Wed, Jun 22, 2011 | 07:35 BST

EVE Online economy upset by avatar items

CCP has caused major upset in EVE Online by introducing eye-openingly expensive customisation options, and thereby throwing the game’s economy into a whirl.

CCP’s promised micro-transactions allow users to purchase avatar customisation items as part of the Incarna expansion, although they’re probably better classed as “macro-transactions”.

Massively reports that although these items are purchased with a new, secondary in-game currency called Aurum, players can exchange PLEX for it – that is, vouchers of subscription time.

This is where it gets complicated. Since players can exchange EVE Online’s primary in-game currency, ISK, for PLEX, the demand for vanity items has thrown the economy into whack, by driving the price of PLEX up to 400 million ISK.

Currently, you’ll pay an amount of in-game currency for a shirt equivalent to more than it costs to buy a real shirt. Players are asked to fork out the equivalent in in-game currency of more than $20 for a skirt, and over $68 for an admittedly awesome ocular implant.

CCP is yet to comment or offer a balancing solution.

Games eh? I love ‘em.

9 comments

Old MacDonald
22/06/11, 8:22 am

Serves them right.

jnms
22/06/11, 8:32 am

Thing is, these are purely vanity items. They don’t give any advantage to the players in any way at all…they merely alter the avatars appearance.

The cost of PLEX is currently €19 each. You can buy PLEX directly from CCP. The “monocle” costs 4 PLEX.

So yeah, it’s a bit of a joke…and if people are buying this stuff, the CCP are laughing their heads off.

FabioPal
22/06/11, 8:43 am

I don’t think that it’s CCP’s fault if there are players so stupid to spend so much money on a vanity item.

jnms
22/06/11, 10:17 am

It’s not CCP’s fault that they spent all that time developing such a system?

DarkElfa
22/06/11, 10:34 am

Actually, the price of PLEX has been hovering around 400 million since before the announcement of this system.

The prices though are dead on.

Currently, it’s cheaper to buy a Pirate Faction Battleship than a new blouse. Initially, for testing purposes on the test server, the costs were 1 Aurum a piece. Many of us expected the prices to go up to around a few hundred for clothing items. Instead, they’re at around 3400-3600, the entire amount of Aurum you get from a PLEX or 15 bucks. That’s fucking crazy.

jacobvandy
22/06/11, 11:04 am

Well, I refuse to believe that CCP did not consider very carefully what they were doing by allowing the exchange of PLEX for Aurum, especially if that’s the only way to get the latter (is it?). The exchange rate will work itself out in time, after the initial excitement over novelty items wears thin.

However, are the prices for clothing and stuff static, and set by CCP? If no, see above. If yes, LMAO, good for them!

jnms
22/06/11, 11:47 am

Yes the prices for Auruum are static and set by CCP. There is no player involvement in that side of the market.

bpcgos
22/06/11, 12:34 pm

It looks like CCP needs more money for their console game development!