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CCP responds to uproar over leaked company newsletter regarding EVE's virtual store

An internal CCP newsletter titled Fearless was leaked yesterday, which stated the Noble Exchange virtual store would contain more items for sale than just cosmetics.

EVE Online players, already stinging from news earlier in the week that Avatar items would cost a small fortune, were outraged over the leaked document, due to the newsletter's contents stating the store would also include "new items, ammunition, ships, etc. that can be purchased outright.”

These items were also listed for a substantial price.

Because of the uproar, CCP has issued an official response to player concerns over the matter.

"Fearless is one of our company values," wrote EVE's senior producer, Arnar Hrafn Gylfason. "It‘s also the name of an internal newsletter that has been designed and developed specifically to catalyze discussions on controversial topics. One of the biggest elephants in the room these days, not just for EVE but for the gaming industry as a whole, is virtual goods sales and microtransactions.

"Therefore we dedicated an entire issue to exactly that topic. It‘s worth mentioning that the topic of the issue was 'Greed is good?' as a way to ask a question that would then be debated back and forth and often exaggerated purposefully to draw contrasts and make points. The result of that is now widely available on the Internet.

"The opinions and views expressed in Fearless are just that; opinions and views. They are not CCP policy nor are they a reliable source of CCP views as a company. The employees who submitted articles to that newsletter did exactly what they were asked to do, write about theories and opinions from an exaggerated stand.

"While it‘s perfectly fine to disagree and attack CCP over policies or actions we take, we think it‘s not cool how individuals that work here have been called out and dragged through the mud due to something they wrote in the internal company newsletter. Seriously, these people were doing their jobs and do not deserve the hate and shitstorm being pointed at them."

Gylfason the went on to compare the prices of the vanity items to that of real-life clothing.

"People have been shocked by the price range in the NeX store, but you should remember that we are talking about clothes," he wrote. "Look at the clothes you are currently wearing in real life. Do you have any specific brands? Did you choose it because it was better quality than a no-name brand?

"Assume for a short while that you are wearing a pair of $1,000 jeans from some exclusive Japanese boutique shop. Why would you want to wear a pair of $1,000 jeans when you can get perfectly similar jeans for under $50? What do other people think about you when they see you wearing them? For some you will look like the sad culmination of vainness while others will admire you and think you are the coolest thing since sliced bread.

"Whichever it is, it is clear that by wearing clothes you are expressing yourself and that the price is one of the many dimensions that clothes possess to do that in addition to style and fit. You don't need to buy expensive clothes. In fact you don't need to buy any clothes. Whatever you choose to do reflects what you are and what you want others to think you are."

The producer goes on to say CCP will introduce items at other price points to the store, which will be priced both lower and higher that what is currently in-store at the moment.

Thanks, MMOcrunch.

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Stephany Nunneley-Jackson

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Stephany is VG247’s News Editor, with 22 years experience (with 15 of them at VG247). With a brain that lacks adhesive ducks, the ill-tempered, chaotic neutral fembot does her best to bring you the most interesting gaming news. She is also unofficially the site’s Lord of the Rings/Elder Scrolls Editor.

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