Here a Clone, There a Clone…

This will be a short post.  On the o7 show, CCP announced the end of medical clone upgrade costs.  And, apparently, some people lost their minds.  Reddit has a few posts about it, and TheMittani.com has a feature article explaining why this change is a good thing.

I have to laugh at the very idea that someone, somewhere, is upset about removing the costs to upgraded medical clones.  It’s a stupid cost added into the game that serves no purpose but to discourage older players from PvPing in as many situations.  Who wants to risk their 150-million SP clone while trying to solo a Sabre, for instance?  Answer?  Not as many as I’d like to see.  Killing that ship just isn’t worth the cost of losing implants, your ship, and the cost to re-up your clone.

This change serves to remove an annoying PvP tax, and it should have died a traitor’s death five years ago.  Good job to CCP to remove this brake from the PvP vehicle.

And to those who were complaining that they’re losing the pleasure of causing a player the grief of having to re-up their clone… boo hoo.  Let me find a violin.  I’m with you in wanting that pod killmail.  I’m right there with you in feeling the adrenaline surge at the hope of seeing a 900-mil pod pop up in my combat log and on my killboard.  I’m all for an attempt to ransom a pod.  All well and good.

But if the only pleasure and value you get in killing a pod is the knowledge that you’ve forced someone to have to pay to upgrade their alpha clone, you’ve got some serious issues to work out.  Nor do you have any interest in taking a fight you might actually lose.  I’d much rather the player I killed put their medical clone money into fitting another ship and coming after me for revenge.  Right now, that clone cost is directly crowding out an actual PvP engagement – the money spent isn’t being spent on another PvP ship.  It has a negative effect on content, actually.

And if you don’t see that and realize that consideration wins out over your sadistic to inflict harm that does nothing to benefit you or changes your gameplay whatsoever…

Just… wow.