But that doesn't mean you can just walk into EVE, plunk down $1500 to buy ISK, and walk off with a titan.
I am completely ignorant of how EVE works. So you're saying it's not possible for someone in control of a Titan in Eve that is hard up for money enough to turn the keys over for $1,500 in real life money?
> So you're saying it's not possible for someone in control of a Titan in Eve that is hard up for money enough to turn the keys over for $1,500 in real life money?
Possible, sure. But, CCP is very quick to drop the hammer on transactions like this that involve converting in game assets to real life money. This sort of transaction is explicitly banned.
No, that's possible. I'm not clear on CCP's policy on character transfers, so it may be illegal, but it's certainly possible. That said, a titan pilot is almost certainly worth more than $1,500. I have heard rumors that players are paid real money for their participation in alliances; it wouldn't surprise me to have confirmation.
First search got me [1] which has a buy-out of 35 billion ISK. According to currency convert [2], this comes out to around 1,000 USD. The buy-out was taken, too.
It's extremely hard to believe that such a player is actually piloting a titan at time of transfer, though, and this thread [3] starts the hull cost at 40bil ISK. So you're looking at north of ~2,000 USD for the pilot and a useless hull, which is past the 1,500 mark. Assuming that the "travel fit" mentioned is a combat fit (unlikely), that's a total of ~4,000 USD.
Which means you'd have to get back to 300bps's "hard up for money" remark and recognize that anyone in possession of a titan is going to have an alliance full of people willing to handle this kind of thing more directly than a stranger walking up offering less than market value.
And we'll just ignore the fact that, unless you had an alliance backing you up (meaning all of this contrivance gets pretty moot), you wouldn't be able to do anything meaningful with it except wander around a little and die.
Your first link is over 3 years old. Prices in characters fluctuate quite heavily during the time of the year and during various events. And links 3 years old in the Eve economy are worthless. Though you're right you won't get the titan with the pilot in any of those.
Your currency converter is also converting at $15 = 481m isk when in reality $15 will now get you over 700m isk.
Lastly hull cost for a titan hasn't been 40b in years. That guy was very wrong. They are closer to 90-100b if you get a deal and 110-120b on the market.
Read the full context of their hard up for money comment and it's clear they are using hard up for money to mean rich not poor.
You are right that without an alliance you won't do much with your titan.
My qualifications for my statements are as a super capital pilot and a capital builder and I have been one for a number of years now.
I wasn't going for finely-tuned accuracy; I was making the point that $1500 is not enough to go from never-played-EVE to flying-a-titan. Your numbers make that more true, rather than less.
> Read the full context of their hard up for money comment and it's clear they are using hard up for money to mean rich not poor.
The context was that the titan pilot needs $1500 badly enough that they're willing to sell their character for it. That doesn't mean "rich". "Hard up for money" is not an ambiguous idiom.
You're right. I read the hard up comment wrong repeatedly somehow.
When people say $1500 though they are generally just referring to the ship itself not the pilot and modules. $1500 has been pretty standard price for a long time though you're also correct that now it's tilted towards $2K as the price of some materials has gone up quite a bit over the past year.
I am completely ignorant of how EVE works. So you're saying it's not possible for someone in control of a Titan in Eve that is hard up for money enough to turn the keys over for $1,500 in real life money?