The launch of the Japanese localized client for EVE Online has been given a special mark with a new paid offer in the EVE store. And boy, are players not happy. The launch of the new client has prompted the release of three new paid packs to the game store. You can buy each of these once per account. They are the Lunar ($9.99), Solar ($59.99), and Galactic ($99.99). These are also limited-time offers and will disappear from the store on January 26. Maybe they’re doing better with the Zakura packs in terms of value, let’s find out.
So with all of that in mind, why the urgency? Because CCP desperately wants to squeeze money out of its players. The player numbers are trending downward over the last few months, although they’re nowhere near as bad as they were in September 2019 when CCP nerfed mining and made it so many players cancelled their sub.
And consider that all of this comes at a time when CCP has implemented massive nerfs to making ISK in the game, all in the name of their vaunted “scarcity phase”. What will that actually mean long term? Who knows. But one thing is clear, CCP needs more money, and some players are not happy with how they’re going about getting it.
Let’s look at the most expensive $99 Galaxy Zakura pack and see what CCP is offering. Now I’m going to price this out based on the rough ISK value of each item, as that’s what most of these players will do. They will redeem the SP and subscription items, save the PLEX, and turn the rest into ISK. The problem here is that over the next two months we can expect the price of these items to drop a fair bit as more are added to the market. So that means that the value of about 1.5 billion ISK or more from this pack will go down over time, possibly to much less.
Here’s what you get for about $100:
- 90 Days Omega – Actual cost ~ $40
- MCT – Actual cost ~ $20
- 1,100 PLEX – Actual cost ~ $40
- 250,000 Skill Points – ISK Value equates to an actual cost of around $6
- Special Cerebral Accelerator – ISK Value equates to an actual cost of around $15
- Zakura Skins – ISK Value impossible to measure
So while it might seem like a good deal, it’s just really poorly timed. CCP looking to try and squeeze more money out of players during a time when many new players don’t have a lot of ISK is a pretty bad look. It makes sense that they would at least offer some minor value in the pack, but many will question if a roughly 30% discount is worth it for items of fluctuating value. Because if the skins hold no long-term value, the only real value is in the PLEX and sub items, and the “deal” inherent to those is much worse.
