Aeon Amadi wrote:
BPOs and APEX BPOs take away the feeling of risk and loss from this game. You don't have to worry about ISK expenditure and no matter how you want to justify it (availability in LP store, the ****** Eve Online 'noob ship' argument that people parrot while having no idea what they're talking about) the fact of the matter is this: In case of the APEX BPO, you field a powerful suit that is capable of versatility that standard BPO's simply cannot match. Sure, you can put on Complex modules and what not on a standard BPO, but you will never have the diverse effects of maximum fitting slots - this is where the power of higher tiered suits comes from to begin with outside of better PG/CPU.
The customization of APEX suits puts a precedent that, if you want to win in this game, you have to pay up. That, if you want an endless ISK source that is generated while you make minimal changes to your gameplay performance, you need to chalk up a few bucks. This effect is permanent and the argument was originally that "we don't have a market, we don't have an economy" - well, now we do.
You still did not say anything to counter the fact that they can be bought without spending a single dollar. The fact that they are more powerful than BPOs that can be bought for cash actually offsets any pay to win argument.
As far as them creating an ISK faucet goes you are correct in the fact that they generate a surplus of ISK but calling it a faucet is maybe a bit over stating it. For a novice player that does not have the core skills behind everything on the suit they are difficult to capitalize on their cost because they just do not score the kind of points needed to generate a large payout. For a fully specialized veteran they are a way to make money to be able to run higher level, properly fitted suits which means the need to balance risk versus reward is very much still alive.
When it comes to the economy they are going to be great for the overall economy once they are able to be traded. Just like in Eve they will provide an alternative for new players to buy them for cash and sell them. Once this happens and those new players start spamming out proto gear that payout filters to everyone through the new PC battle payout system and through pub matches.
The only thing missing on the economy is a way to viably create ISK so that this system can function like it really should to make CCP lots of money and make the Dust experience more enjoyable for everyone. I really hope that CCP recognizes this quickly so that we do not yet again see all of the power fall into the hands of those who took advantage of a broken PC system for so long.