Yesterday saw the bank robbing profession come to EVE Online as the Grand Heist update officially went live. Readers will recall that this update is effectively letting players become bank robbers thanks to new gameplay features that let them crack open reserve banks and lift some sweet ISK.
Of course, if you’re a subscriber, you could always just get some ISK by logging in to the game. The new update is also adding in a daily login reward event that runs between now and August 3rd, handing out boosters to free players and free ISK to Omega clones – subscribers who login for at least six days will get a total of 235M in ISK. On top of that, there will be a reduction of in-game market fees and taxes for the next three months.
This has raised a number of concerns among some players who believe that this short-term cash infusion will lead to inflation or others who are outright insulted by the promotion. Fellow blogger Wilhelm Arcturus of The Ancient Gaming Noob writes that the amount, while not insignificant, isn’t quite enough to get him to resubscribe lapsed accounts, and the effects of this new cash infusion into the game’s economy probably won’t be noticed until July or August’s monthly econ reports, if they’re noticed at all.
