Negative, the EULA says that they will be replaced with something of equal value, and Aur is not of equal value.

Says who. You? The other people upset that their infinite militia items got taken away? Because if its simply a case of a consumer stating that x amount of ingame currency != 'equal value' of item that was purchased with ingame currency, I have to say I disagree and because I'm also a consumer the argument now has some real issues.

"also like I said, people who purchased BPOs are the ones who have been actually supporting this game."

And your point is what exactly? That some people don't mind getting rolled.

As long as we are pricing things, how many Aur standard LAVs can one buy with the Aur refunded in exchange for a BPO that provided infinite uses?

As long as I am pricing stuff out;

Amarr
Anti-Armor: 2685 isk
Medic: 2445 isk
Frontline: 2685 isk
Sniper: 2010 isk

Those are free to EVERYONE forever, meaning that they are most likely used much more than BPO fittings and they do about 1/3 of the economic damage per suit.

I would also like to say that my BPO suits tend to cost about 15k a piece.

EDIT: also like I said, people who purchased BPOs are the ones who have been actually supporting this game.

...... That **** me off, what about the AUR BPC players.

That would be a big fat 0.

LAVs BPOs were sold in packs, meaning they were sold directly for real life money, not aurum.

So let's review here: Proto-stompers find it relatively easy to kill BPO-users, and BPO-users don't mind dying. Each time a proto-stomper dies, the ISK that was spent on that suit is added to the end of match payout pool, redistributing the ISK that was spent. Each time a proto-stomper kills a BPO user, some free ISK is generated out of thin air, and injected into that same end of match payout pool.

Im just going to stop you right there...because you couldnt be any more wrong.There is a bulk amount of ISK issued for the contract...by an NPC (out of thin air corp) Your after match payout is based on your after match position 1-16 which is dictated by WP. No.1 gets the most.No. 16 gets the least....If you are wearing BPO's you are squishy and far less likely to "own" the opposing team in any fashion as these suits are militia equivalent.In reality a high sp character is actually giving him/herself a handicap.Is far less likely to generate enough WP for OB and so on.

Having had the chance to play in squads with many great fps players in this game has taught me that it is as much, if not more of a competition to get to first and get the lion share of the cash....a game within a game.I call it Hungry hungry hippo....and so if they wear proto. So must I. Unless I want to get left in the dust and say get 5th place instead of first.....Risk /Reward

PC payout falls under a different mechanic.

That one was free the next one you'll have to pay me for.

Do BPO defenders even care about the long-term health of this game?

If you aren't dying, then why do you want BPO gear? It is categorically worse than proto gear in every way except cost.

*walks by, pauses*

You people do realize that the only BPOs that are being removed are the ones for items that won't exist anymore, right? Not all of them? Just checking. Anyway, it's taco day in the cafeteria, so I'm outta here.

*continues walking*

Arguably this game has twitch shooter, and proto-vs-bpo battles are determined as follows:
1) if bpo dude sneaks up behind proto dude, bpo dude wins.
2) if proto dude sneaks up on bpo dude, proto dude wins.

Point #1 reeks of logic and reason. I wish this were true.
Such straight-forward thinking is what gets Scouts killed.
The Alchemy of Balance is far more mysterious ...
I will correct your formula for you:

1) If anything sneaks up behind proto EZ Mode, proto EZ Mode wins.
2) If proto EZ Mode sneaks up behind something, proto EZ Mode wins.
3) If proto EZ Mode doesn't win, something gets nerfed.

* EZ Mode = MedFrame + AR or ScR

Said it before, I'll say it again.

Give BPOs a Bill of Materials and give us some mindnumbing PvE resource gathering.

Give us a player market and let us gouge it with the manufactured items.

CCP ends up removing nothing and giving us promised content.

In the interim, make them useless if you must, but do not remove them from our inventories.

Remember, there are still those of us who have Cardiac Stimulant BPOs.

Ahh, this again...

As I stated in other threads with the same topic, instead of banging our head together to no end, let's instead focus on what would make an acceptable reimbursement to BPOs. And to all of you who say "cash" or "psn credits", you are only comparing what's currently in the game! Let's think outside the box, and perhaps give CCP some good ideas which WOULD satisfy us IN GAME.

With that said, please remember that within the the New Eden universe (EvE + Dust), anything that magically spawns out of thin air IS game breaking, which is why I fully support the 100% removal of BPOs in its current form.

I already stated what would be my suggestion in the other threads if you are interested, so I won't repeat myself here...

that still isn't what I paid for... if they did this I would like my psn credit returned so I can choose if I would want to buy that new version of an old product.

Well, that is what I was under the impression that I was buying. Should I throw up my arms and wail my lament to the heavens?

Free stuffz is bad m'kay? If there is a due process that I can follow to provide myself and my corp with low cost equipment (as well as padding our wallets in the process), that is much less gamebreaking (arguably, it is game enriching as it contributes to the addition of promised content).

you wanns pad your wallet? go buy a district.... you will make billions more than you will with bpo's....

I want nothing to do with the blueberry muffin in Molden Heath.

I'd rather game the market instead of broken mechanics.

Until it isn't a broken faucet, **** PC

No, BPO defenders do not care about the long term health of the game.

They care about capitalizing on a design mistake CCP made, and will cry as CCP continues to correct that mistake.

So the discussion has been raging for weeks now, and so far the scope of the discussion has almost entirely been "I'm being ripped off!"... And yeah, maybe you are, maybe you aren't... But this thread is about something else.

Let me begin with the seemingly innocent root cause: Players who die while using BPO gear still generate full end-of-match ISK payouts each time they die.

No big deal, right? Well let's look at some of the other pieces in play here, and let's see if you too will share in my fridge horror moment:

• Players in full proto gear have better stats than players in full BPO gear.
• Players in full BPO gear are not punished for dying, and so are more likely to take risks.

So let's review here: Proto-stompers find it relatively easy to kill BPO-users, and BPO-users don't mind dying. Each time a proto-stomper dies, the ISK that was spent on that suit is added to the end of match payout pool, redistributing the ISK that was spent. Each time a proto-stomper kills a BPO user, some free ISK is generated out of thin air, and injected into that same end of match payout pool.

And thus we discover the real evil of "proto-stomping": These players who are going 20-0 against players in Militia BPO gear are receiving enormous amounts of free ISK that came from nowhere, while those players who are getting stomped are getting paid relatively little for their troubles.

When the secondary market is introduced, these extremely rich proto-stompers are going to flood the market with their ready supply of ISK, causing prices to increase relative to their ability to spend. And what of the poor BPO-users? Well they're not making a whole lot of ISK to begin with, so all they'll see is a market full of things that are ridiculously over-priced and out of their reach...

While BPO users may indeed have a valid point about not getting what they paid for, they don't seem to realise that what they paid for is a permanent and ongoing disadvantage against the "1%" of Dust players, and that continued BPO use is only going to continue widening the gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots".

Don't believe me? Go watch CEO Pyrex's latest video (here), and listen to how he talks about the value of ISK and proto gear. No, he's not the cause of the problem. It's not his fault that BPO users are continually throwing free ISK at him... But it does illustrate the point. This is already happening, and it's only going to get worse when the secondary market comes in.