Is that a Woop Woop I hear?

any reasons for this feature to be free?

No, probably not.

After the fuss about WIS we now have this proposal, not so much "space Barbies" more "space My Little Pony"

Harmless but useless. I will not be buying.

If it were free people would actually use it. Like this it's a total vanity thing for a small amount of people, exactly those who like the skins AND are willing to pay significantly more every time they lose a ship of that type. Initially people might buy one or two but why bother if it raises your frigate costs by 500% in the long run?

...a feature that should be free.

any reasons for this feature to be free?

If it were free people would actually use it. Like this it's a total vanity thing for a small amount of people, exactly those who like the skins AND are willing to pay significantly more every time they lose a ship of that type. Initially people might buy one or two but why bother if it raises your frigate costs by 500% in the long run?

Even if it weren't free, it's still a vanity thing. Ship skinning serves no functional purpose to your game. You also have to remember that this particular model of skinning is the pilot model to determine popularity. Our wallets will literally be doing the talking, and that is what CCP wants to see, what we're willing to spend and how many of us are willing to spend it. I don't see anything wrong with a little research before going ahead and implementing a full-feature ship skinning model at the potential expense of very unhappy customers.

For the record, I intend to buy them all, and hit up an incursion or two for the Comet skin.

rant about how stuff should be free

top-wingy-bits.

*note to self

Pay 2 Plex to have the Char of my choice moved to a brand new account (cost involved here too) for the sole purpose of inclusion on the Monument, THEN, pay another plex just to exchange for Aurum so as to color said char's ship.

Dual char training is due in both 4 days and then another 22 days -another 2 Plex, then add on the subscription for the 2 existing accounts -another 2 Plex.

Getting a tad expensive eh? Might as well just be P2W

None of what you're paying for there makes it easier to win.

I said it was getting a tad expensive and that it "might" as well just be pay to win for the -ú-ú-ú's involved :)

Having to purchase ship skins using Aurum is a bad idea. The community for a long time has asked for this feature. It should have been apart of the game a long time ago. The lack of customizable aesthetic features in eve have been appalling. While I am excited about the possibility of maybe changing a ships colors, I will not be paying RL money for a feature that should be free, so that I can fly a slightly different looking ship into battle, all the while paying a monthly subscription fee to play. I have been a loyal player for over 5+ years but I think due to the already lack of customizable aesthetic features, CCP the least you could do is offer it for free!!!!!

P.S. for those of you who do not know

" In the first release of the pilot program we will be introducing eight skins available for Aurum, and one available exclusively through in-game achievement."

"Frigate paint; around 45 AURUM (~$0.23-$0.26) for a single application
Battleship paint; around 350 AURUM (~$1.75-$2.00) for a single application"

*note to self

Pay 2 Plex to have the Char of my choice moved to a brand new account (cost involved here too) for the sole purpose of inclusion on the Monument, THEN, pay another plex just to exchange for Aurum so as to color said char's ship.

Dual char training is due in both 4 days and then another 22 days -another 2 Plex, then add on the subscription for the 2 existing accounts -another 2 Plex.

Getting a tad expensive eh? Might as well just be P2W

Aside from everything you just said not being even remotely required by anything except by your whims.

Why is everyone whining about needing Aurum to paint the ships?

Have you checked Aurum prices on the EVE market yet?

https://eve-central.com/home/quicklook.html?typeid=32792

There, two frigate paint jobs for what is essentially pocket change.

Where was the whine :p

Merely highlighting the direction Eve has been travelling in just the last few months alone. There are none as blind as them that wont see.

A ten year trend then v`s the trend of the last few months. So just what does the future hold ?
I will say one thing that is true in all lines of buisness and that is that the price NEVER goes down.

Frigate paint; around 45 AURUM (~$0.23-$0.26) for a single application
Battleship paint; around 350 AURUM (~$1.75-$2.00) for a single application

Well, that's a very absolute statement. Care to back that up with some evidence, especially considering how often prices go down quite often?

In fact, when you take a course in business, one of the things you learn is how to raise AND lower your prices efficiently. In practice, if you cannot do both efficiently, you will fail.