« EVE Online: CCP Support Rocks! | Main | First New Year's Resolution Gone »

February 06, 2008

Comments

Draekas

Yep, I personally don't mind it. I haven't paid a subscription fee for several months now, as I have recently switched to buying GTC for my accounts.

Another thing people will do, as you touched on briefly, is to sell characters. They will get trial accounts and 3 or 6 month subscriptions after that. They'll have a set skill training schedule, which they generally won't play at all. After the training is done, they'll auction the character securely through EVE's Character and Timecode Bazaar forum for billions of isk.

Of course, people don't just trade characters for the isk, they sometimes feel like trying something new, without starting over. So they'll sell thier Gallente skilled pilot, and then buy an Amarr pilot, or something along those lines. CCP charges a transfer fee (the person who pays is decided in the transfer agreement between the buyer/seller) for the service.

I have yet to buy or sell a character though. I tend to enjoy the journey, rather than the destination. I know someone in game who has though, as he got bored and wanted to change things up. So he sold his 3 year old Gallente character, and bought an Amarr one, as I described above.

I honestly don't see the problem with either of these things. However, I don't tend to define my own enjoyment of a game, by what other people own or do.

Nuyan

Never dealed with GTC's myself, but I think you got a few things wrong. I don't think CCP is doing this to allow a safe way of trading for players, CCP is doing this to enable people (from for example poorer countries) to play Eve-O without paying real-life money for it.

So people can still make money with buying GTC's and sell the codes, but it's rather minimal and there isn't that much demand for it. The 150 million ISK or so you can make with one GTC, isn't all that much and doesn't have much of an influence in the game. And if you want to get a billion ISK or so, you need to buy and sell a lot of time-codes, which results in the ISK price for these time-code lowers because there usually isn't enough demand.

I'm not sure how big the illegal ISK buying is, but it surely is a more cheap way to get a lot of ISK (and a lot more risky, yes). Big thing in Eve compared to other MMO's, is that the farmers have to deal with the consequences. Farmers in Eve get their ships blown up by players, while a hunter bot in WoW can easily level up (especially on a PvE server). Of course they can stay in the more safe high-sec, but that's where they make a lot less ISK. The ISK farmers make in Eve-O is probably incomparable by the ISK the well-organized player alliances make.

So it doesn't really have much influence on the bigger scale in Eve Online. I assume the amount of people in a raiding guild in WoW that buy gold is relatively a lot higher than in a strong 0.0 alliance in Eve-O.

Saylah

Like you, I'm not overly concerned about how others acquire their in game items either - except for out-n-out cheating. I suppose to some folks RMT is just that but I'm not convinced.

I rather enjoy seeing people become creative with in-game items and the economy, it lends more of a virtual world feeling to the whole atmosphere. People selling runs thru dungeons, small fees for portals, conjured food and so forth... Make a buck how you can behavior and I like the extra dimension it adds to the game.

Personally, I don't care about power leveled characters either. Why should I? I think they're either people who don't have time for the mundane or want and alt without the duplicate grind. If they made more aspects of leveling fun or more diverse the second time around, that would solve a lot of the problem. People would feel like they're missing out on something. As it is now, they're not missing much the 2nd, 3rd and 4th go 'round on leveling toons.

I found it VERY interesting to see an MMO with legal and illegal RMT-like activity while sustaining a robust and active player driven economy. The nay-sayers should think again.

Saylah

@Nuyan...Hmm, that's an interesting perspective...play without paying real money. My doubt about that reason is that if you have enough money for a computer and an internet connection, I'm thinking that moves you out of the poverty bracket where paying for a game is out of reach. Dunno, that's just me.

Either way, I think it's an interesting game mechanic - that and that they allow character trading/sales.

Relmstein

Yes the impact of selling/buying game currency is much less in a world where you have negative sum gear progression. Basically, no matter how good a ship you get in EVE it can always be destroyed. Thus there is no real permanent gear progression in EVE and the economy becomes resilient to the infusions of currency that farmers bring into it. However, this game design is impractical for must MMOs since:

1) Most people won't play games where items they've earned can be destroyed. Gamers come to MMOs for a persistent game world and a lot of people want their gear progression to also be persistent.

2) Games which are based on negative sum gear progression are usually based on non-consensual PvP. If the PvP was more consensual based like a battleground or arena then most players wouldn't consent to it unless they were sure they could win and keep their gear. Since non-consensual PvP isn't exactly the most popular style of play you can see why this wouldn't work for most games.

Mahogany Finish

> I found it VERY interesting to see an MMO with legal and illegal RMT-like activity while >sustaining a robust and active player driven economy. The nay-sayers should think >again.

It's an MMO with 200,000 players on a single server. The sheer size of the economy means it is barely affected by such small-scale RMT. In a sharded game, with perhaps a a tenth or less of that population per shard and much easier ways to farm currency, illegal RMT can have an ENORMOUS impact on the economy.

Saylah

@Mahogany... I think the only way that argument can hold water is if we knew that EO RMT was much less than that of other games. I've never seen any statistics showing what % of in-game currency can be attributed to RMT in any of the games - EO or WOW. It seems to work just fine in EO. Is that because it's a much smaller percentage?? Don't know. Is it the same or less than the % of RMT currency in WOW, which I'd hazard a guess is VERY high? Again, we don't know. If however, it's relatively the same - EO vs other games that don't allow it, then the fear of it is probably unfounded beyond the ramifications of the illegal activity surrounding it.

To make the case decidedly for or against the impact of generally legalizing RMT within a game, we need to know what % of the game economy is already based on RMT.

Letrange

Actually it would be interesting to see the impact of the removal of the illegal RMT activities in EvE. Per see most of us don't have a problem with anyone using their in game isk to buy a time card that someone else has purchased. The things we object to are the farmers that use bots to mine out belts in low sec. These are the ones that generally are selling isk on the illegal market.
Course the PvP'ers would be sad to see them go. We just had our Chinese new year mineral price spike. Arround the new year, the Chinese farmers take about a 2 week break and the mineral market is affected as supplies of minerals on the open market drop and prices shoot up across the board (an 80mil mineral basket hit 90mil recently). Especially noticeable with the war in the west going on. The eventual effect of this is that prices for commodities (Ships are commodities for PvP'ers and semi-durables for carebares) will rise as the ones that were priced at the previous levels sell out (unless someone is dumping usually the floor for anyone producing a particular object is around mineral cost +10% - under that producers move to other items). Since PvPer's tend to supplement their income by ratting and/or missioning as opposed to mining their income will stay the same and the price of everything they buy will be going up. So generally speaking PvP'ers object the least to illegal RMT because it's effects keep the market for their toys cheaper (opposite effect of what happens thru RMT activities in other games where you see inflation as the money supply grows).
The Carebears on the other hand really would like the Illegal RMT to go away since then they'd be able to make more isk mining (reduced supply causes their goods to go up in value).
There is talk of moving all mining to the exploration mechanism (ship board scanners) so that the bots have a much harder time of it. We'll have to see if that pans out.

Mahogany Finish

I'm about to put up a post responding to this, but it will basically back up my statement earlier that the sanctioned RMT isn't having an appreciable affect on the main game. The only thing holding it up is a dev quote I'm sure I saw somewhere about it.

...Stand by.

Saylah

HAHA. That's actually funny, it's like breaking news :-)

Xan

It seems to me that you are missing the real point of timecodes. Who issues timecodes? CCP. Who does the money for buying them go to? CCP. Now suppose you buy ISK from "quickisk.com". Who goes money to? Farmers. Who is pissed off? CCP. Simple as that. Anything else is more or less irrelevant as money is what business is all about. And EO is a business. Just my opinion. Feel free to prove me wrong if you can ;).

fman


THIS COMPANY IS FULLY REGISTERED WITH UK GOVERNMENT.
COMPANY FULL INFORMATION AS FOLLOWS.
Company Details - COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY LIMITED
Registered No.02118044
ADDRESS EEL HOUSE, 2 CHORLEY OLD ROAD, BOLTON, LANCASHIRE, BL1 3AA,UK.
CONTACT NUMBER:+447045720275.

We are the leading importer^ exporter for all communications such as

mobile phones,datacable.games,lcd tv ,plasma tv,ipods,laptops, we

supply to users and retailers other electronic products,such as

Portable DVD,Car DVD,MP3,MP4,LCD TV,Plasma TV,CD ROM,DVD Writer,etc.

Legit and serious buyer should feel free to contact us at

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]


COMPANY FULL PRICE LIST AS FOLLOWS.
NOKIA AEON ................$600
NOKIA E90 COMMUNICATOR....$300
NOKIA N95..................$280
NOKIA N76..................$180
NOKIA N91 JUST FOR $150USD
NOKIA N92 JUST FOR...$150USD
NOKIA N80 JUST FOR $150USD
NOKIA N71 JUST FOR ...$180USD
NOKIA N70 JUST FOR ...$180USD
NOKIA E60 JUST FOR A $150USD
NOKIA E61 FOR At ..$170USD
NOKIA 9500 COMMUNICATOR JUST FOR ..$130USD
NOKIA 9300 COMMUNICATOR JUST FOR ..$130USD
NOKIA 7360 JUST FOR ..$1000USD
NOKIA 7370 JUST FOR ..$100USD
NOKIA 770 JUST FOR .$100USD
Nokia n93 JUST FOR ..$150
nOKIA N73 JUST FOR...$150
NOKIA 8800 JUST FOR $150USD
NOKIA 8800 NEW EDITION SIROCCO...$200
NOKIA N90 JUST FOR $150USD


Play station 1......... $105
Play station 2 ....$110
Play station 3.....$200
Xbox 360.........$150
Nintendo WII .....$150USD

TOM TOM GO 910 $180USD
TOM TOM GO 510 $180USD
Tom Tom Go 700 GPS Navigator $200usd
TomTom GO 710 $200usd
TomTom GO 500 $170usd
TomTom GO 300 $150usd

Auto Charts
Pioneer AVIC-S1:::$350usd
Pioneer AVIC-Z1 Navigation AVICZ::::$420usd
Pioneer AVIC-N3 Multimedia Navigation Receiver $380usd
Pioneer Avic-z1 Dvd Player Navigation System $300usd
Pioneer Avic z2 Dvd player Navigation system..$380usd
Pioneer AVIC-D1 / AVICD1 ::::::$200usd
Pioneer AVIC-D2 DVD Navigation System $200USD

Apple ipod touch...........................$150
Apple ipod 16gb............................$150
NEW aPPLE Video ipod 80 gb.................$170
Apple 60 GB iPod Vidoe....................$120 USD
Apple 4 GB iPod Mini Silver M9160LL/A ....$70 USD
Apple 60 GB iPod Photo M9830LL/A..........$90 USD
Apple 60 GB iPod photo ...................$85 USD
Apple 30 GB iPod Photo M9829LL/A..........$70 USD
Apple 512 MB iPod Shuffle MP3 Player......$60 USD
Apple 4 GB iPod Mini Blue M9436LL/A.......$65 USD
Apple 2 GB iPod Nano......................$70 USD
Apple 4 GB iPod Nano......................$90 USD
Apple 20GB iPod ..........................$110 USD

NEXTEL 1930 JUST FOR...$120USD
NEXTEL i870at JUST FOR ..$120usd
NEXTEL i450 JUST FOR ..90usd
NEXTEL 1860 JUST FOR ..$110USD

Apple Iphone 16gb .....$300
Apple Iphone 8gb........$250
Lg prada................$250
Lg ku970................$150


(IMATE JASJAR PHONES)
I-MATE JASJER........$110USD
I-MATE Smartflip ....... $120
I-MATE JAMin ......... $170
I-MATE JASJAR ........ $190
I-MATE K-JAM ......... $140
I-MATE SP5 ......... $130

Qtek phones
Qtek s200 =$100
Qtek 9000 =$130
Qtek 8310 =$100
Qtek 8300 =$100
Qtek 9100 =$150

SAMSUNG SCH i830 JUST FOR ...$145USD
SAMSUNG MM-1940 JUST FOR ..$140USD
SAMSUNG SGH D307JUST FOR..$140USD
SAMSUNG SGH D720 JUST FOR ...$140USD
SAMSUNG D500 JUST FOR ..$120USD

MOTOROLA V3 RAZ JUST FOR..$120USD BLACK COLOR,

SIDEKICK 4 lx JUST FOR ..$2000USD
SIDEKICK 1 JUST FOR ..$90USD
SIDEKICK 2 JUST FOR ..$110USD
SIDEKICK 3 JUST FOR ..$130USD
SIDEKICK 4 JUST FOR ..$180USD

SONYERICSSON P1I JUST FOR ...$180USD
SONYERICSSON P990 JUST FOR ...$180USD
SONYERICSSON W900 JUST ........$150USD
SONYERICSSON W950i JUST .......$160USD
SONYERICSSON Z500a JUST FOR ...$150usd
SONYERICSSON Z520 JUST FOR ....$145USD
SONYERICSSON P910 JUST FOR.......$120USD
SONYERICSSON P800 JUST FOR........$130USD
SONYERICSSON K750i JUST FOR .....$120USD
SONYERICCSON W800I JUST FOR .......120

PIONEER CDJ 1000 MK 3 CD DJ PACKAGE .........$1300
PIONNER CDJ DJM 800 .........................$570


Paq Pocket PC H4150 ========= $190
Asus MyPal A716 ================= $175
IPaq Pocket PC H4350 ====== $185
Pocket PC E405 ======= $120

PalmOne Zire 31 =====$65
palm Treo 650=====================$240


iBook G4
MacBook Pro 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo ..............$700
iBook G4 1GHz 12.1" Screen ......................$350
Apple iBook G4 12" 1.33GHz Laptop ................$250
Apple G4 iBook Notebook Computer 1.4 GHz, 14 in...$750
Apple G4 iBook Notebook Computer 1.33 GHz, 12 in...$500
Apple G4 iBook Notebook Computer 1.33 GHz, 12 in...$480
Apple G4 iBook Notebook Computer $1.4 GHz, 14 in....$800
PowerBook G4 17" 1.5GHz.............................$850


Apple macbooks
Apple MacBook (MA700LL/A) Mac Notebook..$550
Apple MacBook Pro (MA610LL) Notebook.....$900
Apple MacBook Pro (MA611LL/A) Notebook....$1100
Apple MacBook (MA701LL/A) Mac Notebook.....$500
Apple MacBook (MB062LL/A) Mac Notebook.....$500

Dell Laptops
Dell XPS M1710 PC Notebook........$500usd
Dell XPS M2010 PC Notebook........$550usd
Dell Latitude D600.................. $250
Dell Latitude D500t................. $200
Dell Inspiron 6000.................. $250
Dell Latitude D505.................. $300
Dell Latitude D610.................. $330
Dell Latitude D510.................. $300
Dell Inspiron 9300.................. $350

Sony Laptops
Sony VAIO VGN-T1.................. $600
Sony VAIO VGN-FS315............... $390
Sony VAIO VGN-S3.................. $400
Sony VAIO VGN-FS215............... $280
Sony VAIO VGN-S4.................. $400
Sony VAIO PCG-K35................. $460

All Toshiba laptops
Toshiba Satellite PRO L10........... $300
Toshiba M200........................ $450
Toshiba R100........................ $400
Toshiba Qosmio E10.................. $650
Toshiba Satellite PRO L20........... $220
Toshiba M100........................ $580
Toshiba M300........................ $600
Toshiba Portege A200................ $320
Toshiba Satellite L10............... $330
Toshiba Qosmio F20.................. $380


Panasonic TH-65PZ750U TH65PZ750U 65 1080p Plasma.....$2200.
58" Plasma HDTV 1080P ..........................................$1900
50" Panasonic HD Plasma TV 1080P.............................$1500
Panasonic TH-58PZ700U Plasma HDTV ...............................$1400
Sony 46" Bravia LCD HDTV..........................................$800
Sony 40 Bravia LCD HDTV KDL40S3000 ...............................$700
Sony BRAVIA 32" Flat-Panel LCD HDTV ..............................$400
Sony BRAVIA 1080p 46" Flat-Panel LCD HDTV ........................$1050
Sharp 15INCH......................................................$350
Sharp - LC-26D5U 6-IN..............................................$750
Sharp LC32D62U 32''.................................................800
Sharp Kameyama LI 46 - LC46D92U ...................................$700
Sony Grand WEGA KDFE42A10 42 in LCD Rear-Projection TV ........... $400
Sony Grand WEGA SXRD KDS-R60XBR1 60 in Rear-Projection LCoS TV.....$600
Sony Grand WEGA SXRD KDS-R50XBR1 50 in Rear-Projection LCoS TV ... $450
Sony Wega KDF-E50A10 50 in LCD Rear-Projection TV............. $500
Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK 50 in Flat Panel Plasma TV.............. $650
Panasonic 50" 720p Plasma HDTV..................................$700
Panasonic TC32LX700 32" Class LCD Color TV and HDTV..............$850
56 In. LCD Projection HDTV ......................................$1000


COMPANY IS FULLY REGISTERED WITH UK GOVERNMENT.
COMPANY FULL INFORMATION AS FOLLOWS.
Company Details - COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY LIMITED
Registered No.02118044
ADDRESS EEL HOUSE, 2 CHORLEY OLD ROAD, BOLTON, LANCASHIRE, BL1 3AA,UK.
CONTACT NUMBER :+447045720275.
CONTACT PERSON:FREEMAN

Msn Chat:[email protected]

Olny legit and serious buyers allowed to contact

[email protected].

THANKS BY MANAGEMENT.

mareviq

There is one more thing that is overlooked here - when you buy a timecode via the secure system, it's automatically added to your remaining subscription time. This means that while it's possible to convert real money to ISK, it's NOT possible to do it the other way round (you can only convert ISK to extending subscription time).

benson1

OUR COMPANY XMAS BONANZA OFFER COMMENCE TODAY 17TH OF OCTOBER TO END 2ND OF JANUARY 2009,
AT THE BEST AFFORDABLE PRICE AND MANY OTHER XMAS GIFT FROM THE COMPANY AS YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER BOTH OLD AND NEW CUSTOMERS ARE HIGHLY WELCOME.

DIRECT MOBILE PHONES LIMITED is a recognized distributor of
various consumer electronics and we are one of the leading mobile
phone distributors.
Registered No.04723250

We ship to the expectation of our customers throughout the nation
via fedex. We specialize in a wide range of products such as
Laptops, Mobile Phones, Video Games Console, Plasma & LCD TV, MP3 &
MP4 Players, Digital Cameras, Dvd Players (Etc) At Discounted
Rates. For more information regarding purchase, kindly contact me
at [email protected], I look forward in placing your order
with us and giving you the most competent services as we are using
this medium to look for buyers of various electronics product we
stock.


[email protected]

Contact number. +447045724427
Contact person.Benson Owen


Apple iPhone 3G Unlocked @200usd
Apple iPhone 8GB Unlocked @150usd
Apple iPhone 16GB Unlocked @220usd

Samsung Instinct @250
Samsung i900 Omnia @ 220usd
Samsung SGHB600 @ 200usd
Samsung i760 @ 190uad

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 @ 295usd
Sony Ericsson W960i @ 220usd
Sony Ericsson W950i @ 150usd


HTC Touch Pro ....... $220
HTC Touch Diamond - - $200
HTC Advantage X7510 - - $200
HTC P3470 - - $150
HTC Touch Cruise - - $200


Blackberry Bold 9000 @220
Blackberry Curve 8320 @200
Blackberry Curve 8310 @190
Blackberry Curve 8300 @ 160

Nokia N96 16GB @200usd
Nokia N95 8GB @150usd
Nokia N93i@ 150usd
Nokia n93 @ 140usd
Nokia N92 @ 130usd
Nokia N91 8GB @ 145usd
Nokia N80 @150usd
Nokia N81 @150usd

DIRECT MOBILE PHONES LIMITED strive to offer high-quality
products at competitive prices. All of our products are brand new,
never used, never rebuilt. We maintain multiple-supplier sources
for our products as a means of being able to continually offer the
best products at the best prices. Contact us for further
informations about warranty process.

NOTE: Once shipment commerce, products will be delivered to your
door step within 24/48 hrs via either FedEx Or UPS Courier
Services.

Kindly Read Our Return Policy Process As Stated Below:
Before you return your items, you must contact us and receive a
Return Merchandise Authorization Number (RMA). Any returns sent
without an RMA number will not be accepted by DIRECT MOBILE PHONES LIMITED.
We assume all responsibility for the package until it arrives at our office.

We are committed to doing all it takes to keep you a satisfied
customer! Many thanks and God bless you as you place your order
with us today.

BY MANAGEMENTS

The comments to this entry are closed.