Wow Soe finally gets something right! Wish Turbine had done this with LOTRO/DDO - maybe let freebies transfer characters to paying server when subbing, but keeping the cash shop out of the sub servers.
Damnit, I was sort of hoping I could play my charactor, with this.
Why would someone want to play for free 1-80, then subscribe to it, and still not get the rest of the content to the game (80-90)? Sounds like another Big Fat SOE Rip Off to me.
Much like them charging us Planet Side players 14.99 or is it 15.99 for the sub on it. A 7 year old game they don't even support any more.
SOE is a Big Fat Rip-Off-And-Duplicate Company that Overcharges on it's services.
This is part of the reason why Blizzard was able to so greatly over take them with World of Warcraft.
Its possible to play lvl 90 without gold or platin.
The normal account doesent have the lastet addon (lvl 80+). 4500 Station Cash...
This is good news for everyone... except maybe the forum trolls which are left with nothing to troll about. SOE pwned Turbine's model here - the separate deployment is at least brilliant.
"Traditionally, massively multiplier online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars combat, exploration and character progression. In Alganon, in addition to these we've added the fourth pillar to the equation: Copy & Paste."
This is great. Those that are paying a subscription to EQII have and will continue to subsidize my entertainment. Thanks for sticking it out there for the last couple years, subscription folks!
No problem. I'm sure this was meant as some sort of sarcastic criticism, but the fact is this F2P set of servers will bring in alot more money at a tiny amount of cost, and will subsidise the new content and updates for us long time subscribers, whilst allowing us to play in peace. So, thank you, and I'm sure you will enjoy it. Great game!
p.s. to answer someone above who asked what full subscribers get (as it's not shown on the chart) - you get everything the same as normal, there will be no change to you when this new version releases.
"When people don't know much about something, they tend to fill in the blanks the way they want them to be filled in. They are almost always disappointed." - Will Wright
incredible this, its less than 2 weeks ago they claimed they aint planning on going free to play, on the boards.
They DIDN'T "go free to play," they made a new game, essentially. MY game didn't change. I don't see why people are having such a hard time comprehending this. EQ2 Extended in an entirely new thing, giving people the opportunity, basically, to trial play the game for an EXTENDED (hence the word "extended" in the name EQ2 Extended) for a longer period of time than your average trial.
Originally posted by Papadam
Originally posted by eyeswideopen
Originally posted by Novusod
I think Eq2 is doing it smarter than LotRO by keeping the two servers separate. It will be interesting to see which is the bigger success. P2P vs F2P on the same exact game.
Yep, just think how happy all those Landroval players would have been if they knew they wouldn't be forced to play with the F2P mouth breathers, would've saved Turbine some grief and lost subs.
Actually splitting the servers is a really bad idea and if you read the EQ2 forum you will see that people are really upset about it.
I don't think you read very many of the responses. A lot of people actually UNDERSTAND what they did by putting it on new servers. It doesn't affect the veteran players. THAT....is smart. EQ2 now will have more pay options than any other game on the market. They have your regular subscription model, they will have f2p with a cash shop that offers items with some minimal stats, and they have had the Exchange servers for YEARS that even allow you to buy ALL of your stat items and armor (yes, the GOOD stuff) for cash....even paying other players cash for items via the exchange system.
It's a win/win/win/win system. Each form of play is a win for people who like that format....and ALL of them are a win for SoE. I honestly can't think of another way they could have done this that would have made me any happier. =D
Of course there's no way I'm moving over to f2p. I'm a very happy subscriber and intend to stay that way. But if this allows for some people to try the game that hadn't before....more power to them. All they have really done is make a very lengthy trial version of the game. Personally...I think it's absolutely BRILLIANT.
I think you are missing the big picture and just hearing what the developers want people like yourself to hear.
First of all, your game has already changed. Yes it has. Even though EQ2x isn't out yet, it has already impacted your game. Go look at the next game update and tell me why all of a sudden everything is being geared towards a "new player experience". Tell me that isn't a very different update from previous updates in terms of direction and quantity.
Now where do you think all the development time is going to come from the make all this free to play cash shop stuff? Thats right, from your development time. Every single thing that goes into the development of the free to play version of the game comes as a direct loss from your development time.
On top of that, where do you think all the new players are going to go to when given the option? Imagine what your server will look like in a year or two without any new players joining or the people you currently play with migrating off your server to play with their friends on the freebie servers.
Sorry my friend, this is most certainly going to have an impact on your gaming experience. This is soe saying they have given up on the pay to play model. They want people to move to the new servers, because they can stick it to each player that moves there. Pay more, get less. That is how soe loves to run their business.
This is a losing situation for current players, not a win. You benefit nothing from this and only stand to lose and already have.
I am a subscriber to the game and I jumped on the alpha. The interface and graphics enhancements are nice. I understand they will be adding the new interface enhancements to the live servers as well. I'll probably make a f2p account as I tend to subscribe for a few months and quit and come back. It will be nice to have a f2p character to play in between.
Wait what enhancements? screenshots please.. =P
It basically makes the game have a more modern mmo feel. Very intuitive with similar layout to other major mmo's. Not sure if it's going to be as customizable but it looks clean and polished. Also they seem to have changed the way 3rd person feels. Camera angle is somewhat different I think. Not sure if the graphics really changed but the starter area for Evil is very nice looking.
Ok now I'm excited. I never liked ui in EQ2, it felt disjointed and somehow shaky =P If you know what I mean. Oh I can't wait for the f2p server and this patch =3 I'm already considering buying the fae race in item shop..
I came across this on the PC Gamer.com website and it makes it clearer:
Now there is something that just doesn't compute with me lol I understand the normal sub charge is $14.99 a month which allows you to get to lvl90 max cap, well how on earth do they justify that F2P people have to spend $200 for the privy of getting to max cap, have all classes available to you???? I also fail to see how this will increase game revenue when they are keeping paying subscribers and F2P players on different servers, surely that's asking for trouble?!
Now i would say it's pretty pointless going for F2P on this game because you will never get to max lvl without paying more then what you would do if you actually subbed per month to it....
incredible this, its less than 2 weeks ago they claimed they aint planning on going free to play, on the boards.
They DIDN'T "go free to play," they made a new game, essentially. MY game didn't change. I don't see why people are having such a hard time comprehending this. EQ2 Extended in an entirely new thing, giving people the opportunity, basically, to trial play the game for an EXTENDED (hence the word "extended" in the name EQ2 Extended) for a longer period of time than your average trial.
Originally posted by Papadam
Originally posted by eyeswideopen
Originally posted by Novusod
I think Eq2 is doing it smarter than LotRO by keeping the two servers separate. It will be interesting to see which is the bigger success. P2P vs F2P on the same exact game.
Yep, just think how happy all those Landroval players would have been if they knew they wouldn't be forced to play with the F2P mouth breathers, would've saved Turbine some grief and lost subs.
Actually splitting the servers is a really bad idea and if you read the EQ2 forum you will see that people are really upset about it.
I don't think you read very many of the responses. A lot of people actually UNDERSTAND what they did by putting it on new servers. It doesn't affect the veteran players. THAT....is smart. EQ2 now will have more pay options than any other game on the market. They have your regular subscription model, they will have f2p with a cash shop that offers items with some minimal stats, and they have had the Exchange servers for YEARS that even allow you to buy ALL of your stat items and armor (yes, the GOOD stuff) for cash....even paying other players cash for items via the exchange system.
It's a win/win/win/win system. Each form of play is a win for people who like that format....and ALL of them are a win for SoE. I honestly can't think of another way they could have done this that would have made me any happier. =D
Of course there's no way I'm moving over to f2p. I'm a very happy subscriber and intend to stay that way. But if this allows for some people to try the game that hadn't before....more power to them. All they have really done is make a very lengthy trial version of the game. Personally...I think it's absolutely BRILLIANT.
I think you are missing the big picture and just hearing what the developers want people like yourself to hear.
First of all, your game has already changed. Yes it has. Even though EQ2x isn't out yet, it has already impacted your game. Go look at the next game update and tell me why all of a sudden everything is being geared towards a "new player experience". Tell me that isn't a very different update from previous updates in terms of direction and quantity.
Now where do you think all the development time is going to come from the make all this free to play cash shop stuff? Thats right, from your development time. Every single thing that goes into the development of the free to play version of the game comes as a direct loss from your development time.
On top of that, where do you think all the new players are going to go to when given the option? Imagine what your server will look like in a year or two without any new players joining or the people you currently play with migrating off your server to play with their friends on the freebie servers.
Sorry my friend, this is most certainly going to have an impact on your gaming experience. This is soe saying they have given up on the pay to play model. They want people to move to the new servers, because they can stick it to each player that moves there. Pay more, get less. That is how soe loves to run their business.
This is a losing situation for current players, not a win. You benefit nothing from this and only stand to lose and already have.
I have to agree with this. This is going to draw people who don’t want to pay a subscription or who are fine buying gear off the live servers and onto the free servers. Anyone who joins the game is going to probably join the free servers unless they know someone on a subscription server and are joining them. People who currently play multiple games with EQ2 as a second game will jump at the chance to not have to pay a subscription anymore. And finally developer effort which is finite is going to be focused where the most activity is which I fear will be the free servers.
If they had to do this I would really have rather they had adopted the DDO/LOTR model and offered free play on all the servers with a subscription level as well. Instead of gear they could have sold zone packs, quest line packs, they could cap things like AA’s and Tradeskills, etc. That way the live servers would have hopefully gotten a infusion of new blood. I fear all this is going to do is doom the subscription servers to a slow death.
This is good news for everyone... except maybe the forum trolls which are left with nothing to troll about. SOE pwned Turbine's model here - the separate deployment is at least brilliant.
I totally agree.
And for those that still don't "get it," here is a BETTER description of the new f2p version than the interview that the OP posted (no offense), this one just hit the official forums. The highlights were added by ME to squelch some of the naysayers that don't quite understand the LACK of effect on present subscribers.
Incidentally, for those wondering....NO you cannot play your EQ2 Live characters on the f2p servers. So no, there is probably not going to be a mass exodus from the live servers to go "play for free." Wise, on SoE's part. If you want to play on the free servers you will have to start over, and there are other restrictions as well....such as many less races and even less classes. ALL THIS IS....and I repeat.....ALL THIS IS....is an EXTENDED TRIAL that offers FAR MORE than most MMO trials offer.
SoE has finally hit one out of the ballpark. /cheer
Hi there, Norrathians,
As they say, the one thing that’s always true about the world is that it changes. That’s true of the world in general, the game industry, and it’s always been true with “EverQuest II”.
The very nature of an MMO is change. We listen, we adapt, and the game grows in features, content, and fun factor as the months and years pass. Now, the expectations of gamers and the industry itself are changing around us, and it’s time for “EverQuest II” to spring forward so it can continue to expand and be successful.
Many of you are aware of the free-to-play model that’s being embraced by many of the big game developers out there. We’re not the first folks to entertain the idea for an MMO, but we do have the biggest and best virtual world to offer in such a model and we firmly believe that we can expose thousands and thousands of new players to the world of Norrath if we embrace that concept.
However, before going any further, I’d like to stop and say that we’re tied into what you, the community of EQII players, have said about selling items with stats and how they affect a game where you traditionally earn your way forward. We completely understand there’s a solid core of you that want nothing at all to do with that. We respect your wishes and, as I’ve personally stated previously, we’re not planning any changes to the current subscription worlds at all. Those servers, that subscription service and that gameplay will continue as normal. We’ll continue to support the existing Live service with content, expansions, features, and events…just as we’ve always done. In fact, we’re upping the ante by providing subscription rewards packages for active users that buy multi-month subscriptions, giving them rewards like cool, unique, exclusive items and Station Cash.
But the free-to-play concept is a strong way to expose the world of Norrath to hordes of new players. Think of it as a huge new way to run a “free trial” like we’ve always done, but without the “14-day” limit, and with a lot more content available to try before you decide whether you want to commit to the game or not. We’ve had over eight years to grow this game, its content and its features, and there’s simply nothing else like it out there.
So, we’re about to launch a bold new service named “EverQuest II Extended” (EQ2X). This is a completely separate service from the standard EQII Live subscription service (EQII). It's aims are simply to attract new players to the world of “EverQuest II” and let them try it out before deciding if and how they want to pay for it.
“EverQuest II Extended” shares all the content and features of Live EQII. It plays the same. It looks the same. It *is* the same, with two obvious exceptions: a) it’s free-to-play, and b) it has a more robust marketplace.
What does “free-to-play” mean? It means that you can download the game and play all of it (except the most recent expansion) all the way up to level 80. Your character is restricted in a bunch of different ways (limited class selection, limited races, limited coin, etc.) and to unlock those features fully, you’ll need to subscribe to Gold level membership. Which, coincidentally, is $15/month. Sound familiar?
What is a “robust marketplace”? It’s exactly the same marketplace that you see on the EQII service, but it also adds lots of “convenience” items. Can’t find a good shield in-game? We sell one appropriate to your level and class. Want a healing potion to use in a pinch? Need an emergency buff? Want to shortcut your research time? Items like that are all available in the marketplace. Do we sell the very best items and equipment? Nope. Legendary and Fabled gear are better than what you can buy in the marketplace. Has the game been rebalanced so that you *need* to buy these “convenience” items? Nope. EQ2X is exactly the same game that you’re playing currently on the EQII servers. Those items are just there if you want them. They are true “convenience” items.
There’s lots more details about all of this (and you can find the FAQ at http://eq2players.station.sony.com/...ay/extended_faq), but remember…this only affects you if you want it to affect you. If you ignore EQ2X completely, then your existing subscription, game, and support are unchanged.
If you’re a current subscriber, and you’d like to take a peek at “EverQuest II Extended” on its new Test server, you can jump into the game at the Free membership level by clicking here and streaming down the game client you’ll need. (http://launch.soe.com/eq2x/) This is the Alpha version of the service and its currently only available to existing subscribers so you can see it for yourselves before the public sees it later. The beta launch of the EQ2X service will occur in mid-August.
Whether you check out the new stuff as a Live subscription player, or as an Extended player, you’ll see examples of how we upgrade the content simultaneously across both services. We’ve significantly improved the UI, skill progressions, new user quest content, tutorials, created the “Regions of Interest” system so you can see where your quests are located, and much more.
Now there is something that just doesn't compute with me lol I understand the normal sub charge is $14.99 a month which allows you to get to lvl90 max cap, well how on earth do they justify that F2P people have to spend $200 for the privy of getting to max cap, have all classes available to you???? I also fail to see how this will increase game revenue when they are keeping paying subscribers and F2P players on different servers, surely that's asking for trouble?!
Now i would say it's pretty pointless going for F2P on this game because you will never get to max lvl without paying more then what you would do if you actually subbed per month to it....
What you miss here is that someone lvling from 1->80 won't pay a penny while doing so, which also takes a long time. If he had chosen the subscription-based deployment of the game, he would be paying a sub all that time.
You see here that unlike DDO, which favors f2p players for long-term gaming (by buying content), and p2p players for short-term gaming (by renting content), SOE did it right and favors f2p gamers for short-term (by playing through content fast and then probably leaving) and p2p for long-term gaming (for the traditional MMO "end-game" experience).
"Traditionally, massively multiplier online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars combat, exploration and character progression. In Alganon, in addition to these we've added the fourth pillar to the equation: Copy & Paste."
Now there is something that just doesn't compute with me lol I understand the normal sub charge is $14.99 a month which allows you to get to lvl90 max cap, well how on earth do they justify that F2P people have to spend $200 for the privy of getting to max cap, have all classes available to you???? I also fail to see how this will increase game revenue when they are keeping paying subscribers and F2P players on different servers, surely that's asking for trouble?!
Now i would say it's pretty pointless going for F2P on this game because you will never get to max lvl without paying more then what you would do if you actually subbed per month to it....
What you miss here is that someone lvling from 1->80 won't pay a penny while doing so, which also takes a long time. If he had chosen the subscription-based deployment of the game, he would be paying a sub all that time.
You see here that unlike DDO, which favors f2p players for long-term gaming (by buying content), and p2p players for short-term gaming (by renting content), SOE did it right and favors f2p gamers for short-term (by playing through content fast and then probably leaving) and p2p for long-term gaming (for the traditional MMO "end-game" experience).
I highlighted the part that non-EQ2 players don't "get" here. You're not going to level from 1 to 80 in a week on EQ2. First of all...you have AAs to think about. If you hit 80 with NO AAs...you are going to suck....really hard. You'll likely need to level lock every ten levels or so to pump up your AA gain with your xp, rather than giving all your xp to combat and adventuring experience. Or...you may want to set your AA slider to 30, 50, 70 percent or whatever, so that some of your combat, questing, and adventuring experience goes toward AAs and not just your adventuring level, or....as I said....you're going to find at about level 50....you can't fight worth a crap.
Do you craft? Well crafting takes TIME in EQ2. This isn't WoW, where you just have the mats and hit a "create all" button then go make yourself a salad and drink while you wait.
What SoE is offering here is a very very attractive extended trial. Their ideal is not for player to stay on the free to play server indefinitely. Their ideal is for people to find that they really ENJOY the game, the housing, the crafting, the AA system, the questing, the lore and legend quests, the collections, etc. and either start over on the paid servers OR.....sub on the EQ2X servers. It's actually the right way to do trials, and/or free to play, when you already have a solid core subscriber base.
This is good news for everyone... except maybe the forum trolls which are left with nothing to troll about. SOE pwned Turbine's model here - the separate deployment is at least brilliant.
I don't think it is, Turbines is more sensible, fairer, less complacated, and better priced and the segregated servers of EQ2 will do nothing for the already small population on those servers.
---------- "Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
Damnit, I was sort of hoping I could play my charactor, with this.
Why would someone want to play for free 1-80, then subscribe to it, and still not get the rest of the content to the game (80-90)? Sounds like another Big Fat SOE Rip Off to me.
All you have to do is buy the expansion..... O.o
Much like them charging us Planet Side players 14.99 or is it 15.99 for the sub on it. A 7 year old game they don't even support any more.
SOE is a Big Fat Rip-Off-And-Duplicate Company that Overcharges on it's services.
This is part of the reason why Blizzard was able to so greatly over take them with World of Warcraft.
LOL...whatever. Not everyone wants to play with the tweens and 20 somethings on WoW. "Overtake them" or not....EQ2, in the opinion of some, will ALWAYS be a better game than WoW.
Its possible to play lvl 90 without gold or platin.
The normal account doesent have the lastet addon (lvl 80+). 4500 Station Cash...
Actually, Sentinel's Fate was on sale (at least last week....maybe still) for 14.95 from Direct2Drive. No point in paying 45 dollars for the expansion. Even at regular price at the store...it's only 29.95. I'm not sure why anyone would buy it with Station Cash, but...to each their own.
Oh god...its the end of the world...SOE does something that makes sense...argh my brain its ooooozing out.
Oh yeah, it totally makes sense! SOE is going against the wishes of their loyal, veteran players and doing what they said they wouldn't... Pure genius.
As long as they keep it on separate servers, I'm okay with it. If they infect regular servers with it though, I'll never play EQ again, ever, and any other game SOE makes is going to have to impress the heck out of me to get me to even try it.
Have played: Everquest, Asheron's Call, Horizons, Everquest2, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer, Age of Conan, Darkfall
This is good news for everyone... except maybe the forum trolls which are left with nothing to troll about. SOE pwned Turbine's model here - the separate deployment is at least brilliant.
I don't think it is, Turbines is more sensible, fairer, less complacated, and better priced and the segregated servers of EQ2 will do nothing for the already small population on those servers.
You're not understanding, apparently. Frankly, I'm also not sure what you're talking about when you say "already small population" on the live servers?? O.o Antonia Bayle, Lucan D'Lere, and Everfrost (at least those three) never have a "small" population. I see people ALL THE TIME. Everfrost is a medium pop server (as most of the others) and AB and LD.....are FOOKING CROWDED. The PvP servers don't appear to be lacking population either. Hell even the EXCHANGE servers, are medium pop and up most hours of the day.
I'm wondering if some of the population comments about EQ2 that I see on these forums all the time come from people that are actually PLAYING the game or not?
Besides....SoE did actually listen to the subscriber base this time. Most of us don't WANT the free to play players on our servers. For one....most of us do NOT want stat items in the Marketplace. That is part and parcel of the f2p game, which incidentally, is called EQ2X It's the same game with different Marketplace items, race restrictions, some class restrictions, etc. THAT does not fit on the live servers. And SoE was smart enough to realize the CHAOS that would have caused to try to do what LotRO did. The subscriber base, overall, did not WANT THAT.
At least in THIS subscriber's opinion....SoE absolutely did the RIGHT thing here.
Oh god...its the end of the world...SOE does something that makes sense...argh my brain its ooooozing out.
Oh yeah, it totally makes sense! SOE is going against the wishes of their loyal, veteran players and doing what they said they wouldn't... Pure genius.
And where do you get THAT idea? I'm not seeing a lot of veterans DISLIKING this idea of having the free to player players on DIFFERENT servers from us......
What they SAID....is that EQ2 would not go free to play. It hasn't. EQ2X....is free to play. It doesn't affect the EQ2 subscriber base AT ALL. All they've done is offer an EXTENDED FREE TRIAL.. Good gawd why are people having such a hard time understanding this????
Do tell where you see veterans (that actually understand how the f2p thing is being done) complaining about it.....
Originally posted by Smokeysong
As long as they keep it on separate servers, I'm okay with it. If they infect regular servers with it though, I'll never play EQ again, ever, and any other game SOE makes is going to have to impress the heck out of me to get me to even try it.
I highlighted the part that non-EQ2 players don't "get" here. You're not going to level from 1 to 80 in a week on EQ2. First of all...you have AAs to think about. If you hit 80 with NO AAs...you are going to suck....really hard. You'll likely need to level lock every ten levels or so to pump up your AA gain with your xp, rather than giving all your xp to combat and adventuring experience. Or...you may want to set your AA slider to 30, 50, 70 percent or whatever, so that some of your combat, questing, and adventuring experience goes toward AAs and not just your adventuring level, or....as I said....you're going to find at about level 50....you can't fight worth a crap.
Do you craft? Well crafting takes TIME in EQ2. This isn't WoW, where you just have the mats and hit a "create all" button then go make yourself a salad and drink while you wait.
What SoE is offering here is a very very attractive extended trial. Their ideal is not for player to stay on the free to play server indefinitely. Their ideal is for people to find that they really ENJOY the game, the housing, the crafting, the AA system, the questing, the lore and legend quests, the collections, etc. and either start over on the paid servers OR.....sub on the EQ2X servers. It's actually the right way to do trials, and/or free to play, when you already have a solid core subscriber base.
I still find it funny that there is a "wrong way" to play EQ2 while leveling. That is such a flawed design it isn't even funny.
Also this isn't some extended trial as the developers keep saying. It is the launching of a brand new version of the game. Soe doesn't expect players to spend time leveling 80 levels and then decide they like the game, throw those characters away and move to the live servers.
They want the free to play servers to dominate gameplay. They want all new players to move there, because they can charge them more than 15$ a month that people on the current servers pay. The structure of the service screams it from every orifice.
The $200 yearly fee is MORE than $15 a month. The cash shop will be packed with items that don't exist on the other servers. Every little bit of the game will be an additional free. More character slots, more races, more classes, more items, more abilities, more stats, etc, etc. This is exactly what soe has been building up for this game for years.
This is soe giving up on the subscription servers, because it has only produced decline for the last many years. It isn't working and this is in no way an extended trial for the subscription servers. That is why they have chosen to allow players to copy/transfer OFF the subscription servers and not the other way around. This change is because the EQ2 player base isn't solid. That is why they were talking about merging servers... AGAIN.
incredible this, its less than 2 weeks ago they claimed they aint planning on going free to play, on the boards.
They DIDN'T "go free to play," they made a new game, essentially. MY game didn't change. I don't see why people are having such a hard time comprehending this. EQ2 Extended in an entirely new thing, giving people the opportunity, basically, to trial play the game for an EXTENDED (hence the word "extended" in the name EQ2 Extended) for a longer period of time than your average trial.
Originally posted by Papadam
Originally posted by eyeswideopen
Originally posted by Novusod
I think Eq2 is doing it smarter than LotRO by keeping the two servers separate. It will be interesting to see which is the bigger success. P2P vs F2P on the same exact game.
Yep, just think how happy all those Landroval players would have been if they knew they wouldn't be forced to play with the F2P mouth breathers, would've saved Turbine some grief and lost subs.
Actually splitting the servers is a really bad idea and if you read the EQ2 forum you will see that people are really upset about it.
I don't think you read very many of the responses. A lot of people actually UNDERSTAND what they did by putting it on new servers. It doesn't affect the veteran players. THAT....is smart. EQ2 now will have more pay options than any other game on the market. They have your regular subscription model, they will have f2p with a cash shop that offers items with some minimal stats, and they have had the Exchange servers for YEARS that even allow you to buy ALL of your stat items and armor (yes, the GOOD stuff) for cash....even paying other players cash for items via the exchange system.
It's a win/win/win/win system. Each form of play is a win for people who like that format....and ALL of them are a win for SoE. I honestly can't think of another way they could have done this that would have made me any happier. =D
Of course there's no way I'm moving over to f2p. I'm a very happy subscriber and intend to stay that way. But if this allows for some people to try the game that hadn't before....more power to them. All they have really done is make a very lengthy trial version of the game. Personally...I think it's absolutely BRILLIANT.
I think you are missing the big picture and just hearing what the developers want people like yourself to hear.
First of all, your game has already changed. Yes it has. Even though EQ2x isn't out yet, it has already impacted your game. Go look at the next game update and tell me why all of a sudden everything is being geared towards a "new player experience". Tell me that isn't a very different update from previous updates in terms of direction and quantity.
Some people that go for the EQ2X extended trial game....ARE going to eventually decide to come on over to the paid live servers. I don't see preparation for that as a bad thing....
Now where do you think all the development time is going to come from the make all this free to play cash shop stuff? Thats right, from your development time. Every single thing that goes into the development of the free to play version of the game comes as a direct loss from your development time.
On top of that, where do you think all the new players are going to go to when given the option? Imagine what your server will look like in a year or two without any new players joining or the people you currently play with migrating off your server to play with their friends on the freebie servers.
See my comment below your quoted post here. I don't think you're quit understanding the limitation of the trial servers.
Sorry my friend, this is most certainly going to have an impact on your gaming experience. This is soe saying they have given up on the pay to play model. They want people to move to the new servers, because they can stick it to each player that moves there. Pay more, get less. That is how soe loves to run their business.
This is a losing situation for current players, not a win. You benefit nothing from this and only stand to lose and already have.
I disagree with you...pretty much as always.
Only you CAN'T "move to the new f2p servers" with your current characters. There are racial and class restrictions. And what veteran EQ2 player in their right mind would want to start over again on a f2p server when they have characters they have invested so much time in?
I understand that you hate EQ2...you and I get into this EVERY time there is a post about EQ2. So the logical thing for us to do would be to not argue with each other. You're never going to see the game from my perspective and I will never see it from yours.
Only you CAN'T "move to the new f2p servers" with your current characters. There are racial and class restrictions. And what veteran EQ2 player in their right mind would want to start over again on a f2p server when they have characters they have invested so much time in?
I understand that you hate EQ2...you and I get into this EVERY time there is a post about EQ2. So the logical thing for us to do would be to not argue with each other. You're never going to see the game from my perspective and I will never see it from yours.
I understand the limitations just fine and that you will be able to move characters to the free servers in the future.
Think about this though. If subscription players are given the choice to start from scratch on a server with healthy populations or stay on a dieing server, which will they chose? If you don't think it will happen, just go look at the SWG forums for proof that is does. Just look what happened to the EQ2 servers when they were given the change to migrate (paid or starting over).
Soe knows this and they have plenty of data to suggest how many people will make the move. Just as current players suggest new player start on AB or Crushbone, because that is where player density is. All the while the other servers are dieing off as a result of the migration.
Since your screen name says you just joined the forums two weeks ago and you have only posted a few dozen times, I don't see how we "always" get into it. Maybe you have another screen name, I don't know. If so, that just means I don't agree with your views, regardless of who you are.
I highlighted the part that non-EQ2 players don't "get" here. You're not going to level from 1 to 80 in a week on EQ2. First of all...you have AAs to think about. If you hit 80 with NO AAs...you are going to suck....really hard. You'll likely need to level lock every ten levels or so to pump up your AA gain with your xp, rather than giving all your xp to combat and adventuring experience. Or...you may want to set your AA slider to 30, 50, 70 percent or whatever, so that some of your combat, questing, and adventuring experience goes toward AAs and not just your adventuring level, or....as I said....you're going to find at about level 50....you can't fight worth a crap.
Do you craft? Well crafting takes TIME in EQ2. This isn't WoW, where you just have the mats and hit a "create all" button then go make yourself a salad and drink while you wait.
What SoE is offering here is a very very attractive extended trial. Their ideal is not for player to stay on the free to play server indefinitely. Their ideal is for people to find that they really ENJOY the game, the housing, the crafting, the AA system, the questing, the lore and legend quests, the collections, etc. and either start over on the paid servers OR.....sub on the EQ2X servers. It's actually the right way to do trials, and/or free to play, when you already have a solid core subscriber base.
I still find it funny that there is a "wrong way" to play EQ2 while leveling. That is such a flawed design it isn't even funny.
Also this isn't some extended trial as the developers keep saying. It is the launching of a brand new version of the game. Soe doesn't expect players to spend time leveling 80 levels and then decide they like the game, throw those characters away and move to the live servers.
They want the free to play servers to dominate gameplay. They want all new players to move there, because they can charge them more than 15$ a month that people on the current servers pay. The structure of the service screams it from every orifice.
The $200 yearly fee is MORE than $15 a month. The cash shop will be packed with items that don't exist on the other servers. Every little bit of the game will be an additional free. More character slots, more races, more classes, more items, more abilities, more stats, etc, etc. This is exactly what soe has been building up for this game for years.
This is soe giving up on the subscription servers, because it has only produced decline for the last many years. It isn't working and this is in no way an extended trial for the subscription servers. That is why they have chosen to allow players to copy/transfer OFF the subscription servers and not the other way around. This change is because the EQ2 player base isn't solid. That is why they were talking about merging servers... AGAIN.
You are spot-on Daffid011. $OE doesn't miss a trick when it comes to milking the playerbase. I am sure EQ2X will be much more cash shop centered than Turbine's F2P business model, which is why it has to have it own servers.
I was wondering if a EQ2X character could transfer to the subscription servers, but it looks like the transfers are only one-way, which doesn't surprise me.
You are spot-on Daffid011. $OE doesn't miss a trick when it comes to milking the playerbase. I am sure EQ2X will be much more cash shop centered than Turbine's F2P business model, which is why it has to have it own servers.
I was wondering if a EQ2X character could transfer to the subscription servers, but it looks like the transfers are only one-way, which doesn't surprise me.
Character transfers are one way only from P2P to F2P Servers, which basically means the death of EQ2 Classic as we know it.
People are all happy and giddy that they don't have to play with F2P players, but the reality is much grim. SOE is removing the Trial from EQ2 Classic, which means no more NEW players to try EQ2 Classic, the only thing they will keep is RAF, but honestly who will go around Forums asking for a RaF key and wait when they can just quickly create an account and log on to EQ2X?
EQ2 Classic will surely die now. There will be no bleedover unto the old servers and people that play on EQ2X will no want to start over on the old servers since they don't allow character transfers.
You are spot-on Daffid011. $OE doesn't miss a trick when it comes to milking the playerbase. I am sure EQ2X will be much more cash shop centered than Turbine's F2P business model, which is why it has to have it own servers.
I was wondering if a EQ2X character could transfer to the subscription servers, but it looks like the transfers are only one-way, which doesn't surprise me.
Character transfers are one way only from P2P to F2P Servers, which basically means the death of EQ2 Classic as we know it.
People are all happy and giddy that they don't have to play with F2P players, but the reality is much grim. SOE is removing the Trial from EQ2 Classic, which means no more NEW players to try EQ2 Classic, the only thing they will keep is RAF, but honestly who will go around Forums asking for a RaF key and wait when they can just quickly create an account and log on to EQ2X?
EQ2 Classic will surely die now. There will be no bleedover unto the old servers and people that play on EQ2X will no want to start over on the old servers since they don't allow character transfers.
I suspect you are right and that is the plan of SOE. After they get as many people to pay for moves to the populated servers as they have done in their games, only then will they merge them all together. Of course they will spin this as doing the players a favor and saying this is what they wanted since everyone moved to the free to play servers.
LOL this one too, oh my. Seems all i see thesedays are the dying and failing games going F2P. Successful ones *cough*WoW*cough* so far have not gone this route, why should they, there still raking in teh money. Also that is the only successful one running (allbeit everyones pretty bored too), but there just simple is nothing else out there to even contend it. Which is a big pity. These days with the enhancements made in technology i would have thought we would have something better by now (over 5yrs of wow and we got nothing else to contend it) come on, dont we have any software writers thesedays.
If anyone in these forums saying it's a bad idea were in charge of SOE, it would fail harder. Yes SOE has had it ups and major downs. But I'll be damned if you say this is a horrible decision.
This is great they are letting us play alot of the game for free. If they wanted money then they would have made another expansion instead. I am proud of them and this direction, good for them. This will boost the population.
Comments
Wow Soe finally gets something right! Wish Turbine had done this with LOTRO/DDO - maybe let freebies transfer characters to paying server when subbing, but keeping the cash shop out of the sub servers.
<p align=center><a target=_blank href=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm><img border=0 src=http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/20.jpg></a></p>;
Its possible to play lvl 90 without gold or platin.
The normal account doesent have the lastet addon (lvl 80+). 4500 Station Cash...
This is good news for everyone... except maybe the forum trolls which are left with nothing to troll about. SOE pwned Turbine's model here - the separate deployment is at least brilliant.
"Traditionally, massively multiplier online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars combat, exploration and character progression. In Alganon, in addition to these we've added the fourth pillar to the equation: Copy & Paste."
No problem. I'm sure this was meant as some sort of sarcastic criticism, but the fact is this F2P set of servers will bring in alot more money at a tiny amount of cost, and will subsidise the new content and updates for us long time subscribers, whilst allowing us to play in peace. So, thank you, and I'm sure you will enjoy it. Great game!
p.s. to answer someone above who asked what full subscribers get (as it's not shown on the chart) - you get everything the same as normal, there will be no change to you when this new version releases.
"When people don't know much about something, they tend to fill in the blanks the way they want them to be filled in. They are almost always disappointed." - Will Wright
I think you are missing the big picture and just hearing what the developers want people like yourself to hear.
First of all, your game has already changed. Yes it has. Even though EQ2x isn't out yet, it has already impacted your game. Go look at the next game update and tell me why all of a sudden everything is being geared towards a "new player experience". Tell me that isn't a very different update from previous updates in terms of direction and quantity.
Now where do you think all the development time is going to come from the make all this free to play cash shop stuff? Thats right, from your development time. Every single thing that goes into the development of the free to play version of the game comes as a direct loss from your development time.
On top of that, where do you think all the new players are going to go to when given the option? Imagine what your server will look like in a year or two without any new players joining or the people you currently play with migrating off your server to play with their friends on the freebie servers.
Sorry my friend, this is most certainly going to have an impact on your gaming experience. This is soe saying they have given up on the pay to play model. They want people to move to the new servers, because they can stick it to each player that moves there. Pay more, get less. That is how soe loves to run their business.
This is a losing situation for current players, not a win. You benefit nothing from this and only stand to lose and already have.
Ok now I'm excited. I never liked ui in EQ2, it felt disjointed and somehow shaky =P If you know what I mean. Oh I can't wait for the f2p server and this patch =3 I'm already considering buying the fae race in item shop..
I came across this on the PC Gamer.com website and it makes it clearer:
Now there is something that just doesn't compute with me lol I understand the normal sub charge is $14.99 a month which allows you to get to lvl90 max cap, well how on earth do they justify that F2P people have to spend $200 for the privy of getting to max cap, have all classes available to you???? I also fail to see how this will increase game revenue when they are keeping paying subscribers and F2P players on different servers, surely that's asking for trouble?!
Now i would say it's pretty pointless going for F2P on this game because you will never get to max lvl without paying more then what you would do if you actually subbed per month to it....
I have to agree with this. This is going to draw people who don’t want to pay a subscription or who are fine buying gear off the live servers and onto the free servers. Anyone who joins the game is going to probably join the free servers unless they know someone on a subscription server and are joining them. People who currently play multiple games with EQ2 as a second game will jump at the chance to not have to pay a subscription anymore. And finally developer effort which is finite is going to be focused where the most activity is which I fear will be the free servers.
If they had to do this I would really have rather they had adopted the DDO/LOTR model and offered free play on all the servers with a subscription level as well. Instead of gear they could have sold zone packs, quest line packs, they could cap things like AA’s and Tradeskills, etc. That way the live servers would have hopefully gotten a infusion of new blood. I fear all this is going to do is doom the subscription servers to a slow death.
I totally agree.
And for those that still don't "get it," here is a BETTER description of the new f2p version than the interview that the OP posted (no offense), this one just hit the official forums. The highlights were added by ME to squelch some of the naysayers that don't quite understand the LACK of effect on present subscribers.
Incidentally, for those wondering....NO you cannot play your EQ2 Live characters on the f2p servers. So no, there is probably not going to be a mass exodus from the live servers to go "play for free." Wise, on SoE's part. If you want to play on the free servers you will have to start over, and there are other restrictions as well....such as many less races and even less classes. ALL THIS IS....and I repeat.....ALL THIS IS....is an EXTENDED TRIAL that offers FAR MORE than most MMO trials offer.
SoE has finally hit one out of the ballpark. /cheer
Hi there, Norrathians,
As they say, the one thing that’s always true about the world is that it changes. That’s true of the world in general, the game industry, and it’s always been true with “EverQuest II”.
The very nature of an MMO is change. We listen, we adapt, and the game grows in features, content, and fun factor as the months and years pass. Now, the expectations of gamers and the industry itself are changing around us, and it’s time for “EverQuest II” to spring forward so it can continue to expand and be successful.
Many of you are aware of the free-to-play model that’s being embraced by many of the big game developers out there. We’re not the first folks to entertain the idea for an MMO, but we do have the biggest and best virtual world to offer in such a model and we firmly believe that we can expose thousands and thousands of new players to the world of Norrath if we embrace that concept.
However, before going any further, I’d like to stop and say that we’re tied into what you, the community of EQII players, have said about selling items with stats and how they affect a game where you traditionally earn your way forward. We completely understand there’s a solid core of you that want nothing at all to do with that. We respect your wishes and, as I’ve personally stated previously, we’re not planning any changes to the current subscription worlds at all. Those servers, that subscription service and that gameplay will continue as normal. We’ll continue to support the existing Live service with content, expansions, features, and events…just as we’ve always done. In fact, we’re upping the ante by providing subscription rewards packages for active users that buy multi-month subscriptions, giving them rewards like cool, unique, exclusive items and Station Cash.
But the free-to-play concept is a strong way to expose the world of Norrath to hordes of new players. Think of it as a huge new way to run a “free trial” like we’ve always done, but without the “14-day” limit, and with a lot more content available to try before you decide whether you want to commit to the game or not. We’ve had over eight years to grow this game, its content and its features, and there’s simply nothing else like it out there.
So, we’re about to launch a bold new service named “EverQuest II Extended” (EQ2X). This is a completely separate service from the standard EQII Live subscription service (EQII). It's aims are simply to attract new players to the world of “EverQuest II” and let them try it out before deciding if and how they want to pay for it.
“EverQuest II Extended” shares all the content and features of Live EQII. It plays the same. It looks the same. It *is* the same, with two obvious exceptions: a) it’s free-to-play, and b) it has a more robust marketplace.
What does “free-to-play” mean? It means that you can download the game and play all of it (except the most recent expansion) all the way up to level 80. Your character is restricted in a bunch of different ways (limited class selection, limited races, limited coin, etc.) and to unlock those features fully, you’ll need to subscribe to Gold level membership. Which, coincidentally, is $15/month. Sound familiar?
What is a “robust marketplace”? It’s exactly the same marketplace that you see on the EQII service, but it also adds lots of “convenience” items. Can’t find a good shield in-game? We sell one appropriate to your level and class. Want a healing potion to use in a pinch? Need an emergency buff? Want to shortcut your research time? Items like that are all available in the marketplace. Do we sell the very best items and equipment? Nope. Legendary and Fabled gear are better than what you can buy in the marketplace. Has the game been rebalanced so that you *need* to buy these “convenience” items? Nope. EQ2X is exactly the same game that you’re playing currently on the EQII servers. Those items are just there if you want them. They are true “convenience” items.
There’s lots more details about all of this (and you can find the FAQ at http://eq2players.station.sony.com/...ay/extended_faq), but remember…this only affects you if you want it to affect you. If you ignore EQ2X completely, then your existing subscription, game, and support are unchanged.
If you’re a current subscriber, and you’d like to take a peek at “EverQuest II Extended” on its new Test server, you can jump into the game at the Free membership level by clicking here and streaming down the game client you’ll need. (http://launch.soe.com/eq2x/) This is the Alpha version of the service and its currently only available to existing subscribers so you can see it for yourselves before the public sees it later. The beta launch of the EQ2X service will occur in mid-August.
Whether you check out the new stuff as a Live subscription player, or as an Extended player, you’ll see examples of how we upgrade the content simultaneously across both services. We’ve significantly improved the UI, skill progressions, new user quest content, tutorials, created the “Regions of Interest” system so you can see where your quests are located, and much more.
Enjoy.
-- Dave (Smokejumper) Georgeson.
[Edited for formatting and to add link]
EQII Extended - Feedback and Discussion Thread
Message edited by Amnerys on 07/27/2010 11:04:32.
What you miss here is that someone lvling from 1->80 won't pay a penny while doing so, which also takes a long time. If he had chosen the subscription-based deployment of the game, he would be paying a sub all that time.
You see here that unlike DDO, which favors f2p players for long-term gaming (by buying content), and p2p players for short-term gaming (by renting content), SOE did it right and favors f2p gamers for short-term (by playing through content fast and then probably leaving) and p2p for long-term gaming (for the traditional MMO "end-game" experience).
"Traditionally, massively multiplier online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars combat, exploration and character progression. In Alganon, in addition to these we've added the fourth pillar to the equation: Copy & Paste."
I highlighted the part that non-EQ2 players don't "get" here. You're not going to level from 1 to 80 in a week on EQ2. First of all...you have AAs to think about. If you hit 80 with NO AAs...you are going to suck....really hard. You'll likely need to level lock every ten levels or so to pump up your AA gain with your xp, rather than giving all your xp to combat and adventuring experience. Or...you may want to set your AA slider to 30, 50, 70 percent or whatever, so that some of your combat, questing, and adventuring experience goes toward AAs and not just your adventuring level, or....as I said....you're going to find at about level 50....you can't fight worth a crap.
Do you craft? Well crafting takes TIME in EQ2. This isn't WoW, where you just have the mats and hit a "create all" button then go make yourself a salad and drink while you wait.
What SoE is offering here is a very very attractive extended trial. Their ideal is not for player to stay on the free to play server indefinitely. Their ideal is for people to find that they really ENJOY the game, the housing, the crafting, the AA system, the questing, the lore and legend quests, the collections, etc. and either start over on the paid servers OR.....sub on the EQ2X servers. It's actually the right way to do trials, and/or free to play, when you already have a solid core subscriber base.
I don't think it is, Turbines is more sensible, fairer, less complacated, and better priced and the segregated servers of EQ2 will do nothing for the already small population on those servers.
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
Actually, Sentinel's Fate was on sale (at least last week....maybe still) for 14.95 from Direct2Drive. No point in paying 45 dollars for the expansion. Even at regular price at the store...it's only 29.95. I'm not sure why anyone would buy it with Station Cash, but...to each their own.
Oh yeah, it totally makes sense! SOE is going against the wishes of their loyal, veteran players and doing what they said they wouldn't... Pure genius.
As long as they keep it on separate servers, I'm okay with it. If they infect regular servers with it though, I'll never play EQ again, ever, and any other game SOE makes is going to have to impress the heck out of me to get me to even try it.
Have played: Everquest, Asheron's Call, Horizons, Everquest2, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer, Age of Conan, Darkfall
You're not understanding, apparently. Frankly, I'm also not sure what you're talking about when you say "already small population" on the live servers?? O.o Antonia Bayle, Lucan D'Lere, and Everfrost (at least those three) never have a "small" population. I see people ALL THE TIME. Everfrost is a medium pop server (as most of the others) and AB and LD.....are FOOKING CROWDED. The PvP servers don't appear to be lacking population either. Hell even the EXCHANGE servers, are medium pop and up most hours of the day.
I'm wondering if some of the population comments about EQ2 that I see on these forums all the time come from people that are actually PLAYING the game or not?
Besides....SoE did actually listen to the subscriber base this time. Most of us don't WANT the free to play players on our servers. For one....most of us do NOT want stat items in the Marketplace. That is part and parcel of the f2p game, which incidentally, is called EQ2X It's the same game with different Marketplace items, race restrictions, some class restrictions, etc. THAT does not fit on the live servers. And SoE was smart enough to realize the CHAOS that would have caused to try to do what LotRO did. The subscriber base, overall, did not WANT THAT.
At least in THIS subscriber's opinion....SoE absolutely did the RIGHT thing here.
And where do you get THAT idea? I'm not seeing a lot of veterans DISLIKING this idea of having the free to player players on DIFFERENT servers from us......
What they SAID....is that EQ2 would not go free to play. It hasn't. EQ2X....is free to play. It doesn't affect the EQ2 subscriber base AT ALL. All they've done is offer an EXTENDED FREE TRIAL.. Good gawd why are people having such a hard time understanding this????
Do tell where you see veterans (that actually understand how the f2p thing is being done) complaining about it.....
EXACTLY.
I still find it funny that there is a "wrong way" to play EQ2 while leveling. That is such a flawed design it isn't even funny.
Also this isn't some extended trial as the developers keep saying. It is the launching of a brand new version of the game. Soe doesn't expect players to spend time leveling 80 levels and then decide they like the game, throw those characters away and move to the live servers.
They want the free to play servers to dominate gameplay. They want all new players to move there, because they can charge them more than 15$ a month that people on the current servers pay. The structure of the service screams it from every orifice.
The $200 yearly fee is MORE than $15 a month. The cash shop will be packed with items that don't exist on the other servers. Every little bit of the game will be an additional free. More character slots, more races, more classes, more items, more abilities, more stats, etc, etc. This is exactly what soe has been building up for this game for years.
This is soe giving up on the subscription servers, because it has only produced decline for the last many years. It isn't working and this is in no way an extended trial for the subscription servers. That is why they have chosen to allow players to copy/transfer OFF the subscription servers and not the other way around. This change is because the EQ2 player base isn't solid. That is why they were talking about merging servers... AGAIN.
Only you CAN'T "move to the new f2p servers" with your current characters. There are racial and class restrictions. And what veteran EQ2 player in their right mind would want to start over again on a f2p server when they have characters they have invested so much time in?
I understand that you hate EQ2...you and I get into this EVERY time there is a post about EQ2. So the logical thing for us to do would be to not argue with each other. You're never going to see the game from my perspective and I will never see it from yours.
I understand the limitations just fine and that you will be able to move characters to the free servers in the future.
Think about this though. If subscription players are given the choice to start from scratch on a server with healthy populations or stay on a dieing server, which will they chose? If you don't think it will happen, just go look at the SWG forums for proof that is does. Just look what happened to the EQ2 servers when they were given the change to migrate (paid or starting over).
Soe knows this and they have plenty of data to suggest how many people will make the move. Just as current players suggest new player start on AB or Crushbone, because that is where player density is. All the while the other servers are dieing off as a result of the migration.
Since your screen name says you just joined the forums two weeks ago and you have only posted a few dozen times, I don't see how we "always" get into it. Maybe you have another screen name, I don't know. If so, that just means I don't agree with your views, regardless of who you are.
You are spot-on Daffid011. $OE doesn't miss a trick when it comes to milking the playerbase. I am sure EQ2X will be much more cash shop centered than Turbine's F2P business model, which is why it has to have it own servers.
I was wondering if a EQ2X character could transfer to the subscription servers, but it looks like the transfers are only one-way, which doesn't surprise me.
Character transfers are one way only from P2P to F2P Servers, which basically means the death of EQ2 Classic as we know it.
People are all happy and giddy that they don't have to play with F2P players, but the reality is much grim. SOE is removing the Trial from EQ2 Classic, which means no more NEW players to try EQ2 Classic, the only thing they will keep is RAF, but honestly who will go around Forums asking for a RaF key and wait when they can just quickly create an account and log on to EQ2X?
EQ2 Classic will surely die now. There will be no bleedover unto the old servers and people that play on EQ2X will no want to start over on the old servers since they don't allow character transfers.
I suspect you are right and that is the plan of SOE. After they get as many people to pay for moves to the populated servers as they have done in their games, only then will they merge them all together. Of course they will spin this as doing the players a favor and saying this is what they wanted since everyone moved to the free to play servers.
LOL this one too, oh my. Seems all i see thesedays are the dying and failing games going F2P. Successful ones *cough*WoW*cough* so far have not gone this route, why should they, there still raking in teh money. Also that is the only successful one running (allbeit everyones pretty bored too), but there just simple is nothing else out there to even contend it. Which is a big pity. These days with the enhancements made in technology i would have thought we would have something better by now (over 5yrs of wow and we got nothing else to contend it) come on, dont we have any software writers thesedays.
If anyone in these forums saying it's a bad idea were in charge of SOE, it would fail harder. Yes SOE has had it ups and major downs. But I'll be damned if you say this is a horrible decision.
This is great they are letting us play alot of the game for free. If they wanted money then they would have made another expansion instead. I am proud of them and this direction, good for them. This will boost the population.
Pepsi1028
PEPSI!!!!!
Get out of your box already...