MMORPG.com has published a short interview with Ryan Dancey of CCP on the impeding "re-release" of EVE Online as a retail boxed game with Atari acting as distributor. It delves on the subject "why?", when EVE is easily available for purchase online and has been for years.
There is also some confirmation on the already rumored features of the retail box.
The retail box will have an SRP of $39.95 in the US and €39.99 in Europe. In addition to the installer disc, the box will come with an exclusive Career Guide to help ne 215e w pilots pick a career, and 60 days of game time (twice as much as the standard retail product for MMOs!)
It will be possible to convert some of this time into PLEX, Pilot License Extensions, which can be sold in-game for ISK, or used in lieu of payment for game time.
New characters created with the retail product will also receive a special shuttle with an expanded cargo capacity, and will have their faction standings enhanced so that they can dive right into Factional Warfare. And the game includes a VIP pass which can be given to a friend for an extended trial period, and if that friend becomes a subscriber, the retail customer will get an extra month of game time for free.
Nothing too earth-shattering, except for the implications of that bolded bit.
The Harsh Universe of EVE
The retail box contents are pretty much standard fare for a MMO game, except for the bit about PLEXes. Those who are not fully up to date on EVE, CCP has pretty much always allowed you to perfectly legally sell in-game time (in the form of game time codes) for in-game money through a secure interface - effectively allowing players to choose if they pay their subscription with real money or in-game money (ISK) and, on the flipside, allowing ISK to be bought - as long as what you are actually buying is more subscription time for someone else.
Recently even the requirement for buying and trading actual, physical game time code cards was made optional - you can now buy in-game PLEX items directly online, and securely trade them in the in-game market just like any other in-game item - only difference is the ability to use the item and add a month of time to your account with it. All other forms of real money trade is forbidden (and CCP will aggressively ban those who try).
It's surprisingly workable solution to the ever-present problem of real money trading (all the cash goes to the publisher of the game for subscription time and the supply/demand dictates the value of the game time) and apparently the retail box version will go and teach the system to the new players - you start playing with the first 30 days of game time and have the option to get a nice pile of starting capital by selling off the other 30 days of game time in-game.
The flipside is that numerous old players are drooling over the prospect of being able to scam the PLEXes off unwary newbies. The obvious method is is the usual "few zeroes missing" scam - setting up buy order for a PLEX for 300,000 ISK instead of the usual market price of 300,000,000 ISK and I'm sure people will come up with other, indirect methods. As almost everything sold on the markets is sold by players, I'm sure there will be lot of overpriced skillbooks, ships and modules for sale to all those newbies who get their hands on 300 million of starting capital. "Fool and their ISK is easily parted" is one of the eternal truths of EVE.
It's also expected that sudden influx of players with PLEXes in their hands may temporarily drive down the market prices - so those with plenty of ISK may opt to purchase them from the hands of the newbies, only to stockpile them for the future when the price returns closer to the current level of 300 million per 30 days. So, I guess it's theoretically possible to get scammed for half of the valuable bits of the retail box off as newbie on your first day - Only in EVE(tm)...
So, a word of warning for anyone planning on starting with EVE Online with the retail box - if you decide to go for the starting cash injection, don't undersell your PLEX to a scammer (careful with those zeroes) and don't blow all that ISK on silly overpriced stuff - most likely found in the markets of starting systems. In EVE even the markets are a form PvP, and old sharks will be circling the opportunity, ready to feed on the unwary newbies.
EVE: Apocrypha retail box is scheduled to ship on March 10th 2009.
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