First Look: SKINR

SKINR is a tool that lets players design, use, and sell their own custom ship designs.

Quick Facts

• The tool can be used anywhere from the Neocom.
• Only Omega clones can use it for all ships.
• No need to own the ship to make a SKIN for it.
• No VFX effects. That will be reserved for CCP-made SKINs for now.
• Creating SKINs will require secondary resources generated by gameplay (PvE combat like the Abyss is mentioned) and some PLEX.
• Pricing shall be similar to what a SKIN would cost in the New Eden Store (NES).
• The costs to make a SKIN is determined by the size of the ship and materials used, which decide what “tier” the SKIN is considered.
• Making or “sequencing” a SKIN will require time. This time can apparently be skipped by spending PLEX. (More on that below)
• Materials can be bought from the so-called Paragon Hub, but some shall also be gained via in-game activities and potentially sold on the regular in-game market.
• There will be around 30 colors and color variations at launch, and CCP is planning to add many more in the future.
• Colors/Materials can have limited or unlimited use.
• Currently, the only currency needed to create SKINs is PLEX. There are plans to implement EverMarks for corporation-related SKINs.
• New Skills will be introduced. These will:
  • Reduce the sequencing time of SKINs.
  • Increase the number of “sell orders” for SKINs in the Paragon Hub.
  • Number of SKINs that can be sequenced at the same time.
• Players can decide if they want to offer a SKIN for ISK or for PLEX.
• The only way to find SKINs in the Paragon Hub is currently to filter for ships. A search is intended for future implementations.

You can take a closer look at the feature in the VOD of this stream.

Time As Resource

The time to sequence a SKIN is based on the tier. The tier is decided by the size of the ship and the rarity rating of the components. The higher the tier, the more time and resources are required to create/sequence the SKIN.

A very obviate appearing timer can be skipped when finalizing the SKIN – by paying extra PLEX.

The current implementation appears to me like it was placed there late in the development process. Almost as if it was never meant to be there, and slapped on later.
And you could get hung up on this. Be mad at it, and call out for the dark pattern that it seems to be. Monetizing the impatience of the player. Just a bit more direct than skill injectors…

And while I very much dislike that it’s there so blatantly, it’s probably the least shit way they could have done this. Of course, the fact the “finish now!” button is there leaves a bad taste. Still, I see two preconditions under which I’m fine with that:

1. Never make the waiting times unreasonably long, so it stays viable to just wait a bit.
2. Never make it affect anything else than cosmetics.

The fact you can skip this sequencing timer with PLEX (read: cash) is putting some dampener on the otherwise very cool SKINR tool. Lots of potential for new revenue streams for players – and by tying it to PLEX, also for CCP.

Some over at r/Eve are of course already up in arms, handing out pitchforks and lighting torches.

RIP Immersion?

It’s safe to say that we will see some derpy and questionable design choices… oh boy!
“But won’t that break immersion?!” you may ask. Well, I fear we have reached a point in Eve’s life cycle where monetization is becoming more and more important. If you watch this video where Oz_Eve is commenting on the latest earning call from Pearl Abyss, you may gain a better understanding of where CCP is standing financially.

Immersion is one of the first things you see being sacrificed in MMOs for the sake of monetization.
For example stuffed toy skins for mounts in Guild Wars 2… It may hurt a bit at first, but after a while, you’ll hardly notice it anymore.

In fact, we already have a little broken immersion with pink Keepstars. Or have we? Can capsuleers not be mad pink-colored radicals committing mass murder while feeling fancy?
One surely positive side of the tool is that it can strengthen the identity of player groups. Imagine a whole fleet warping onto grid sporting the same colors. And even if it was baby blue, it would still be pretty cool.

One More Thing

I mean, you have seen the neatly arranged mobile depots, bookmarks, or fleet formations…