News Eve Online going free-to-play in November

It was way too much effort for me to get into before with the limited trial account, but now I might be able to spend a bit more time learning.

From what i remember, you can buy game time with in game currency? So one could potentially play the subscribed version if they were successful in game?

 

Yes you can buy PLEX [which are equivalent to 1 months subscription] using the in-game market... so theoretically you can be 'subscribed' without paying anything... PLEX are expensive though so it's easier said than done.

 

I managed to break the chain a couple of years ago. I played from 2003 to about 2012 full time and then from 2012 to 2015 on occasion.

At one point I had 5 accounts, currently I have one account subbed but its just for skill training.

Even with this I dont think it would be enough to get me back into the game.

 

Last time I was online I had a NAV of about 50 Billion, I bought a bunch of ingame plex to keep one account subscribed to skill train. You know just in case if I ever went back, Id be able to fly new ships etc.

my NAV doesnt include the value of my characters, over the years all 8 of my alt slots are filled with "decent" characters with at least 60M SP, so they are worth a little isk.

I cant cash out the ingame isk any other way legally so I thought to myself why not.

 

I haven't played for a while, but would it be that different to people using trial accounts?

 

EVE Online has been slowly loosing players for years. The fact its free to play will not change this.

Game requires a minimum of a 6month commitment even if you do not play and just afk skills to fly anything remotely fun.

The fact you still need 2 game accounts past a certain point also harms the game.

 

This >>> "Lots of people will use such Alpha-clones to harass people in high-sec."
Pirates, troll's, scam artists, loot ninja's are all going to get much much worse, hi-sec will no longer be safe

 

People are getting used to ignoring "hooks" by now I think.

 

Yes, but IMO articles deliberately laced with "hooks" are no better than click bait. Discussion should happen naturally around a subject and not as a result of deliberately provocative writing which seems to be fashionable at the moment.

 

Plus I doubt even the most hardened EVE Online player could argue that it isn't effectively a massive Spreadsheet simulation, it'd be like trying to argue Water isn't Wet.

 

Water isn't wet, it just has an absence of dryness.

But yeah, in a game where some of the main focuses are to maximise your effectiveness at gathering resources and production, dominate a player run marketplace and evaluate the worth of exploration sites... it gets very difficult to say that it isn't one giant spreadsheet. I even struggle to not see the spreadsheets in massive fleet warfare (partly because I used to use spreadsheets to manage my fleets).


Anyway to the point of the news.
I'm unsure how I feel about EVE going free like this as you could pretty much play for free if you put in more than 6 evenings a month of dedicated industrial activities.
The unlimited free time is going to create an open season for trolling and abuse, that sadly is going to mostly hit the industrial side of the game... which happens to be the area of gameplay that needs a bit of love & attention.

 

Considering, in the days before EVEMon and the like, I used to run a spreadsheet for skill tracking, I honestly can't respond angrily..

I've not subbed for a while, I wonder if my accounts are still good.. I remember two main alts with ~60-70m SP..

Might have to dig the account info back out when it goes free.

 

Gareth, you mentioned "hook(ing) an angry player" with a comment in your article, not me!

"Hook-out" and "hooking" are terms very commonly used to describe the act of trolling for a response so you must realise that it sounds like a deliberate attempt to draw a reaction.

 

I think we have a very different sense of humour.