It's been a rough week for developers CCP, whose long-awaited launch of the Incarna update for EVE Online has been marred by a string of negative public sentiments arising from both the new microtransactions available in the game and the licensing fees being levied to third party developers. More information has come to light on both counts, and it seems the story is not over yet.

It's good news on the licensing fees front, with CCP posting an explanation that the $99 fee was not set in stone and admitting that they did a bad job of communicating that fact to the community. "The reason for charging $99 for the commercial license was because we needed a monetary value for the contract to become legally binding without having to go through a whole lot of hoops. When we are able to show a transaction we are also able to show that a contract has been accepted, basically." reads the interview with CCP Zulu.

"What we needed was a token charge from the community and $99 is not a token charge by any stretch of the imagination. Charging $99 for a third party development suite or license is not what we are trying to accomplish... What we are going to do now is go back, factor that in to a new arrangement and try to come up with something which is more to our needs and more to community expectations at the end of summer. So no $99. We need a token charge and it is going to happen and we are all good."

The subject of microtransactions unfortunately still has a number of players on edge, with an allegedly leaked copy of CCP's internal newsletter Fearless stating that CCP would not be limiting themselves to vanity items only with the microtransactions model, as earlier promised. The document, leaked on Twitter, states that "Not all virtual purchases will focus on customization: some will simply be new items, ammunition, ships, etc. that can be purchased outright", which many say runs completely counter to CCP's commitment to not allow game-affecting items to be purchased using microtransactions. The authenticity of the document however is in question, with ex-CCP members confirming it matches the name and style of the internal CCP newsletter - but even if it was, the document claims not to be representative of official CCP policy and to only express the opinions of its staff.

Microtransaction prices for the existing vanity-only items from the Noble Exchange are already the subject of much contention, with the game charging prices of $20 USD for a skirt, $25 for a blouse, and $68 for the popular ocular implant module. These prices match or often exceed actual real-world prices for the same items (minus the robotic eye) which leads players to wonder what, exactly, is going on.

More news as it comes in.

Thanks to Massively, here and here.