Starting EVE in the UK, Price Issues

[The Lost One]

Starting most MMOs at the moment seems to be dirt cheap but after looking into it EVE is starting to look like a money sink and a bucket load of hassle before you can even start playing.

It says you first need to pay €19.95 (roughly £16 but with the currency all over the place this can easily change) to buy the game with 30 days free.

A €35 'software registration fee' is mentioned but it is not clear which payment method this applies to and why it is in place.

The one month subscription plan is €14.95, almost £12, which seems like a ridiculous amount to pay.

I just was wondering if anyone knows a way to get round some of these potentially large start-up costs and if there is any intention to change the subscription cost.

[alfaroverall]

The euro cost has VAT added in, which originally was the only difference between it and the dollar cost. It's gone up more recently, so it's now quite a bit higher. I believe that the default British payment method is still by the euro instead of the pound (so you just get a currency conversion that bends you over a table).

Essentially, when they set those amounts, the euro wasn't much higher than the dollar (not sure about the pound's comparison here, but I think it has gone down with the dollar). Now it's quite a bit higher, and they haven't changed their prices correspondingly.

The way to get around this is to buy a game time card (GTC) either directly from CCP (not sure if this will save you money) or from one of their distributors that are based in the US. It's not an actual card, it's just a code that they give you. This is actually a good idea for anyone in their first month, because they cost $15, avoiding the $20 cost of the first month.

[Spinewire]

you will be dicking about in it for a month before you are of any use... unless they have changed it so you start with more skill points.

[alfaroverall]

you will be dicking about in it for a month before you are of any use... unless they have changed it so you start with more skill points.
When did you last play? You have gotten ~800,000 SP by default since Revelations, which released in early 2007. Before that you would get varying amounts depending on what skills you chose, but usually ~30,000 SP.

[Nexus]

you will be dicking about in it for a month before you are of any use
Same as most mmos.

[Lethn]

yep pretty much the case, EVE literally rewards players who just don't do anything because of it's real time levelling, huge pile of crap but hey, people still seem to like it, mainly the gankers though.

[Villa]

Same as most mmos.
Which is why one of ShadowBane's redeeming features was the ability to be up and pvp viable within a couple of days.

[doma]

yep pretty much the case, EVE literally rewards players who just don't do anything because of it's real time levelling, huge pile of crap but hey, people still seem to like it, mainly the gankers though.

Lolwhat?

[alfaroverall]

yep pretty much the case, EVE literally rewards players who just don't do anything because of it's real time levelling, huge pile of crap but hey, people still seem to like it, mainly the gankers though.
1. EVE rewards players who stick around for at least 6 months, yes. Any decent MMO to be played long term should, IMO, and I imagine even Darkfall will (albeit to a lesser extent than EVE probably). Does it actually reward players for doing nothing after that? Hell no. By that time, you can fly at least 1 type of T2 ship (probably 2 but it depends on which type you pick) better than or as well as anyone else in the game, neglecting player skill (which, despite the lack of FPS gameplay, is relevant). And since ship development isn't linear (i.e. each ship type has its role), that makes you have a niche in the game world all the time.
2. EVE does give you some benefit even in skill leveling for putting in efforts. +5 implants will give you about a 30% increase in skill gain.
3. Most people in EVE are not pirates. Most people play the game the way it's supposed to be played: in corp or alliance warfare.

EVE has plenty of flaws, yes. I just wish people would at least get their facts straight before judging it.

[Lysandor]

There is no intended way to play Eve.

Eve is a game where you either sink or swim. I teach people how to swim.

[Gunther TheBlack]

Starting most MMOs at the moment seems to be dirt cheap but after looking into it EVE is starting to look like a money sink and a bucket load of hassle before you can even start playing.

It says you first need to pay €19.95 (roughly £16 but with the currency all over the place this can easily change) to buy the game with 30 days free.

A €35 'software registration fee' is mentioned but it is not clear which payment method this applies to and why it is in place.

The one month subscription plan is €14.95, almost £12, which seems like a ridiculous amount to pay.

I just was wondering if anyone knows a way to get round some of these potentially large start-up costs and if there is any intention to change the subscription cost.


Buy american gamecards or game time or wtf it's called in US dollars.

Safes you a lot of money hehe

[The Lost One]

Yep, buying Game Time Cards brings it down to about £8 a month, much better.

Thanks for the advice.

[Desperado[1G]]

I got bored of the game training my learning skills for the first month. From what I saw, I didn't like the spaceship setting, the way you control your ship, or the learning system. I decided not to resub after my free month was up.

It really is kind of ridiculous that you have to train the ability to train before you can do anything.

[Pcheez]

Im still not over the trauma of losing 2bn in ships within 4 hours because people cannot read.

not going back to that grindfest (its all a grind, or PVP, for which you have to grind (metoeors or mobs, either or) to get.

[alfaroverall]

;1523279']I got bored of the game training my learning skills for the first month. From what I saw, I didn't like the spaceship setting, the way you control your ship, or the learning system. I decided not to resub after my free month was up.

It really is kind of ridiculous that you have to train the ability to train before you can do anything.
I can agree that the first month or so of EVE sucks pretty hard. The first week is nice because you can get that "MMO newbie" feeling that is so great, then as it fades you will usually start to realize that you're going to have to do at least some significant waiting before you can really get out there. It's not that bad though, honestly; after about a month you can be PvPing pretty nicely if you play your cards right.