Phase 3: Profit !

This is a cross mmog post, will be posted on both blog of mine,
http://phase3profit.net (WoW) and http://warpto.me/i-trader (EvE Online)

(I have less topic on Wow to share recently, this is a ice-breaker post, since Gevlon had hit a topic I had deep thoughts about…)

Gevlon at http://greedygoblin.blogspot.com/2011/03/intra-player-microtransaction.html
and
Rohan at http://blessingofkings.blogspot.com/2011/03/trading-time-for-money.html
talked about Intra-playerbase microtransaction.

While both blogger are from Azeroth (Wolrd of Warcraft), like any new capsuleer (I assume some of them are reading this post as well) have little knowledge about what happened in the New Eden (EvE online)

here is a little background:

Background

EvE online’s developer CCP, decided to include Intra-playerbase microtransaction in EvE online.
PLEX – Pilot License Extension, an in game item, which can be bought from CCP
is effectively an item when “consumed” add to the account’s 1 month subscription.

CCP will make 15% markup for buying the the tradeable version of PLEX (Compare to directly subscript a month player’s own account)

This had been running for years (As far as I can tell, it’s back from 2009)
Since it’s fully supported by CCP, the transaction is totally secure, and not shady business running.
This proved to be a good example for the discussion, since we have  tons of data (Official from CCP)

But there may be some major differences in two games.

Difference

1. Eve is hard and harsh. Imagine when you die, all your gears are lost, and you better have another set of gears (Ship) ready, or the station trader will be happy to rip you off, unless you are willing to wait a day or two.

2. Isk (Gold) matters. In Wow, Extra gold do not give you much use. Other than Mekgineer’s Chopper and Grand Ice Mammoth.
In Eve, every thing is Isk, if you want a decent ship, you need Isk. If you want to achieve anything big, you need even more. It’s also matters that, it takes Isk to make Isk. Evem if you grinding like mining, you need at least some capital to start mining effectively. Most of the player would complain not enough Isk(Gold), since when you have more, you want to achieve more.

Failing manage your wallet also means fail the game at all.

My observation

1. Main source of PLEX is not from new/lowbie player, but rather old player who want to have the short cut or boost to his activities. Since “High-end” activities take much more Isk (2 PLEX for a freight for instance) to maintain, while one PLEX can feed a new player’s ship (42 x T1 Cruisers) for a month or two.

2. The transacted money is hardly for social value at all. While there are some gold sink as well (Faction ships), there are much more place that a player can spend in EvE. An showing off a really rare ship is more likely to attract suicide gank (attacks) rather then Envy sights.

3. Efficient or Hardworking Isk-maker live their game for “free” on the exchanging “service” for the game time. The market itself is self-balanced.

4. Bot and Black market Isk (Gold) Seller still exists, even if it did reduced a lot. Since some player just want RL cash, instead of game time alone.

Disclaimer: I never buy gold in Wow, but did buy two Plex in Eve for starting budget for my trader. In both case, it’s valid for the EULA on both game.

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