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I've been thinking about how CCP plan to make money off Alpha clones. Not coming up with much! This is all speculation and brainstorming. I'm not thinking too much just wondering where this could go... 

Obviously encouraging new players into the game and getting them to subscribe is the the number 1 aim for CCP. However I am sure they are looking for ways to make money off people who want to play for free. CCP is a business and to survive they need cash. You don't get anything for nothing. So how can CCP make money from Alphas that won't subscribe?

First of all we have the obvious NEX store. Ship skins might be popular so people are likely to want some of those. However the whole purpose of an Alpha clone is you don't have to pay for it. These are likely to buy Aurum tokens from the market if they want a nice new skin. That is probably achievable through PVE and industrial activities on a five million SP character every so often. That in turn will increase Aurum token prices which again will encourage Omega's to sell them which of course needs PLEX.

Then we have the space-Barbie clothing line. I think most of us agree, what's the point. Without WiS its unlikely to be a big winner for CCP other than glasses, hats and other things you see in the portraits we see 99.999% of the time. I could put something here about a hope CCP are looking at some limited WiS but best to avoid that "Marmite" topic!

Onto PLEX. This will probably be another source of income from the Alpha's. I'm no expert on making money in Eve unless you count selling PLEX. I have no idea how long it'll take a 5m SP toon in a T1 cruiser to make the one billion at current prices but I bet its a while. This may mean Alpha's who are really into the game but strapped for cash may sub with a PLEX once every X months.

Skill Injectors

Again may be a good option for Alpha clones if the reduced training rate is too slow. 600m ISK is a lot of cash though for a 5m SP T1 only toon stuck in a cruiser? If they are buying, costs will go up encouraging other players to buy extractors from the NEX store and increase CCP's cash flow. Thinking about it, this is probably going to be even less than space-barbie items. Scrub that.

Then....? Well I think thats about it isn't it with current mechanics. What else could CCP be looking at?

WiS
Shit I did it didn't I. Oh well, anyone who has read this blog knows that I am a supporter of some limited WiS to push the old CCP "Eve: A Future Vision" video. Sci-Fi nerd and immersion etc etc. Without it I cannot see NEX sales for clothing and cosmetic avatar items being much at all. Then again I don't see CCP opening this can of worms.

Mini-PLEX
One billion ISK is a lot of money. 15 earth dollars/pounds/Euros is a lot of money to many. Actually, not pounds anymore since Brexit, they're not worth much at all these days (great for us Expats!). Will CCP be looking at more PLEX options than just the 30 day version. Will we see 14 day or even 7 day options pop up in the NeX store? 250m ISK for a week of full access? If you have a week off work and not doing anything that might be worth it. Especially if you are on a lapsed account and you could could jump from 5m SP to 100m SP. Christmas holiday sat around playing board games with the family? Nope! Christmas holiday pewpewing the scrubs!

Alpha Accelerators
How about some implants restricted to Alpha clones that speed up their slow training? Nope. That'll be creating something that will impact on players. Current options are skill injectors (a net loss of SP overall) or attribute enhancers which are farmed by players.

I'm really struggling here! Is there any other way for CCP to make money from the "freemium" players without causing some detriment to their subscribers? Ideas?