EVE Online overhauls PLEX currency system, ending tales of PLEX-stuffed ship destruction

CCP announced this morning that it’s overhauling PLEX in EVE Online. As the currency works now, players buy the 30-day sub token known as PLEX with cash and then either use it or sell it to other players in exchange for in-game currency, isk.

“We really like PLEX because it lets you players in the in-game market decide what trade-offs you want to make between time, isk, and real money,” CCP Seagull explains in a new video today. “It also gives us at CCP a type of income that doesn’t mess with the integrity of the game design.” The overhaul won’t impact that philosophy, but here’s what is changing:

PLEX will be broken down into smaller chunks; one current PLEX, worth around $15 or 30 days of sub time, will now work out to 500 new PLEX, which is intended to allow players more flexibility in trade and allow CCP to effectively sell smaller sub lengths (although it has not announced its intention to do this) as well as smaller items in the cash shop using PLEX as currency.

Possibly of more interest to non-EVE players is the fact that the new PLEX Vault in the player inventory will allow players to move PLEX without actually putting it in their ships. No more wacky stories about people losing thousands of dollars’ worth of PLEX while dragging them in ships across the galaxy!

“The PLEX Vault will allow you to move PLEX safely throughout the universe rather than having to move it in a ship. It will still be possible to carry it in a ship like any other item if you want, so if you have an urge to fill a shuttle full of PLEX and tour low sec just drag PLEX out of the vault and into your cargo and you’re good to go. We know how much you love it when ships blow up with piles of PLEX inside, we even might understand why, but, we also don’t want new PLEX users to be losing their PLEX before they can trade it because they didn’t know how to get to market safely.”

Aurum is also being done away with and will be converted to PLEX at a rate of 1 PLEX per 7 Aurum. This will likely affect the price of PLEX on the current market, so the devs are warning players to expect volatility in the short-term until it stabilizes.

“We will keep a careful eye on things and be ready to intervene in other ways if necessary to protect the PLEX ecosystem and your investments in it,” the studio promises.