The Eve Online Buddy Program was created so that full-subscription players of Eve Online could distribute 14-day free trial accounts to their friends. If the buddy account is converted to a full account the referrer is rewarded with entrance into a monthly prize raffle. Even so, all players can sign up to create a free trial account from the Eve Online Website's Trial Section. The 14-day trial account is free and allows the trial player to access most of the Eve Online game, with exceptions. Trial accounts cannot train certain skills for some advanced ship types, for example industrial ships. Trial accounts cannot create contracts and cannot directly transfer ISK to other players. Once the 14 day period ends, the trial account is locked and must be converted to a full account before its characters can be accessed again. Skills that a character is training at the end of the trial period continue to train even though the account is locked.
Eve Online Trial Accounts can be upgraded to full paid accounts in two ways. The first way is through activating an account subscription on the Eve Online website, resulting in immediate activation and 30 days of game time for $19.95. This subscription method requires a credit card. The alternative way is to subscribe using an Eve Game Time Card (ETC or GTC). These can be purchased in digital format online. GTCs upgrade a trial account to a full account and activate the account for the specified game time. The 60-day GTCs retail for $35 and are readily available online through third party merchants.