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Sony's repackaged EQ: Titanium soon
DijonCyanide
Member UncommonPosts: 586
It had been on the internet for a few days now but SOE(Sony Online Entertainment) officially announced that they are releasing EQ Titanium early/mid Jan. '06. This "re-envisioning" repackaged version of EQ will have the original game & all expansions up to date including Depths of Darkhollow for $19.99. Included with the Titanium package, (1) character per account will receive all the nifty /claim reward items per expansion. A good value for the game(s) it would seem. Also, Sony is opening eqplayers.com on Dec. 15th '05 which will be free ... till ... Dec. 29th '05 which then demands a charge. For current & former EQ players check the site out & see if you notice any similar options that have been available from other sites for years. Do you need even more bait to return to Sony's EQ? Well never fear b/c Sony has you in mind too. For those of us that have quit EQ, perhaps a multitude of times, Sony is offering (21) days back free, but must be done before Jan. 13th '06. This i have to admit, even though a blatant lure tactic, is indeed a nice offering.
This Sony statement occurs about a week after Sony's official announcement that they were shutting-down the EQ premium flagship server Stormhammer(Legends). Since all of EQ populations ingame have been withering in recent months b/c of: lost interest, rival games(some say better games), not able to progress ingame & achieve goals, Sony's lack of interest in listening to it's customers, Sony catering to power/professional/hardcore gamers more & more compared to casual play, & etc etc(it could go on & on & is debatable). All this & more has lead to server mergers galore to sustain a survivable population. The Legends population was severely harmed. It's own policies possibly contributing to it's demise. The Legends community had been for MANY months attempting to communicate with SOE(Sony) about the Legends' server future & what could be done to rejuvenate it by forum, ingame contact, email, i even heard rumor of a telephone exchange. i'm no lawyer, but i've seen a few discussions about whether or not there's any legal recourse, group-lawsuit, even with that EULA b/c Legends never fulfilled some of it's promised statements by John Smedley at the release of Legends. But it is Sony though, & the Death Star's defenses seem invincible. All those months of customers continuously pleading & Sony's reply was silence until the sudden official announcement that at the beginning of Feb. '06 Sony was discontinuing the Legends service. But anyone that has played EQ knows about Sony's thriving empathetic customer service.
Here are a few off the wall, slightly left of center, (1) bottle shy of a six-pack list of ideas for Sony to consider for their EQ game & customers/players: Lengthen duration of Veteran Rewards & whomever thought of the Chaotic Jester as a reward should be demoted * Allow DoN crystals to purchase the specific DoN loot even if player doesn't own DoN expansion, it opens an avenue for economy * Finish with the 2nd part of "class re-envisioning" Sony has pumped out (2) expansions since part1 * Allow new/old Mistmoore as a choice instanced, same w/ similar zones * Since LFGing(Looking for group) for hours ingame is a vacuum to having fun allow something soloable to do with moderate Exp gain * Make default to (1) not (20) @ vendors * Complete the FIND feature for the older zones * Random rare drops, maybe these treasure chests i hear about, across all zones * Increase Exp gained, lessen Exp penalty upon death * Allow augmentations to have selfbuff spells & particles * Allow 75/25 piggy-back zonings * Instance all the original Planes, maybe even w/ a timed lock-out * A Station Exchange EQ server * Wider berth of Exp giving levels * Overall increase the loot drops * Allow more multiquesting, let the players help other players * Stem the inflated economy somehow * Recalibrate the conning system, it's SO inaccurate * Sony &/or MMOs stop using expansions to introduce ingame utilities, they are suppose to give more content not functions * Allow quitting players to 'gift' their items to fellow players(even NoDrops), but can only be done once regardless from account * Utilize the colored names & auras ingame more * don't require Range & Ammo slots to be same to use Throw skill * Random semi-rare(even NoDrops) on NPC(NonPlayerCharacter) vendors * Throwing Stone Combat Ability shouldn't consume the Critical Blast AA chance * Allow players to rearrange order of buffs * New interface i actually like but buff icons need to be more distinguishable, color more vibrant * Take the Guild Hall buff preservation to all of PoK, perhaps make it a quest * Increase the Faction progress, @ least for older zones * What happened to the EQ & EQ2 cross-over game play * Was there ever a Bank added to Guild Lobby * Make Event bags not weigh (10) * An official link-bot, but then again Sony's new eqplayers probably stemmed from that * Did the Legends web-site ever properly function * Whatever happened to specific Legends' zones, there was only Marauder's Mire * Quests to offer a choice of loots * Maybe Celestial Fists stack no matter since it's Epic, but finally add END * Design a deity shrine so @ least many of us casual players can see the gods ingame, if we not ever able to fight or interact * Increase Thunder Kick a bit * Create permanent(Soul-bound) gear * Perhaps timed NPC buffers, maybe for a fee * Increase older zoned monsters spawn rates * Reduce amount for certain AAs * Properly describe the amount of AAs needed for skills * Mounts should regenerate END like mana * Allow a soloable method for class specific gear even if requiring more time to complete * More frequent events, quests, contests, a lottery * A method to see Faction status w/out conning * An indicator to show which corpse has been Rezzed * Process to grant more NPC guild master practices * Geerlok device for Languages * Iksar HP/regen VS HUM hit/delay for MNKs is outdated * More choices in mounts, or skills to do on mounts * Elemental items Attuneable like Ornate * Increase Tribute values a bit * Allow Veteran Rewards to be chosen based upon years played * MNKs via an AA acquire a pet Hawk/Eagle for non-argo pulling, or maybe a quest * A text command to view a population of zone * On IGNORE feature add a WHO button * Create a new zone @ locale 320.565.3. in Crushbone * Nexus Spire portals activate every 5 mins not 15 * New Sony EQ interface needs to include the % showing for AAs too like the health, mana, & END * Stop so much homogenizing of items/gear, with DRU BST MNK there's always WIS but always (1) melee stat missing * Downloading expansions should be cheaper than retail * Legends is how all of EQ should try to be * Grandmaster's trade skill devices should be more than 5% * Create a server w/ no NPCs, so customers can log on & view all the stunning graphics in zones, so much is wasted * Make Bracer of Hammerfal summoned hammers Magical, the range sucks enough * Sony altering ingame items to be announced before to allow a change or compensation * Food * drink to have own inventory slots * Barbarians to be Paladins * All keys to be added to /keyring feature * Allow Alchemy, Poison making, & Tinkering for all classes to a limit * Half-Elves allowed as Shadowknights * Iksars allowed as Rogues * Dwarves allowed as Rangers * as i always wanted, allow Vah Shirs as Monks * Sony's abuse to Legends' customers in the end was horrid, it's a shame Sony seems to not care * maybe the Return Home feature instead of (6) make it (4) hours * i applaud Sony's thinking to allow mass extortion of the needed items during the '05 Halloween event(NOT) * Escape to Norrath being free to play is great of Sony to gift to people * With the status of MMO competition Sony cannot be as stingy as in the past & keep their player base * Text recognition sounds & triggers are good * New monster graphics add a nice textured look * Sony's EQ is too much item orientated & not enough skill * Old East Commons market tunnel used to spur more direct competition though not as efficient as Bazaar * Arena portal in PoK finally was good, my suggestion of it placed near Shadowrest lady i still think is better * Sony's EQ natural progression is unbalanced * Alternate Abilities was a great creation for EQ *
EQ is still a good game & an even better community. i do not think it will fade away quickly unless Sony decided to end servicing EQ all of a sudden 1day, & we all know Sony would never do that to a player, server, &/or game. @ one stage of MMO evolution EQ was the juggernaut, not so now, but Sony keeps using tactics as if it were. Much of Sony's EQ's older scenery & items are wasted. LFGing(Looking For Group) should be a skill that rewards an AA every day. Sony needs to rethink it's approach ingame & loosen it's stingy grip to allow more casual friendly access, then maybe new players will join & stay. Keep it challenging, but a game is supposed to be fun & not work.
i played about (1) & 1/2 years. (1) account (1) character till near the end. Level 65 out of 70 & nearing 200 AAs when there were over 1450 AAs possible. i didn't have the last couple expansions & that did hinder me. But after investing countless hours, mostly fun, & about $150-$175 @ the pace of progress ingame it would've taken a few more years to achieve the Higher game-play that many do enjoy, chat about, & earned entry to. i should've started playing (2) accounts in the beginning, it's the best way to maintain in Sony's EQ now. Many zones i wasn't able to see & acquiring certain items too, but i met many nice people. Good luck to those that endure & prosper!
a "Are you thirsty? Try me." MNK, the unofficial pet class of Sony's EQ 
Comments
Merely demoting the person who thought up the Chaotic Jester? My husband would argue that the person who thought that was a REWARD should be taken out and spanked, at least.
But that might be because it is on the same hotkey/different bar as my normal "sit" key, so I sometimes accidentally summon a jester which invariably does annoying things to him.
((And his ranting makes me laugh.
Way to go, Jester!))
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
when is the new 21 day thing starting? i have an account rotting i'd like to start up hehe. Plus, Thanks for the awsome review and information dij.
Hi! My name is paper. Nerf scissors, rock is fine.
MMORPG = Mostly Men Online Roleplaying Girls
http://www.MichaelLuckhardt.com
Definatly a good bargin considering the new expansion is still $29. I will buy and try for 21 days just to have the latest expansion in case I go back to the game for the 20th time.
Its funny 5 years later I'm still wishing they would implement some sort of solo content for the classes that are unable. I'll resubscribe, be lfg for hours, and just unsubscribe. They always get at least a few months a year outta me.
EQ is such an awesome game, its just too bad you gotta have 5 others, and 1 better be a cleric and the other a slower, holding your hand to take a leak.
If you have any questions please ask. I have moved on to WoW from eq and no longer have any desire to play a dead game. Thank you. (posted by another selling his account in EQ1)
Well I got a email for the 21 day trial, heh missed EverCrack and didn't know it. Dont be surprised if some of your low lvl Toons are gone. They deleted 4 of mine. all where in there 30's
AHHHH FANBOY TROLL. RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN. Dude seriously, all that post did was make you look stupid. You offered no contribution to the topic except the usual WoW fanboy "AHHH I CAN'T SOLO THIS IS TOO HARD I CAN'T HIT THE LEVEL CAP IN NEGATIVE 2 MIN."
I do feel that Sony alienated a lot of players when catering to the hardcore raiders. It is very hard for casual players or even hard core non-raiders to keep up. Players begin to purchase Platinum which inflates the economy, which in turn drives up the prices of good gear even more and makes it that much more unattainable to normal players. Thus, the downward spiral of an MMO begins. I do not twink my characters and find it disheartening when I see a lvl 11 necromancer with a 1k mana pool. Sony knows they screwed up but they admit to nothing and never will. Why don't they answer questions as to why the game is geared towards hardcore players? Because they know they screwed up and don't want to say it. The low population at lower levels is also quite bothersome. The EQ player cycle is at the high end at the moment, and that discourages incoming players. Hopefully, all those high enders will make alts soon. Until then, I always have my Necromancer.
Vanguard will suck, WoW has 5 million players due to being the best game EVER to date released. Vanguard is already making excuses, "100k players and I am happy". Succeed or don't even try, aim higher, 100k in this day and age is pathetic! Watch out loser Vanguard for the new releases already more hyped on this board, you won't even make 100k with that EQ clone crap.
Talking big about WoW is not "fanboi" talk, they got 5 million players on MERIT, something the liars at Sony and anyone that had anything to do with EQ has none of. The simple reason EQ is dying is the casual player has been totally ignored for way to long. Broken classes sure didn't help either. The problems would be fixed if Blizzard was in charge, but Sony peddles lies and misinformation.
AHHHH FANBOY TROLL. RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN. Dude seriously, all that post did was make you look stupid. You offered no contribution to the topic except the usual WoW fanboy "AHHH I CAN'T SOLO THIS IS TOO HARD I CAN'T HIT THE LEVEL CAP IN NEGATIVE 2 MIN."
I do feel that Sony alienated a lot of players when catering to the hardcore raiders. It is very hard for casual players or even hard core non-raiders to keep up. Players begin to purchase Platinum which inflates the economy, which in turn drives up the prices of good gear even more and makes it that much more unattainable to normal players. Thus, the downward spiral of an MMO begins. I do not twink my characters and find it disheartening when I see a lvl 11 necromancer with a 1k mana pool. Sony knows they screwed up but they admit to nothing and never will. Why don't they answer questions as to why the game is geared towards hardcore players? Because they know they screwed up and don't want to say it. The low population at lower levels is also quite bothersome. The EQ player cycle is at the high end at the moment, and that discourages incoming players. Hopefully, all those high enders will make alts soon. Until then, I always have my Necromancer.
LOL. True hypocrisy. You demean him by saying he wants to solo, then later claim you are happy that you have a necro so you can solo.
My position is more adamant than ever.
Non-raiding server with all raiding loot in a LDoN system or forget it, I ain't coming back. I won't be paying $50 transfer or starting a new character either.
But they are not listening or caring and my interest is reaching new lows. Soon I will have troubles to remember my password!
Last time I pay any monthly fee to SoE was in 2003 and unless DC superheroes/Endless Saga manage to do well, I don't think they will see any subscribtion soon.
As to the new rambling of the OP, I doesn't understand most of it since I left more than 2 years ago...in fact, since GoD...
Lucky for SoE, WoW has raiding, CoV has IoP/Hamidon, SoR and Vanguard has raiding, DAoC has nasty PvP...so I am still listening. Lucky for them that those others devs seem to be just as much if not more stubborn than they are.
SoE saved EQ just past SoV, SoL with the AAs was "temporarily nerfing raiding" and they have awesome marketing. PoP/GoD was the decline, not because Afterlife left (spoiled brats), but because it re-enforced raiding.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
frankly i don't care how many subscribers wow has, yes it is a game for casuals and thats why it has so many people playing it. and before you jump down my throat yes wow is a great game and i have been playing it since open beta.
but i couldn't care less if vanguard has 20k people playing it, as long as my server is populated and i am having fun playing a game that suits my play style that is all that matters.
no game is going to compete with wow's player base, and they don't need to. eq was a highly successful game and it had nowhere near the player base wow has in its prime, does that mean it is unsuccessful?
so i guess if you consider a game that doesn't compete with wow's player base "a flop" then yeah every game that comes out will be just that. IMO wow is a great game and it is good the casuals have a game they can call home but that being said i cant wait for vanguard! and i know there is a whole lot of people that agree with me.
BTW sorry again for another thread hijacking, but if being a vanguard "fanboi" is wrong i don't want to be right!
read this http://www.vanguardsoh.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1044304#post1044304 then come back and talk to me about the vanguard/soe fiasco.....
Whaa whaa? i thought buying EQ platinum(which i was planning on doing) would bring me up to par considering I own no expansions up to LDoN....apprently not...yay for sony...
Hi! My name is paper. Nerf scissors, rock is fine.
MMORPG = Mostly Men Online Roleplaying Girls
http://www.MichaelLuckhardt.com
Vanguard will suck, WoW has 5 million players due to being the best game EVER to date released. Vanguard is already making excuses, "100k players and I am happy". Succeed or don't even try, aim higher, 100k in this day and age is pathetic! Watch out loser Vanguard for the new releases already more hyped on this board, you won't even make 100k with that EQ clone crap.
Talking big about WoW is not "fanboi" talk, they got 5 million players on MERIT, something the liars at Sony and anyone that had anything to do with EQ has none of. The simple reason EQ is dying is the casual player has been totally ignored for way to long. Broken classes sure didn't help either. The problems would be fixed if Blizzard was in charge, but Sony peddles lies and misinformation.
When someone starts using the number of players as justification of how good a game is, then I just assume they listen to Mariah Carey, Kanye West, and Beyonce. Whatever's in the top slot, right?
Vanguard will suck, WoW has 5 million players due to being the best game EVER to date released. Vanguard is already making excuses, "100k players and I am happy". Succeed or don't even try, aim higher, 100k in this day and age is pathetic! Watch out loser Vanguard for the new releases already more hyped on this board, you won't even make 100k with that EQ clone crap.
Talking big about WoW is not "fanboi" talk, they got 5 million players on MERIT, something the liars at Sony and anyone that had anything to do with EQ has none of. The simple reason EQ is dying is the casual player has been totally ignored for way to long. Broken classes sure didn't help either. The problems would be fixed if Blizzard was in charge, but Sony peddles lies and misinformation.
When someone starts using the number of players as justification of how good a game is, then I just assume they listen to Mariah Carey, Kanye West, and Beyonce. Whatever's in the top slot, right?
And conceit drips off all the Vanguard fanboi morons, they won't post the numbers because the entire game designs SUCKS. This isn't the music world sonny boy this is MMORPGs, and plenty go bottom up and I am betting Vanguard will be one of them, DUE TO LACK OF PLAYERS! I see one of the heaviest ever ebay games in Vanguard, must be why all the people that post on message boards (again a puny number) are longing for it, time to sell ingame items again. They can't stop it or even slow it down. But with 100000 as the player base, that isn't enough to even have a decent player base anymore. Thats all Brad is aiming for, and all it is to 99% of us is another boring EQ clone.
Only SOE could take Star Wars and make it unpopular, or Brad would do the same......
wow.. here you go insulting people again, but this time I'm not going to fall for it and respond back with insults. and BTW wow is by far the most ebayed game of all time because of their numbers, people will buy currency in every game what is your point?
and why do you call people "vanguard fanboi moron's"? you are a wow fanboi and you don't see anybody insulting you because of that do you? fact is, your arguments are based on speculation just like everyone els's, but since you don't agree that makes them a moron?
you obviously have some social issues you need to work out, good luck with that. but if you are going to come here and insult people because they have a different opinion than you do us all a favor and just stay the hell out!
read this http://www.vanguardsoh.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1044304#post1044304 then come back and talk to me about the vanguard/soe fiasco.....
I am attacking THIS guys post! WoW Warriors are ADEQUATE soloers, I never said I wanted to be a "phenominal soloer". But see, as a Vanguard fan, he must attack anyone who doesn't agree with him. Let me add, I DEMAND PROOF THAT WoW HAS MORE GOLD SALES THEN EQ, heck EQ2 has WoW easily beat SOE has sales of accounts/items themselves!! I (and anyone else) can go to the playerauctions site AND SIMPLY COUNT BIDS and see I am right (yet again) that EQ has more sales (still with less than 1/10th the players). Or perhaps you have PROOF that it isn't true?
I don't care you like Vanguard, they are using an unpopular number of construction models for their game, the devs even admit it. They know they won't post huge numbers of subscribers, and its because of this. Raid based games aren't any harder then any other game, just MOST hate raiding. As one posters says, there is nothing wrong with raid loot in a RAID setting, the minute you allow it in group/solo content its overpowered. Any attempt to keep it out from group/solo content has a whine fest start from the cry baby raiders. The same cry baby raiders that get to support the game 100% in Vanguard because the rest know, raid loot is REQUIRED if you have it in the game.
I could care less most in Vanguard hate PvP, I say it takes more skill then killing yet another "X,Y,Z" mob yet again to farm raid loot that never changes tactics, never changes heck anything.
The Vanguard posters bash DDO because its instanced, well here's a hint, the game was always and will always be GROUP based and heroic combat! There is no room for your raid BS crap. DDO will have many more players then Vanguard, bank on it!
The Vanguard posters bash WoW because it isn't releasing expansions to suit their addictive, STUPID, 60+ hour a week gaming habit! Well, WoW is 5,000,000 x RIGHT for not listening to you. Their isn't room for your raider BS there either!
The Vanguard posters may not have enough to populate ONE game. Your game is like polka music, bad polka music at that since you want to compare apples and oranges! There is my return for your STUPID pop music comparison!
EQ was popular due to its free wheeling game styles, then:
-Nerfs caused players to quit, maybe if the devs did decent testing the classes wouldn't have been so broken in EQ. Necromancer had 1.5% of the player base, stupid idea to make this class overpowered.
-More players quit over epics in EQ and epics being more valuable and easier to obtain for some classes
-More players quit as raiding became more important
-Players quit when AA's were added because that just rewarded people who played crazy amounts of hours
-People quit over PoP flags and zone access
-The Druid was one of the most popular classes in early EQ, no kiting and easy travel is another lost group of sizeable amount for Vanguard.
-WoW came and kicked EQ1 and esp EQ2 hard in the teeth. I see no appreciable drop in WoWs numbers due to any of the new releases. Vanguard may kill EQ2 or hurt EQ1 and thats all, if IF it even launches!
-If I was Bard I wouldn't mention EQ so much, SOE after the SWG debacle has a very bad name in MMORPGs and that stigma will get attached to him.
Vanguard sucks
RL Ogre
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I am attacking THIS guys post! WoW Warriors are ADEQUATE soloers, I never said I wanted to be a "phenominal soloer". But see, as a Vanguard fan, he must attack anyone who doesn't agree with him.
I don't recall saying I was a Vanguard fan. I admit Warriors can solo in WoW. Everyone can in WoW, I am NOT saying that is bad. It fits that game. But complaining about raid and group oriented games being un-soloable seems silly to me, that's all. As for Vanguard's apparently imminent sucking, who knows? There have been games that saw hype that have flopped i.e. Horizons. Guild Wars even seemed to dissapoint many. Before I get flamed, let me make it clear i am not saying Horizons or Guild Wars are bad games. There have been games that lived up to, or exceeded hype like WoW. There is absolutely no exact science to this. It all comes down to people's taste in a game. Maybe Vanguard will make the raid-mandatory games popular again. Maybe not. Only time will tell. Also Krenalor, from what I understand doesn't Blizzard actually crack down on gold sellers and buyers? If so, wouldn't that explain EQ's higher sales because Sony really doesn't punish those who buy/sell in game items, money etc.? I may be completely wrong but I am curious nonetheless.
Wait....wasn't this thread about the EQ: Titanium Package?