So there’s some pretty bad news today for EVE Online players. Developer CCP just dropped some major news concerning the referral program, announcing that it will no longer reward PLEX at all to those who recruit new players. We won’t mince words here, you can find the new reward structure down below.
Also, this is unfortunately the end of ISKMogul’s reward program in its current form. You have until Sunday the 28th of July to claim your rewards in their current form, as the program will be shutting down at the end of that day.
Currently the rewards break down like this:
- New recruits would receive 750,000 skill points .
- Recruiter would receive 350 PLEX when their recruit purchases Omega time.
- Recruiter would receive a Skill Extractor when their recruit purchases PLEX.
When these changes are implemented, the rewards will stand as follows:
- New recruits will receive 1,000,000 skill points.
- Recruiter will receive 4x 24h accelerators when their recruit purchases PLEX.
- Recruiter will receive 15 days of Omega time when their recruit purchases Omega time.
This announcement joins other changes to the game, mostly aimed at the new players and free-to-play experiences. For one thing, Drone skills for Alpha accounts got nerfed. And the venerable ratting ship the VNI also got a change that many players dislike. CCP is trying to make it up to players though by giving out huge sums of free Skill Points.
It’s clear why CCP did this though. There was an inherent loophole within the previous reward structure that allowed players to essentially buy 350 PLEX for $5, far below market price. CCP wants to put a stop to this, I get it. It does really suck for those of us trying to use the referral program to give new players a leg up in the game. The complete elimination of PLEX rewards basically means that new players will now only get 1 million SP for using the RAF system, it’s still a great start, but the massive infusion of ISK that offers like ours gave out cannot be understated in its importance.
It’s also important to mention that the glut of PLEX and ISK created through the RAF system was no doubt a major source on in-game inflationary pressure. As more and more ISK entered New Eden, prices began to rise. It’s possible that PLEX prices could go even higher though due to scarcity as a result of this change. Other market conditions are very much in flux right now, and the player base does appear to be shrinking. It looks very likely that the amount of PLEX in the market will drop off, at least temporarily. It’s possible that those holding PLEX and still playing may choose to liquidate their reserves to cash out, stabilizing the price for a while.
Source: CCP
