time consuming or require very heavy investment to start with. I own 60 ISSO shares. In total they cost me 600m ISK. I get 30m in dividends every month. It may take 20 months to get my investment back, but at least I have a steady income coming in without having to lift a finger. The majority of players don't have that kind of ISK to invest though. The accepted fact is that making ISK in Eve requires grafting. It's not the most enjoyable of activities, and is quite often tedious and boring. It is also unfortunately a large part of the game. This results in two things:
a) A player is extremely careful in what he does and looks to minimize the chances of losing his ship. This in effect reduces the total amount of PvP taking place in New Eden as we are reluctant to lose expensive ships when we can't afford to replace them. So we fly in packs, but then so do the enemy for the same reason, so it becomes a case of who has the bigger pack in most cases. This causes delays while you wait for players to refit their ship or arrive at the rally point. Quite often in my experience you can be sat around for 2hrs after the stated start time. You get frustrated, you get bored. Players are reluctant to engage in PvP if they are unsure they will win. This results in being camped in a station. When a player does lose a ship, and the reality of the inevitable graft hits home, they get aggrieved, often resulting to smack-talk to air their frustration.
b) The less honest player buys their ISK from ebay or from one of the countless websites that sells MMO currencies. These websites employ people on near slave labour to farm ISK 18hrs a day. I remember watching a TV documentary where they secretly filmed inside one of these illegal 'factories' in China. The employees sat in cramped, smoky, poorly ventilated, poorly lit rooms. In this particular case, many of them were wearing 'nappies' or sanitary pants so they didn't leave their seat if they needed the toilet. They all slept on-site too, in sleeping bags on the floor in the room next door. It was truly horrendous to see people living and working in those conditions for about $5-$10 per day. Why did they do it? Because where they live that's GOOD pay.
Because making ISK can be so boring and tedious the temptation is there to buy ISK. Which in turn feeds this industry, even at the risk of having their account banned. We live in a society of instant gratification. We want our new shiny ship and we want it now!
I struggle to believe that the in-game market represents true pricing as far as what people are willing or able to pay. I believe CCP should raise the amount of ISK given as mission rewards and NPC bounties. Maybe even have NPC's drop ISK as loot. The increase in available funds and less time required to raise funds would result in a lot more PvP as players would be more willing to risk a ship if it was more easily replaceable, less aggrieved players, less time waiting around trying to get a fleet together, less people buying ISK = less demand = less ISK farming. People would play Eve Online for longer than the current 18-24 months before they get bored (it is generally accepted that it is after this period of time that most players stop playing). Come on CCP, give us more bang for our buck!
Monma Cicov.
Eve Online is different from the other MMO's in that it offers a real sense of loss. If you die in Eve, you have invariably lost a ship. We all want to fly the biggest most powerful ship we can. It's one of the driving forces that keeps us playing. As a result it is likely you have lost an expensive ship with expensive modules. These need to be replaced. So you had insurance which indeed softens the blow, but you still need to insure the replacement ship. Maybe even get a new clone if you were unlucky enough to get podded too. For the majority of us, i.e. the honest player it often means us getting out a barge and having to graft for a while to replace or raise the ISK required to get the new ship. Whether you sell the minerals or use the minerals the build ships to sell, you still need to mine. Of course there is also mission running and 0.0 ratting. But that too is arduous when you have to keep repeating the same missions over and over and 0.0 ratting comes with high risk. In my opinion the best way to make money is to invest in high end BPO's. Research them, and sell the copies. But that requires a large investment to start with. You could trade in high sec. But again, it's a lot of running around and takes a lot of time. All the methods of making ISK are either very time consuming or require very heavy investment to start with. I own 60 ISSO shares. In total they cost me 600m ISK. I get 30m in dividends every month. It may take 20 months to get my investment back, but at least I have a steady income coming in without having to lift a finger. The majority of players don't have that kind of ISK to invest though. The accepted fact is that making ISK in Eve requires grafting. It's not the most enjoyable of activities, and is quite often tedious and boring. It is also unfortunately a large part of the game. This results in two things:
a) A player is extremely careful in what he does and looks to minimize the chances of losing his ship. This in effect reduces the total amount of PvP taking place in New Eden as we are reluctant to lose expensive ships when we can't afford to replace them. So we fly in packs, but then so do the enemy for the same reason, so it becomes a case of who has the bigger pack in most cases. This causes delays while you wait for players to refit their ship or arrive at the rally point. Quite often in my experience you can be sat around for 2hrs after the stated start time. You get frustrated, you get bored. Players are reluctant to engage in PvP if they are unsure they will win. This results in being camped in a station. When a player does lose a ship, and the reality of the inevitable graft hits home, they get aggrieved, often resulting to smack-talk to air their frustration.
b) The less honest player buys their ISK from ebay or from one of the countless websites that sells MMO currencies. These websites employ people on near slave labour to farm ISK 18hrs a day. I remember watching a TV documentary where they secretly filmed inside one of these illegal 'factories' in China. The employees sat in cramped, smoky, poorly ventilated, poorly lit rooms. In this particular case, many of them were wearing 'nappies' or sanitary pants so they didn't leave their seat if they needed the toilet. They all slept on-site too, in sleeping bags on the floor in the room next door. It was truly horrendous to see people living and working in those conditions for about $5-$10 per day. Why did they do it? Because where they live that's GOOD pay.
Because making ISK can be so boring and tedious the temptation is there to buy ISK. Which in turn feeds this industry, even at the risk of having their account banned. We live in a society of instant gratification. We want our new shiny ship and we want it now!
I struggle to believe that the in-game market represents true pricing as far as what people are willing or able to pay. I believe CCP should raise the amount of ISK given as mission rewards and NPC bounties. Maybe even have NPC's drop ISK as loot. The increase in available funds and less time required to raise funds would result in a lot more PvP as players would be more willing to risk a ship if it was more easily replaceable, less aggrieved players, less time waiting around trying to get a fleet together, less people buying ISK = less demand = less ISK farming. People would play Eve Online for longer than the current 18-24 months before they get bored (it is generally accepted that it is after this period of time that most players stop playing). Come on CCP, give us more bang for our buck!
Monma Cicov.
