The devs always said that they can't afford to make PVE content and that they wanted to make a game driven by procedures. They wanted a game that made drama and historic events.

My issue as a player is I only hear Perpetuums history from other people. There is more than enough content for a new player to enjoy the game for at least 6 months as long as other players keep driving the game forward.

The devs could help by allowing us some way of documenting the history of Perpetuum. The epic battles get barely a mention at the moment and robots are lost in such short instances and are so easily replaced they don't feel special or unique.

The recent dev blog highlighted what's wrong with the game as it stands. New players are left out in the cold, witness much of the drama before they understand it and are limited in their choices of robots and extensions.

However the changes the devs outlined where needed long ago. The rot has set in and now that new games are coming along just as people are at their most disinterested by the progress of this game we're losing more active players than ever. Perpetuum could have a 2.5k, 5k or 10k Sub base and we'd have no idea because the players are not motivated on the whole to stay active. The devs need to stop looking at the subs and look at activity. The game by now should have AT LEAST 500 people online at any one time.

In an idea world the islands would have been much larger and more epic. Movement would have been balanced so that we can fast travel but have slowed down engagements. New player experience should be worlds better. Tutorial videos are needed even if made on a tight budget. Marketing is needed even if it's just emailing gaming websites or holding special events.

There is a LOT that could be gone and could have been done a lot sooner to stop the rot.
In the end it is the players attacking each other that has driven this game to the edge. Working out where the game is at fault and the players are at fault is a difficult matter and honestly a lot of the stress put upon players to do well is due to game balance.

Think of it this way in PVP:
If your enemy is stronger and better resources it costs you more to attack them than it costs them to attack you. Even a major victory for the smaller less resources side will not make much difference to the stronger side.
This is when PVP becomes more expensive for you to do than it does for your enemy and you're left with boring ninja kills and hours of possible resources gathering time wasted.

If it hasn't already been said yet, implement a plex system, it will stimulate the economy and will motivate people to stay active.. This will also help break up communism in the game and lead to more of a real capitalistic and market driven economy as it's affecting peoples real world pocket books how much they make in the game.

Would it be to little to late? Maybe, but it's the right move.

Not just no but HELL no!

The introduction of Plex in the other game was where the slippery slope of MT began.... Keep it away from here.

Look at how the industry is swinging, gaming is becoming a place where players spend time but the recent trends in the ability to convert your success in game into real life benefits (diablo 3 will showcase this) and oather games have started to work towards this as well... adds a completely different and enticing element to the 'addiction' of video games.

Your knee jerk reactions to shooting this down are pretty ignorant imo.

I support a plex system, it will lead to more  activity and market growth.

Lol, knee jerk reaction? Did you actually think of the ramifications if this was enacted?
I did, and here's my theorycrafting on this .... Feel free to inject your own opinion into this.

First to be clear, you are suggesting a similar model to the EvE Pilot License Extension System (PLEX)
Essenitally this is 30 days gametime chunks bought with real currency and sold ingame for isk.

This game needs paid subscriptions. If PLEX was introduced the current amount of nic in some of the more wealthy and historically loyal players should be more than enough for each to renew all their accounts for 6 months. Let's say that's 200 accounts. That is 1200 monthly subs from loyal players that Perp does not receive. How can this in anyway be helpful to Avatar Creations? The plex model generally works where player A noobs wants a Riveler Mk2 now but doesn't have the nic. So he buys a PLEX with cash and sells it to player B who then renews his sub without actually paying cash. The net benefit to Avatar Creations is actually zero. What they gain in sales of nic to fund destructible game items they lose in subscription sales. Plus you need to consider that the gameplay is time leveling system, sure you can buy the new shiny Kain Mk2 but chances are you haven't got the skills to run it properly.

The only way for the PLEX system to bring additional income to Avatar Creations is if it was not tied into subscriptions.

Further proof? I played EvE for 1 year and 10 months. The last year I played I did not pay cash for any subs. On 4 accounts. My gameplay generated more than enough isk to support 4 accounts and still have billions left over. That's roughly $750 dollars in subs CCP did not receive from me. I know very few established players in that game that paid for subs.

So please don't tell me I have a knee-jerk reaction to your idea.

Also since your corp sees nothing wrong with a lil' account sharing, please consider these economics .....

- Gameplay rewards specialised EP characters
- and monthly subs are generally low at under $10
- therefore most loyal players have a few accounts
- thus the average single player pays for 2-3 account subs every month

Vs shared accounts ....

- 2 or 3 players can use a max miner EP account
- thus 2-3 people actually only pay for one monthly sub

Avatar Creations gets 4 to 5 times less money from this.

So who is actually harming and killing the game and its development?

Disclamer: NONE of the figures I mention are based on published data. But it sure as hell is based on common sense.
I am not trolling. By all means jump in and show me where the model I'm suggesting is wrong.

The plex system, as you point out Att, benfits the new players.

Retaining new players means a larger subscriber base, as long as the game continues to get new players, Eve continues to generate capital even though the older players are now playing for free.

The proof is in the amount of real $'s that Eve has generated, so the plex MODEL works in general.

Back to Perp.

Plex also addresses one of the concerns of the OP, time. New players have to put in alot of game hours to earn NIC to buy items. And while they may not have the EP to buy MK II heavies, they can buy T4 modules to enhance what they have.

As to your point about current player NIC balances; that will even out. Your assumption is that the plex will come in at 100M NIC and stay there, allowing everyone to get unlimited free/nic months.

First, someone has to actually buy the Plex and put it up for sale. That's not going to be the majority of the current player base, which already have plenty of NIC. Its the new players that are going to be supplying the market, and at this time, there are few new players, so the supply is going to be low.

Low supply, high demand. Some early purchasers will get Plex at a low price, but then it will balloon up, then crash, and eventually balance out as NIC resources dwindle and new player supply increases.

Tl;dr - The plex model works, and it would work in Perp too. (and by work, I mean it WILL generate more monthly subs $$'s then current, and probably help in new player retention) The question however isn't if it will work, but if its a model that AC wants to implement.

You are technically correct. So how much additional income does AC receive?

The answer is zero.

So why introduce something with no benefit?

The only way to receive addtional income is if its not tied to subscription time. And if its not then you simply have a Pay to Win microtransaction store. And who wants that, and its not the best idea for a time-based leveling game.

This (IMO) is exactly what occured in EvE. CCP assumed they were receiving additional income and then had to introduce their loyalty store and their $80 monocles .....

...... But one small positive with that forum storm is I heard about this game.

With regards to the OP I think the game needs double the islands and a great and expensive marketing campaign. There are some fantastic PvP fights that are frapped and would look great on any trailer ..... I believe Snowman's theory ( game development not currently depending on subs) is close to correct, I would love to see AC blow a large chunk of their investment on a few full page PC Gamer adds and some wicked multi minute game trailers for YouTube.

Plex is the foundation of Pay to Win/MT/RMT systems Ville.

Some see the link and some don't. That is the problem.

Easy millions=Easy mods,bots and resources in a game where even the slightest of advantages can turn a battle from a loss to a win....

Ultimately Plex starts the game -- Who has the bigger credit limit!!!!!!!

I cant believe people still dont know how the PLEX system works /facepalm

I support the PLEX system...more upfront money for AC and more NIC to the noob.

Please understand a few things.

Microtransactions and PLEX are 2 different things.

Mictro transactions generate additional income for a company. I just don't want to see it in game, even if its for a hello Kitty paintjob that has no effect on gameplay.

PLEX is a zero sum benefit. For every single dollar a player spends on a GTC, they do not spend it on renewing a sub. CCP only introduced it to combat the RTM gold farmers with a rather poor (IMO) strategy of "if players are gonna buy isk with cash we would rather be the ones they buy it from"

It brought in zero extra income.

And you are right Arga it shifts the gamecosts from the Nic wealthy players to the new ones but the game population is simply too low at this time.

Also please don't forget, the game is time based leveling ..... Why would a noob buy a Riv Mk2 if he can't drive it for 2 months? You can make 5 mil+ an hour (sorta) in your first day on a trial account artifact scanning in a light bot. So Nic isn't really a problem in game, meaning there is not much demand for buying that shiny right away anyways. (Via microtransaction)