The way that PLEX has changed over the last two years has helped drive my latest stint of playing EVE on a regular, almost daily basis. From adding PLEX to the AIR Daily Goals track in the Equinox expansion to the creation of the global PLEX market, the developers changed the way PLEX had worked for years. But before moving on to today's news let's review some of the basic information about New Eden from last week.
Last week activity decreased as expected, with the average number of concurrent users falling to 24,000, plus/minus 500 accounts. We probably will see activity increase again tomorrow with the beginning of the five week Capsuleer Day celebration. Meanwhile, the effects of the big null sec war continue to show up on the EVE-Offline.net user chart. Normally the weekly PCU mark is set on Sundays around 1900 UTC. But once again, the weekly high of 37,069 was hit on Saturday morning as The Imperium shifted its activity to attack WinterCo structures.
The news today is that a popular recurring feature, PLEX for Good, would become a permanent fixture for the EVE community. The PLEX for Good campaigns would allow players with more ISK than real world money to buy PLEX off the market and then contract the PLEX to CCP. CCP would then convert the PLEX to its real world value and donate the amount to charities to help affected people around the world in need.
Let me use the PLEX for Good: Ukraine campaign as an example. The money raised was given to two organizations: The UN Refugee Agency and the National Bank of Ukraine's Humanitarian Assistance campaign. CCP described how the $500,000 was raised.
You, the amazing Capsuleers of New Eden, proved that kindness and humanity are core values of our EVE community, by contracting PLEX to the in-game character CCP PLEX for GOOD, an account operated by CCP Games. Our developers – who hail from all over the world including Ukraine and Russia – also made numerous donations to PLEX for GOOD themselves, with CCP then matching all total donations for the campaign.
Through the first 17 years the campaigns had raised well over $1 million:
- 2005 - $25,326 – Southeast Asia (tsunami)
- 2010 - $34,350 – Haiti (earthquake)
- 2010 - $38,900 – Pakistan (monsoon)
- 2011 - $44,600 – Japan (earthquake and tsunami)
- 2011 - $32,900 – United States (Hurricane Irene)
- 2013 - $190,890 – Philippines (Typhoon Haiyan)
- 2015 - $103,650 – Nepal (earthquake)
- 2020 - $107,454 - Australia (bushfires)
- 2020 - $135,550 - Global (COVID-19)
- 2022 - $501,652 – Ukraine (war)
The two organizations that will have permanent campaigns set up are Players vs. Cancer and ICE-SAR (Icelandic Search and Rescue).
Players vs. Cancer (PvC) brings gamers and streamers together to raise awareness and funds for lifesaving cancer research with a shared goal of ending cancer once and for all. Their fundraising efforts benefit the AACR (American Association for Cancer Research). More information on progress made in the last year, and what’s still left to do, can be found in their executive summary.
I have to make a personal note here. Usually the charity I'm most familiar with in Iceland is the giving spare change and bills to the Icelandic Children's Hospital. But I was already a little familiar with how Iceland's Search and Rescue organization worked.
Icelandic Search and Rescue teams are powered by volunteers who answer around 1,800 calls a year and put it all on the line in one of the most hostile landscapes on Earth. They also lend their assistance across the globe, and were among the first foreign rescue teams on the ground following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, among other things. The whole operation is run on donations and volunteer work. They are looking for new rescue ships now, to go out where no one else will. Your PLEX can help contribute to these new vessels.
The causes are good. But part of why the PLEX for Good campaigns worked is that all PLEX in the game originated from players buying PLEX with real world money. Beginning back in 2024 that began to change. A small 5 PLEX reward was added to the AIR Daily Goals with the Equinox expansion. A year ago CCP spelled out how they were giving out PLEX.
- AIR Daily Goals now include PLEX as a permanent reward, creating a steady stream of accessible PLEX for active players.
- Seasonal events increasingly feature PLEX in their seasonal reward tracks.
- Occasional PLEX gifts mark special milestones and in-game events.
- Mysterious GalNet Crates I and II, featured in Twitch Drops and tradeable on the in-game market, also offer a chance at PLEX.
Perhaps I've played way too long, but part of the previous campaigns was the fact that turning in PLEX was definitely tied to giving up real world value. Someone paid real world money for that PLEX someone was turning in. Now? The connection is in large part broken. How much depends on the view of the observer.
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