Earlier this month marked the end of an experiment but perhaps not the end of a return to EVE Online. For me one of the downsides of EVE is that it is technically a ‘pay to win’ game where if you spend money you will have an advantage over anyone who spends less money than you. With EVE I agree with this but only to a point. Your account can be ‘alpha’ where you’re playing the game for free but there is a limit to what ships, modules and skills you can use along with a few other limitations. Or your account can be ‘omega’ where you’re paying a subscription but there are no limitations. This I agree with as it helps bring new players in to the game and allows existing players to play the game in some degree if they can no longer afford or justify a subscription. What I don’t like however is that it is possible to spend money on PLEX (Pilot’s License Extension) which can be sold for the most common in-game currency, ISK (Inter Stellar Kredits). ISK can then be used to purchase almost anything, including skill injectors which will allow a player to instantly have their character learn skills. This system technically makes it possible for someone to achieve what I have in a matter of minutes and is largely why I decided to stop playing EVE because I felt it watered down my accomplishments and gave my goals less meaning.
The pay to win system in EVE is not all bad. It makes it possible for players to buy PLEX with the ISK they ‘earn’ by playing the game and can make their account omega without spending a penny. In theory therefore, and I imagine a lot of players do this, you can keep your account omega and have access to everything in the game without ever paying a subscription. On the 20th November, as an experiment, I tried to do this for 1 month. By using some of what I accrued when I played EVE a few years ago, I bought 500 PLEX for 2,557,500,000 ISK (a little over 2.55bn) and used it to upgrade my account to omega for 30 days which ordinarily would have cost me £15.99. This gave me 30 days to ‘earn’ at least that amount of ISK by playing the game without selling or losing any pre existing assets to keep the experiment fair.
After 30 days I managed to acquire 2,071,893,920 ISK which means I was short 485,606,080. I am disappointed that I did not reach my goal, but it’s not a complete loss as I did get the majority and I learned a lot along the way. There are many ways a player can make ISK in EVE Online, I decided to complete level 4 missions using a ‘Dominix‘ battleship. It’s not necessarily the most profitable way to make ISK but it provides an easy and stable income by combining bounty payments from destroying enemy ships and mission rewards. There were days, especially in the first 10-14 where I didn’t play EVE that much because of other commitments. I believe if I played more I would have easily of reached my goal and could technically do this every month keeping my account ‘omega’ without spending a penny. But to do so I would have to make a more significant commitment and think of EVE as almost like a second job and not necessarily do what I want to do within the game as it might not be profitable.
Quite a few times I wanted to spend some ISK or stop doing level 4 missions to try new things or explore the EVE universe but didn’t feel I could because I ‘needed’ to Raise 2.55bn ISK. I did however find some time to explore ‘Pochven‘ space also known as ‘Triglavian’ space and took this cool looking screenshot:
Right now I don’t want to try my experiment again but I do want to continue to play EVE and try out new things. If there are any readers who are interested in trying EVE Online you can use this referral link which would give us both rewards if you decide you like it and want to subscribe. If you do subscribe or even if you want to continue to play for free as an ‘alpha’ pilot there is a generous and helpful streamer called Tamiyacowboy who has played the game consistently for more than 10 years. I have learned quite a lot from him and from some members of his community. If you ask he might even allow you to join him which is something he let me do today as a salvager whereby I used a salvaging ship to both salvage and loot the wrecks of enemy ships he destroyed during his level 4 missions.
I would love to hear from anyone who decides to try EVE. Please contact me and tell me what you think about the game or ask me questions. It’s an amazing game but can be quite a lot to take in for new players. As such I am more than happy to help and explain things the best I can.
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