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Correction: GameStop's Black Friday deals
Earlier this month, we reported a rumor regarding GameStop's Black Friday deals, via a leaked Black Friday ad. As with all rumored information, this was not set in stone -- and now we've got the real deal: GameStop will not be selling 60 day game cards for $5 on Black Friday. We've verified this information with a source, and we're confident of the source's information. Those of you hoping to fill your pockets with cheap game time cards can save your money -- or you can cash in on GameStop's real Black Friday deals, which are still pretty good when it comes to WoW. Mists of Pandaria will be on sale for $9.99, and it comes with a free 60-day game card. In addition, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm and Wings of Liberty will be on sale for $19.99 each, and purchasing either of those will net you a 60 day game card. The World of Warcraft Battle Chest will be on sale for $4.99, but it does not include a game time card with the purchase. For those looking to get started with WoW, this does come out to a pretty good deal -- you can get the Battle Chest and Mists of Pandaria for $15, and get a 60 day game time card free as part of the purchase. Or if you happen to have a friend interested in StarCraft, you can pick up the game for them, and keep the WoW game time for yourself. GameStop's Black Friday ad should be available on their website soon -- those looking for the official ad can visit their official Black Friday page and sign up to be notified once the ad itself goes live.
GameStop offering 60-day game cards for $5 on Black Friday
Black Friday (November 29th), the traditional beginning of the holiday shopping season, is always packed with sales to lure us away from our computers and into shopping centers. This year's deals at GameStop are particularly tempting for WoW-players -- or those that want to become WoW players. On offer are the World of Warcraft Battle Chest (which includes expansions up to Cataclysm) for $5, Mists of Pandaria for $10, and a 60-day game time card for $5. The former offers are a great deal for anyone looking to get friends into WoW, but the latter is a great deal for any active player -- even if you don't usually use game time cards, the appeal of getting $30 worth of gameplay for $5 is definitely high. Bear in mind, however, that this information is coming from a leaked Black Friday ad on the site BlackFriday.com and could still change -- so you may want to wait for an official announcement from GameStop before you start camping out in front of your local shop. Editors note: Gamestop will not be selling $5 game time cards on Black Friday. For the correct information, please visit our updated post.
EVE Evolved: Making your first billion ISK
A lot of the people I introduce to EVE Online ask about the possibility of playing for free by buying game time codes with in-game ISK. It's a legitimate way to turn EVE into a free-to-play game, but the rising price tag of a 30-day PLEX can make it seem as if only veteran players can afford to do it. New players typically scrape together just a few million ISK by the end of their free trial periods, making the 500 million per month required to pay via PLEX seem like a tall order. With the right guidance, a new player can actually pull in over a billion ISK in his first month or two of play and quickly become able to afford a PLEX each month. Farming missions requires a bit of time investment but can pull in 20-30 million ISK per hour once you're set up, and exploration and salvaging can lead to some unexpected big hauls. There are also plenty of newbie-friendly corps that run group activities, and those who aren't interested in grinding to their first billion ISK might try their hands at trading or turn to a life of crime. It's all possible in the sandbox. In this week's EVE Evolved, I give some practical tips on making your first billion ISK, from scraping together the seed capital to buy your first big ship to reliable farming methods and some more underhanded methods.
EVE Online players raise over $44,000 for Japan relief fund
Never let it be said that gamers don't have big hearts. When Japan was hit by an earthquake and the ensuing tsunami, people around the world stepped up to donate to disaster relief programs. Several MMO developers have made substantial donations using profits from their games. NCSoft made a huge donation of 500 million yen (6.3 million USD), and Sony Online Entertainment donated 300 million yen (3.6 million U.S. dollars). SOE, gPotato, Perfect World Entertainment and Hi-Rez studios have all been running schemes to help players donate, ranging from special once-only microtransaction items to just donating a percentage of all cash shop proceeds to charity. EVE Online's developer CCP Games has encouraged donations through their unique PLEX system. Players who couldn't afford to donate cash were encouraged to buy PLEX in-game using ISK and donate them to the relief fund. CCP would then scrap the PLEX items and donate their full purchase value to charity. The scheme has been very successful at raising money in previous disasters, raising over 40,000 USD for the Haitian earthquake fund and roughly a further 20,000 USD for the flooding in Pakistan. In a new devblog, CCP Fallout has released the final results of EVE's charity drive. A total of 2549 PLEX, each worth 17.5 USD, was donated to the scheme by players. CCP will be donating the full value of 44,607.50 USD to the Red Cross in the name the EVE Online community, and will be paying for all of the tax and management costs themselves. EVE players have now donated a total of 108,000 USD through the PLEX for Good scheme. Head over to the devblog for the details of the charity drive and some interesting information on three players who helped make it a success.
Donate EVE ISK to help disaster relief efforts in Japan
When it comes to collecting aid for disaster relief, EVE Online developer CCP Games has a unique way of helping players donate. While many MMOs ask for donations or release limited-edition cash shop items, CCP has managed to devise a way for players to donate in-game currency to help people in the real world. During the relief effort for last year's earthquake in Haiti, CCP began accepting donations of 30-day Pilot's License EXtensions (PLEX) for their full monetary value in game time. With the recent devestation in Japan, CCP has once again asked for the EVE community's help to raise money for relief aid. Each PLEX bought on the in-game market and donated to charity represents 30 days of game time that someone in the world originally paid for with cash but that won't be redeemed into game time. Because of this, CCP can donate the full cash value of that game time to a registered relief charity without taking a big loss. CCP absorbs all management and tax fees to ensure that 100% of the donated game time's value is passed on to registered charities (in this case, the Red Cross). To donate to the relief effort in Japan, EVE players are encouraged to buy PLEX on the open market and contract them to the character "CCP PLEX For Good" before March 31st. As usual, EVE Online's normally permissive rules on scamming have been suspended in relation to the charity drive. Anyone attempting to scam players out of ISK or PLEX using this charity drive will be dealt with harshly. With notable rich players and corporations able to potentially donate thousands of dollars' worth of PLEX, this charity drive is sure to raise a substantial amount of money for disaster-stricken Japan.
EVE introduces "Hours for PLEX" reactivation scheme
In today's subscription MMO market, EVE Online is in the unique position of allowing players to pay for their game time with in-game currency. To help cash-poor players afford a subscription and to aid in CCP's ongoing war against RMT, the company introduced the 30 day Pilot's License EXtension (PLEX). Cash-rich players who want a little extra in-game ISK would ordinarily be tempted to buy from illicit sources that rely on destructive botting and hacking practices to obtain their currency. Instead of putting themselves at risk of being keylogged, banned or just outright ripped off, players can buy 60-day game time codes and convert each of them into two in-game pilot's licenses to sell on the in-game market. ISK-rich players can then buy those licenses from the in-game market and activate them to add 30 days of game time to their accounts. If an account is expired but has the funds to buy a PLEX, players can even ask for a temporary reactivation so that they can buy one and apply it to the account. Until now, reactivations have had to be processed manually, with players filing an in-game petition through the EVE website. In a devblog yesterday, GM Grimmi of CCP announced that a new automated reactivation scheme will give players access to the game for four hours to purchase PLEX and apply them to their accounts. In addition to reducing GM workload, this scheme will allow people who have previously quit the game to temporarily reactivate their accounts and attempt to pull together enough ISK for 30 days of essentially free game time. The service has been temporarily taken offline to resolve a conflict with the current CSM voting procedure, but once it's back online it will be accessible through the account management page on the EVE website.
Changes to EVE Online's PLEX make it possible to loot game time
When it comes to fighting the gold-sellers, Icelandic game developer CCP Games took an innovative approach to the problem. Players of EVE Online can buy game time with cash and then trade it with other players as in-game "Pilots License EXtensions" (PLEX). This lets people with cash to spare effectively purchase ISK from other players, while those with plenty of in-game ISK can effectively play for free. With a legitimate method for buying ISK, players needn't face the inevitable threat of bans and key-loggers from nefarious sources. Fearing that the market for PLEX might not take off if they were at risk of being lost during transport. To combat this issue, CCP made it impossible to move them from the station they were redeemed at. In a new devblog, CCP Zulu explains plans to remove all the transport restrictions on PLEX. In addition to being able to undock with a PLEX in your cargo hold, you'll also be able to place them into courier contracts. When these changes come into effect, you might see someone hauling game time from station to station. If you plan to move any PLEX around, be extremely wary of suicide attacks. EVE's darker social element routinely scans passers-by in high-security space, looking for juicy targets to gank. The possibility of finding game time amongst the loot may send them into overdrive. The changes are due to come into effect on Tuesday the 13th of July.
The Daily Grind: What's your preferred payment method?
Credit cards (including debit cards), Paypal, Microsoft Points, game-time cards. Every payment method has its positives and negatives. As a famous and profitable social-media personality, you probably have more dollars in your Paypal account than you do on your credit card. You can get a Paypal debit card for that, that you can use pretty much anywhere you'd use regular plastic. Microsoft Points or game-time cards? They've got definite advantages – you can buy them when you've got a little extra cash in your account, and use them when you need them rather than getting awkwardly billed on the very day of the month your mortgage payment is due (two days before you get paid each month – oh, yes. We've been there!) Given a variety of payment options, how would you prefer to pay for your MMOG subscriptions, if you had the choice?
The Daily Grind: Will that be cash, credit, or...?
With as many people as are concerned about credit card fraud these days - or who just don't want to run up a credit card bill at all - there are all manner of ways to pay for MMOs. Sure, we've had game time cards for a while now, which are really handy for those who prefer to go month-to-month rather than recurring. You have debit cards, but those work pretty well the same as credit cards; Visa logo and all that. Another option recently added to the payment plans for some MMOs has been PayPal, which is great for those who like to use online payments but like an extra layer of security. And in terms of interesting ideas - EVE Online players have the option of turning their hard-earned (or ocasionally easily-swiped) ISK into game time codes through player trades handled on the EVE website. These are by no means the extent of it when you look at options people have around the world.With that, this morning we figured we'd ask - how do you prefer to pay for your MMO subscriptions? Are you into monthly subscriptions, do you head out for the game time cards, or perhaps you prefer paypal? Is there a system out there that you wish the gaming companies would look into? Do you look forward to the day when you can walk into a store and just swipe your cellphone to pay for things too?
Changes coming for EVE time cards
To simplify the EVE Online Time Code (ETC) and Game Time Card (GTC) reseller program and to become more consistent with what other MMORPGs offer, CCP is replacing all their myriad time cards with one. The 30- and 90-day time cards sold by authorized resellers, and the 50- and 100-day cards and game time cards sold in the EVE Online store will be replaced with a 60-day ETCs and GTCs. The old cards and codes will still be available while supplies last, or until CCP makes the changeover to the new cards on June 15.Not announced is whether or not these new codes will still be able to be bought with the in-game currency, ISK, but it's certain that will still be an option.
30-day game cards available for Pirates of the Burning Sea
A lot of people out there prefer not to have an ongoing direct debit from their bank accounts for game subscriptions, and this crowd will be pleased to know that there are now 30-day game cards available for Pirates of the Burning Sea. The cards can be used on a new or existing PotBS account, and this sort of thing is also a great gift for MMO-inclined friends -- or for convincing the reluctant ones to try the game out with you. 30-day game cards cost USD$14.99 and can be purchased from Sony's Station store.
