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What do you guys think?
Rusty715
Member Posts: 482
Is the reason for the entire game going F2P due to the F2P server making more money than the live servers? I dont know what the population of the pay servers are now but I cant think of another reason for SOE to do this. I recently started playing on extended and for someone who has never been a fan of F2P I have to say I like what I see so far. I did spend the one time $10 to upgrade to silver but havnt found anything I have to have from the CS to enjoy the game. I do think I may buy a mount soon though and the broker tokens will be needed to sell stuff once my crafting is leveled up a bit.. Anyway, what do you guys think the reason is to make it all F2P?
Really? This game sucks and Im not having fun? Im going to unsub right now. Thanks for the tip.
Comments
EQ2x was completely retarded, after a year of players telling SOE that, someone finally figured out it was true.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
So SOE finally accepted that EQ2 Ex. is retarded and then deided to make the entire game F2P? Anyone else?
Really? This game sucks and Im not having fun? Im going to unsub right now. Thanks for the tip.
I like SOE games
but SOE has never been good about listening to the playerbase
I dont know if it was a good idea to make all servers f2p
I'm personally OK with their decision but I was already playing on EQ2X anyhow
it makes sense to offer one service but this decision will disappoint some longtime active players
EQ2 fan sites
I like EQ2. I have some toons on AB but upon coming back to the game I decided since it was all going F2P anyway I would go ahead and play EQ2X. As I said in my OP I dont find the cash shop over the top, though this may change with the entire game going F2P, we will just have to wait and see.Im having a lot of fun and the CS may never bother me much as raiding isnt something I care about. Other than buying broker tokens now and then, to sell stuff, I dont see myself spending much. But I still wonder why SOE would do this. EQ2X must be making them money to make this decision.
Really? This game sucks and Im not having fun? Im going to unsub right now. Thanks for the tip.
LOL!
My youtube MMO gaming channel
Actually I think if it increases the population of the few remaining servers it's a very good move. SOE is at a point where they've got nothing to lose so they might as well get some bodies into the world.
Really out of all the current mmos I think this is the best one--the graphics engine is really its biggest flaw, not it's billing system.
My youtube MMO gaming channel
I think they've had it cooked for awhile. There was noise from the EQ2 loyalists that they didn't want Freeps on their servers. So a segregated server idea was announced. (same for City of Heroes, but they didn't promote it as a whole other game).
The population on EQ2 and Ex combined will seem healtier. My girl is still a fan of EQ2 so we've resubbed from time to time.
I don't really care for Ex.'s cash shop in comparison to LotROs honestly, but this move shows they're willing to finally bend a little with current and relevant trends.
I'll probably play it more than CoH's and I have had a good 2 years longer subbed to CoH, but their F2P model is just too restricted.
I used to play MMOs like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
For the last 15 months there was a battle between Eq2 and Eq2X over which service was more profitable. Well the battle has been decided and Eq2X has won the day. Paid live service will be discontinued to be replaced with the Freemium Eq2X model.
The way it was set up before really was a blow to the regular servers as far as gaining new players. First they eliminated the trials on regular servers and funneled everyone to EQ2X. You had to download a whole separate client to play it. There were some that didn't even know the regular servers existed. For a very long time the main page offered two options with two big signs....one saying "Play for Free!" which lead to EQ2X and the other saying "Shop Now!" leading to regular EQ2. I mean really. Who would click "Shop Now"?
There was a multiple page post requesting uniting the two and bringing free to play to regular servers. Smokejumper posted he was watching the post to see what others thought. In the end there were far more players complaining about the segregation and loss of new players than there were those who didn't want free to play on their server.
Only the stupid ones imo. I've been playing since launch and in a guild with mostly veteran players. The biggest disappointment for us was the fact that the additional players brought into the game were completely segregated from us. F2P meant an influx of players, but it did absoulutely nothing for the existing game because those players couldn't play on the real servers.
Now that they can, there is more chance of them subbing and increasing the overall population pool. Furthermore, now that it's possible to get F2P accounts, many veteran players plan to bring back their inactive 2nd or 3rd accounts or to start additional accounts. I haven't really heard much hate for this decision. Most people i've talked to are thinking "bout frackin' time".
The only negative thing is that now you're going to be getting into groups with people that are undergeared because they can only wear treasured or whatever the f2p restriction is. This in itself isn't a huge deal but it'll be a bigger deal when SOE starts balancing all their content to be doable by the people in treasured gear, making the game stupidly easy. Hopefully they understand that doing this will decrease the desire of people to pay, so they won't do it.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
I guess I am a stupid player then, because I did not like the community of Extended at all so I do not really like the freemium changes to all servers. I fear for what will happen to the quality of the Live community as that was one of the main reasons I left Freeport. I have visited the LotRO forums from time-to-time and have noticed a common theme that though the freemium model has brought in a lot of people, the community has eroded.
Increasing the population is not necessarily a good thing if they are inconsiderate and unfun to be around. EQ2 is best when people cooperate and have good player etiquette. Those two things were sorely lacking on Freeport I found. I did meet some cool people there, but not enough to keep me on that server.
My guildies are not too enthusiastic about the change and other people I have asked feel iffy about it as well. But they are adopting a wait-and-see approach like I am.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.
That much is certain *digs up an old picture to compare EQ2X vs Live*
Aside from that, EQ2Live has 18 servers, and only 3 have 'good enough' population: Antonia Bayle (US), Splitpaw (EU-EN) and Barren Sky (RU), where AB is the only one that hits 'high' on a daily basis and the other 2 hit it only during the weekends at peak hours. Most other servers are close to empty
With that, all Live servers have mostly players at maxed level. I rerolled last week on AB and only have seen half a dozen players around me (general player-chat is very crowded though). While on EQ2X, where I made a character as well last month, there are lots of players in the starter area's.
My gues is that SOE agreed that the EQ2X 'Freemium' was retarded, and wanted to make a more LotRo Freemium system (nothing wrong with that), and at the same time put new life in the Eq2Live servers. 'cause you can say whatever you want, the Eq2X servers are always crowded and thus a success. Lets hope this same success will also hit the EQ2Live servers now!
You know I don't get this dissemination of veterans to free players, like your somehow better players than they are, or entitled to things. Free players coming to live servers is the same players as you and everyone else who payed to play. I sub to EQ2 for a couple years. I can tell you that EQ2x server probably has better players then live did because they actually got a sense of more enjoyment and sense of accomplishment. The reason they do is because the game was f2p for them and they could concentrate on the game more then the live servers progressive disease of raid and gear. I can assure you the F2P players are the same as live, they are humans believe it or not and have as much experience in gaming and playing as you, perhaps even more.
So I see this trend come about recently about how you live players on the games that went F2P are somehow better then the free players coming in and you feel somewhat entitled to the content, as if you are the best player. Go fetch a better idea people, this one is a little skewed.
I don't follow EQ2 or SOE to any detail. I do have one observation. I don't know if this applies here.
The holy grail in terms of revenue generation in the current market appears to be the combination of Freemium access, cash shop and subscription in a single server environment. The ultimate goal would be to have surbscribers who use cash shop for convenience items.
In response the the free players suck remarks ,I will just say that the only example ive seen was a few bunny hopping around quest givers in the starting zone. After leveling a bit and moving on I have not seen this. In fact I got invited to a guild of nice people with a nice guild hall with all the bells and whistles, crafting table npc's etc. just as my live server guild had/has. As for myself im having just as much fun on the F2P server as I did on the AB when I played two years ago. One plus for the F2P is, I dont feel behind everyone else like I did on my live server. I can enjoy all the game offers, which is a ton of activities, without feeling the need to hurry up and catch up. For the record, Ive always hated the idea of F2P but have found it to be advantageous in some ways. A good population in the lower levels is one such advantage also.
Really? This game sucks and Im not having fun? Im going to unsub right now. Thanks for the tip.
the only time I had annoyances on EQ2X is when I grouped with a bronze player and I was a gold member
I was not able to share the same # of quests I had (everfrost has tons of quests)
for player behavior / attitudes? I never saw a difference between EQ2 and EQ2X
- there were never any "gear issues" grouping for heroic content under 90
- theres jerks and helpful people on both services
the 90 game is different for gear obviously but I never met a level 90 Bronze player
and the 90 silver members Ive met used unlockers so they could access Fabled gear/spells
it costs 7.50 to get 25 unlockers (1.50 per 5 unlockers) -- thats half the price of a monthly sub
some 90 players find Silver + unlockers is cheaper than subbing
the biggest limitation that silver members face is they cannot carry more than 18pp at level 90
there are workarounds for converting your cash using vendor pristine repair materials
but beyond that, Silver members will need to use friends to buy expensive things off broker
or go gold for 1 month so they can carry more than 18pp
EQ2 fan sites
Not sure why YOU are FLAMING ME about 'veteran' vs 'free' players. I never made any difference between them in my post ANYWHERE. I popped up that old picture I made to show you that playing with subscription on EQ2X one pays actually more than one who pays sub on Eq2Live servers. With that, the current EQ2X 'sub' doesn't even give you the whole game.
If you read more closely, you even see me telling that I'd be VERY HAPPY to see the free players on the EQ2Live servers, since the EQ2X servers are very active in all level ranges while the EQ2Live servers are only active in the 70+ levels.
I won't judge anyone by how they'd play THEIR EQ2. If they want to play for free and drop some SC once in a while in the CS, I'm okay with that. If they pay full sub, I'm fine. And if they play 100% free (met those in LotRo, grinding for TP to buy game content later on) and get all things they want (buy CS items with gold/platinum from other players), I'd even have the most respect for those players.
It's pretty funny that people are complaining that free players couldn't play on the other servers, when in reality, at least in every other game I played that went free, new players are treated horribly, like trash or kids or worse. (At least that was the case in LOTRO, and in CoH, no one ever talks except looking sewer groups, so hard to say)
R.I.P. City of Heroes and my 17 characters there
DDO mixed the servers too and I didnt see any difference
(altho DDO also launched 2 new servers when it went f2p)
will be interesting how it all turns out
I know SOE is hoping for alot of new blood but EQ2 is a much older game than DCUO
I'm looking forward to the transition but I'll still be staying on Freeport server
I doubt ill see anythign of a change beyond getting all races when I pay for a Gold sub
EQ2 fan sites
I've not read up on this but I got like toons on both sides.
Is one set gonna take a dive in contrast to the other I wonder?
I used to play MMOs like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
I dunno about these comments about new players being treated badly or about bad communities.
I've been playing LoTRO for free since that service launched and I have never been treated badly, insulted or somehow mistreated in any. The couple of times that a group i was in decided to next do an instance i don't own, i just said "oh ok, you'll have to pick up someone else for it" and they did. No issues. And i ended up grouping with these same people again after.
I never knew, cared or asked who in LoTRO was F2P and who wasn't. I just didn't find it an issue at all.
The same with community. I play on one of the busiest LoTRO servers and the community is still miles above and beyond the EQ2 live community, despite the tons F2P players. There are assholes everywhere. As long as you don't market your game directly to WoW players, i find that it doesn't threaten the community much.
That's just my opinion though. Obvoiusly other people's mileage varies.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
I play on Brandywine, pretty active community, and I never had a "F2P sucks" problem either. During some fests or what not you see people spamming a little noise in the area chat, but in general it only seemed to attract attention from one or two people and adding just a couple to the ignore list quieted things down and over all people progressed pass it.
I never had a problem with EQ2's community either. On the Live side I played on Lucan a RP server, and the only problem I ever had there with the community was just the lack of one. On Ex I never played extensivly, but I only ever saw OOC chat clatter. Finding groups for quests or asking questions seemed to carry on.
It all really depends on how easy you are personally to goat into responding.
I used to play MMOs like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
Heh, we're on the same server in both games. Brandywine in LoTRO and LDL (now Crushbone) in EQ2.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
I just don't think segregated players will make for a good community experience over all, whether it is on the side of the Live customers or F2P customers. Whether it is a Live subber getting treated badly or an F2P player getting treated badly, it does't make a difference: someone is getting treated badly and it is messing up their enjoyment of their playtime. That is why I don't like this change. At least on Live, all you had were subs and no one could really bash you for playing with restrictions since everyone was theoretically equal. On Freeport, that was not the case, and I still saw people treating each other badly for their choice of payment (whether they paid at all).
Sure, I got into a really nice guild, but the people who formed the core of the guild were all on gold memberships. They did not segregate based on whether other players were bronze or not, but it was clear that there were things the bronze and silver members could not do that the gold members could. That pretty much sucks, so it means that there is some pressure to go gold anyway and if that is the case, then why have the F2P model at all?
I reckon the move to open all servers up to all players is because the Live servers have been steadily bleeding players over the past year. I noticed a pretty big drop in numbers of players after the hacking incident. My guild lost players and they pretty much never came back. Only one came back recently. Live players already buy quite a bit in the cash shop, so I think that SOE makes quite a bit of money on the Live servers as it is (sub + fluff buys). What they stand to gain, they hope, is more players repopulating the older servers to keep them from completely going dead.
Maybe it will work, but I know that if I had paid $30 to copy a character from Live to Freeport, I would most likely not go back to the Live servers, especially one year on.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.
My best group experiences crom from Everquest,Everquest2 and Vanguard.Free to play is the best choice for EQ2,it needs more players.Last time i played my guild reported to me that most of the members moved onto Rifts or LOTRO.What was once a very active guild is now completely dead.I don't care if it attracts some unsavory bastard children,hell i use to play Darkfall.