I would like to point out, that EVE is already "free to play" game as a result of PLEX.

But as EVE is "hard" game there is a quirk in its free-to-play model. You can "starve" in EVE if you are not playing hard enough. You put in some effort and grind and "play for free" or you swipe your credit card and get that "advantage" over free to play players in the form of isk injection you can spend on having fun - whatever is your definition of fun - without having to grind for that isk. At least not in game.

There is certain volatily assosiated with PLEX ofc - as as you pointed out - if PLEX price rises enough some accounts will "starve" as a result. CCP is quite aware of that and is implementing tools making it possible for them to intervene in PLEX market if they see the need - however they are not planning to do that in foreseeable future - according to CSM minutes.

I doubt that they would intervene as a reaction to "normal" PLEX price changes - even if the PLEX will hit the 1 bil mark or whatever other arbitary "red line". In my opinion they are implementing these tools as a potential safeguard against malicious market manipulation attempts. For Example - should goons (or whoever else) decide that it's good time to throw couple of trillion isk at PLEX market in an attempt to "hurt" EVE. The subscription base high reliance on PLEX market can introduce some shockwaves in the economy if PLEX price changes too rapidly.

While CCP intervention can "smooth out" the shockwaves introduced by the theoretical manipulation attempt its a bit hopeless to hold back the flood if the change is caused by normal market forces. It can "buy them some time" to change underlying game mechanics tho if there is a problem.

Should see plex go back up to previous levels over the next few days. Will be cool.

after reading on and off, most of the commentors and the OP have very bad understanding of market mechanics.
What you are seeing is "PLEX", just one item seperated from the market.

Now, let's play real economics:

in real life, currency is degraded by what you may know as inflation.
That means prices rise when demand exceeds supply, this happens to enable the market to heal itself.
A healed market means that the amount of items being put up for sale and the amount of items people want to buy are the same.

Ignoring the reason as to why prices have risen(Many factors at that), Here's a short price list

Prices are 1/10/11 and 1/02/12 essence market, averages.

Tritanium : 3.3 to 3.81 15% increase
Catalysts : 625K to 947K 51% increase
PLEX : 383.7M to 482.2M 25% increase
Veldspar : 9.38 to 11.02 17% increase
Hulk : 197.5M to 195.7M 1% decrease
Thorax : 5.9M to 6.83M 15% increase
Megathron : 77.7M to 93.8M 20% increase

I can go on, but there's no reason to.
For the average miner, plex is barely 10% less expensive.
For the new miner isk is easier to come by(due to ore/mineral prices), hulks are the same price; plexes are easier to get.
Basically, if you're a manufacturer, prices have increased with the production costs, same net profit. plex is 10% more expensive.

Mission runners : The eve algorithem changes mission prices as far as i know to comply with the demand for missions. a mission that isn't being done alot, or that people are constantly failing, will get more isk in it(Varify me on that).

We can safely assume that more people are mining now than they were 4 months ago due to the price rise, meaning that the actual mineral price rise should've been steeper, but more miners are trying to fill in the market gaps.

Where does that leave us?
plex prices have hiccuped 5-15% up depending on your profession.
The nominal price has gone up, but the real price is safe.
For example, let's pin the plex price to tritanium.

1 plex cost 116M tritanium in 1/10/11
1 plex cost 126M tritanium in 1/02/12

a rise of 8%. all this fuss for 8%, really?

Final note on missions, the more prices rise, the less missions become a viable income option. less people run missions, mission rewards rise to meet demand, and the circle is complete.
if mission rewards don't increase, mission running as a profession will become extinct(causing a price rise in all the higher meta prices, which will make mission running profitable again).

It's not magic, It's economics.

you can call it market manupulation my dear goon,
but there is something basic;
prices are rising everywhere, Not just plexes.

i'm too lazy

do me a favor and post your next items on the same dates i have

i'm intrested in only the mineral prices actually.

while you're at it, drop in all the T1 battleships aswell.

These random lower items don't prove the point.

You can do the same with a stack of other items to show huge increase.

These random lower items don't prove the point.

You can do the same with a stack of other items to show huge increase.

If the reason for rising costs is inflation, why are the three most expensive minerals all cheaper? (oops, maybe not all minerals are more expensive? what what?)