Knightside
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Posted - 2008.10.14 07:02:00 -
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Ghost training, the act of setting a long skill while you suspend the account, has many pros and a couple cons.
With the global user base of EVE many of us work in economies where the dollar has just taken a big hit. I am starting to question my more superfluous accounts that often ghost-train to keep my costs down and dropping them.
Pro's to the Ghosting:
- CCP get money for accounts, not as regularly as they like, money nonetheless.
[*] Highly skilled pilots are developed for specific jobs, enriching the EVE universe for the services they bring to bear at the end of their jittery subscription. This may be a full subscription commitment, or a transfer. [*] People with more restrictive budgeting in real life, and enjoy eve, can still have multiple accounts for extra help and needs, without being tied to something they cant afford all the time. This gives CCP extra cash, and players an extra edge.
Cons: CCP don't get the same money every month. Plain and simple.
Complaints: Other pod pilots who complain about the Ghost Training of other players seems... hollow. The practice (Ghost training) favors no one, just those who can afford another account. The Power of Two offer is great for those who want to run two accounts, and can consistently afford it.
[size=4]Boarding School[/size] I understand CCP want to raise revenue. Every business does. Not everyone can afford to train up two accounts, but they like the flexibility of having an account training for something extra to supplement/compliment their other characters.
I do however think that there could be a profitable and hideously effective middle ground to this dilemma. "Boarding School." The account is on a suspended training schedule, this is simply a change in subscription. Instead of stopping the ghost training the character continues to learn at their usual pace. However the account cannot be logged in to. This middle ground doesn't stop the whining from pod pilots who can't afford two accounts, or from the accountants who see this 'massive' fluctuating level of subscriptions.But it does give Ghost Trainers the alternative.
If we don't have skill queuing, then the very least we could get is appeasement for alternate character training.
I for one have an extra account that ghost trained, I had the time to let the skills train, but couldn't justify paying for an account where the only action I could take on it was watching the skill points tick over. The character in question was training some very demanding skills, which I wanted finished before I took the character the next step. I did not see the point in paying for the account while I was not able to play it. Yes there are other things I could have done with that character, but I was already doing those things on my main account. In many business's the focus is on keeping the customer happy, if they're happy they come back. Ghost Training is about paying for when you play, and enabling breaks whether they are financial or otherwise, and still getting the most you can from the character.
Quote: A long overdue and much needed change will be put in place with the Wednesday, 15 October 2008 patch. Ghost Training, the continuous skill gain on accounts in an inactive or expired state - will no longer function after Wednesday, 15 October 2008. This practice upsets the balance of the game, and capsuleers who actively put their time and energy into working on their characters will no longer be unfairly affected by those few who have not.
I actively put my time into training every character, sometimes though, that character has to train for 45 days. I have nothing else to do with that character till that's finished. This isn't about balancing the game, characters will always take X time to be in X ship with X skills. Sure CCP can do this. Its going to annoy a lot of people who ghost train dread pilots for sale (and the like)
There is a solution.
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