I'm at the point I think I need to make a statement. I will not join the exodus of players who say they have left or are leaving Eve Online. I have a ringside seat to a social revolution in a virtual world and the opportunity to report and comment on it. Heck, if I do a good enough job, some of my work might wind up as primary source material in some of those scholarly works I see on Terra Nova that I enjoy so much. So passing up an opportunity like this is just crazy talk.
That said, I have a lot I want to accomplish in Eve Online. Will the upcoming changes make life more difficult? For the way I wish to continue playing the game, I believe so. I am beginning to see parallels to SOE's Station Cash shop and what the Noble Exchange could morph into. But I also have faith that CCP is smarter than the folks running SOE (sorry Domino).
I am also going to say this again. Anything in Eve Online that can be purchased either on the market or thru contracts can be purchased with real world money. Anything. Eve Online is the only game I have ever played in which I could make that statement. Every other game has used mechanics like bind on pickup to prevent certain high-level items from being sold. Even some actions that require things like faction standings, like anchoring POSs in Empire space or obtaining jump clones, can be purchased using real life money (via PLEX conversion) if you contact someone in-game offering the service.
Now, does that mean I am a CCP fanboi? I really wanted to lead the cheers, what with the company's innovation concerning the integration of DUST 514 into the Eve universe. Not anymore. Just as Hilmar has told his company that "this is one of the moments where we look at what our players do and less of what they say," this is one of those moments I look at CCP's actions and less of what they say.
