As an EvE Online player, the more I read of this, the more worried I am about putting my money into their game. I have no problem with them selling the equivalent of virtual nothing to consumers (which many companies have done, and seem to be succeeding at it too!) at prices that scream "Why bother?".
If this is true, of their prices being so criminal, then it shows they completely underestimated their player base. They don't have an insight into our wallets. Far from it actually!
I read their response to the rage and fury about the prices.
http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=932&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=update&utm_content=devblog&utm_campaign=eveonline
They refer to the pieces as "clothes". In reality, they're far from them. Not a single item in their catalog will keep you warm. YOU can't wear them, only your non-breathing, cold, digital embodiment can. Last I checked he isn't cold either!
Look at the clothes you are currently wearing in real life. Do you have any specific brands? Did you choose it because it was better quality than a no-name brand?
Yes, I did choose these because they are of better quality. Are you implying that the priced clothes are of better polygons than the original ones? That doesn't mean I'm willing to shell out for them. I buy most of my clothes in sales or using coupons or discounts because it's cheaper for me. The store they have runs a monopoly. There will NEVER be a sale unless they feel generous. Lets take their "military" garb that they sell, more military themed clothes of space warfare. They cost 25 quid each. Now, go to an army surplus store. Get a pair of olive green or forest camo trousers, it's probably only a tenner or less. There's exactly ONE and only one designer making these polygon fleeces despite the game saying otherwise.
Assume for a short while that you are wearing a pair of $1,000 jeans from some exclusive Japanese boutique shop.
Okay when did I win the lottery? When did japanese boutiques open up around me? Could you have chosen a more out-of-touch example? Can I honestly ask anyone in this thread who has even touched a $1000 piece of clothing, let alone being a pair of jeans or from a japanese boutique, or both? Chances are you haven't, and if you have and you're browsing the Escapist, you have no problem with the issue at hand!
Why would you want to wear a pair of $1,000 jeans when you can get perfectly similar jeans for under $50? What do other people think about you when they see you wearing them? For some you will look like the sad culmination of vainness while others will admire you and think you are the coolest thing since sliced bread.
Except when it comes to gaming, quite a lot of people will consider you a complete and utter tosser. I know some of you are going to bring in Team Fortress 2 here, but consider that there are many, many, many ways to find, trade for, or buy hats (some of which can give your character bonuses such as the Scout Milkman set, giving these a practical use (Not even a great one at that as they must be worn as a set with other pieces, stopping them from being must haves unless the play style of the set suits you extremely well)). They have harbored a trading environment in themselves which lets even more casual players join in with the few weapons they pick up in their first couple of hours of play. The problem with EvE, comes from the fact that entering the market that the apparel revolves around is not only costly, but can cost months of work, dedication and time, for the privilege of wearing more stylish polygons. Not only that, but the prices can range into the billions for ISK, which only the elite that own a slice of Null-Sec can afford (supposing they allow the profits to trickle down to the lower echelons of the corporation).
Whichever it is, it is clear that by wearing clothes you are expressing yourself and that the price is one of the many dimensions that clothes possess to do that in addition to style and fit.
But we already express ourselves, moreso in EvE online through play rather than our digital avatar. All of our actions, before digital clothes came into it, decided how people viewed us. Whether we were the people hanging back in Secure space, the ones sleeping to the quiet murmur of mining lasers and drones while our cargo holds started to bulge; or the person who kept a collection of all the biomasses in their hangar. We were who we wanted to be by our actions. We did not dress up like goths to show people we were going to blow them up because, fuck it I hate people! We blew people up because we wanted them to see we weren't to be messed with. The idea that polygons will show others who we are in EvE is a complete fallacy, unless of course you've already subscribed to the greed is good agenda and keep all wealth to yourself while in your Player owned station in Null-sec.
Simply put, it's too expensive for what they want it to do, when we already have a perfectly viable method of showing who we are!
