The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
[PATV] Monday, April 2, 2012 - CheckPoint Season 1, Ep. 48: Ubi Goes Soft
Geth
LegionPerseus VeilRegistered User, Moderator, Penny Arcade Staff, Vanilla Staff vanilla
LegionPerseus VeilRegistered User, Moderator, Penny Arcade Staff, Vanilla Staff vanilla
CheckPoint Season 1, Ep. 48: Ubi Goes Soft
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/ubi-goes-soft
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/ubi-goes-soft
Ubisoft is introducing a new anti-piracy scheme that sounds... good?
Geth on
0
Posts
Are you using an ad-blocker? If so, try turning it off.
Ah thanks! We spent about 10 minutes figuring out the conversion and how much the card was worth and then realized we had no way to figure out how long it would take to earn that much money. We were a little deflated.
Google+: http://gplus.to/kathleen
Cat Comic: http://thingsmycathates.tumblr.com
This is where I could describe the numerous ways to make isk in Eve, but no one cares and it sure as hell is not funny.
What is funny is the conversation rate of real money to isk to real money for this NVidia thing.
A Plex is gametime purchased using real money, which can then be sold in Eve for fake money (isk), essentially a legal method for purchasing gold. A single plex (30 days gametime) can be purchased for $20. It gets cheaper if you buy in bulk, with 12 plex purchased for $210, but the numbers are funnier using the single Plex number.
With 20 Plex necessary to purchase the NVidia thing, you are paying $400 worth of fake money for a $200 object.
Wealth disparity in EVE makes the US look like some sort of communist utopia, so actual numbers don't mean much; the average EVE player wouldn't have nearly 10 billion ISK, but there are some who could buy every single one of the graphics cards offered without even noticing the cost. The reasons for this are complex, and boring. Though it's worth pointing out that the record for the biggest scam (which EVE freely allows) was 1.03 trillion (with a t) isk.
If the cards aren't all instantly bought up by someone with essentially infinite money, I suspect that the fabulously rich nullsec alliances might start buying them for key employees that need an upgrade.
Actually, I'm pretty interested.
Google+: http://gplus.to/kathleen
Cat Comic: http://thingsmycathates.tumblr.com
I was going to write a short explanation as to the wealth divide in Eve, but I could not actually make it short.
Also, wow, I would expect Ubisoft to be the Last company to tackle piracy in such a manner considering their track record. What next? Will EA discontinue its code system?
... My, what a boring Signature.
Edit: Of course I expect Goons to migrate over to that game and start a new version of Goonswarm on there, so it may not end up being so different.
Let's be honest here, UbiSoft has probably one of the worst track records when it comes to DRM. The backed Starforce as a positive system for pete's sake! Unless the entire executive board was replaced by people who actually gave a damn about their consumers, the company being more restrictive is much more likely than it suddenly becoming benevolent.
Ah, well, I'm a few days late, but an opportunity to wax on economic theory shouldn't be neglected.
In EVE, the average player earns their isk by their labor; whether by killing NPCs, mining, or even running some sort of transportation business/extortion racket/etc. For them, income is measured in isk/hour of play, and can scale up to maybe 100m isk/hour at the high end. To earn more money, these players have to play more, and there's obviously a limitation on how far they can take that. While these players might amass billions if they play frequently they'll never make trillions.
A second group earns their money by putting their assets to work; market arbitrage probably being the best example. The EVE market allows for both buy and sell orders, and here a limitation of the first group comes in; for them, time is money, so they're better off selling their loot to an instant buy order for 90% of its value than taking the time to babysit the market and get 100%. But for someone playing the market, they're only limited by how much money they have to buy and sell with. Even if they only make 1% on their money, cumulative interest is an incredibly powerful thing. There are other ways to make money off of assets as well, such as high end production or alliances with the military power to control valuable resources. These are the richest players, simply because their income scales almost infinitely.
Scammers are also worth noting, but there's a sort of self-fulfilling limit on scamming; "a fool and his money are soon parted" is particularly true in EVE, and there are a lot of competitors for the same pool of rich fools. The 1 Trillion isk scam was really something of an exception, and required an enormous effort to pull off. But even 1 trillion isn't all that much to some in the second group.