You just proved my point -KitFox-. People are mad about this because they've misunderstood it. They think it will affect them in a bad way.
You said:
"And what about WHAT servers will be converted into Station Exchange servers, they did not say they would make NEW servers, but would transform current ones into said template.."
"When we launch the service, we will open one or two new servers that operate under the Station Exchange ruleset, based on the responses we get from the in-game polling set to begin late next week.
At launch, subscribers will have a limited period of time to move their characters to the Exchange servers at no charge, as we originally described.
...
In that light, we want to make it clear that we will not force the Station Exchange ruleset on any currently existing live servers.
To restate: Next week's polling will be used to determine how many new servers we need to start up at the service's launch. It will not be used to determine whether any existing servers should be converted. There will be no current live servers switched to the Station Exchange ruleset.
Later, if the popularity of the service grows and it becomes apparent that we need more than the two planned servers, it will be because people have moved from other servers, which means those servers' populations will have gotten smaller. If that occurs, we may merge lower population servers together if any have gotten below the point of remaining a healthy community."
_________________
Now, you have a valid point that Botters/Farmers/etc will remain on the non-exchange servers because there are customers there. But they will likely DECREASE in number, because A; it's easier to sell on the Exchange servers and B; buyers will prefer the secure transactions on the exchange servers. If you think this somehow will make things worse than they are today, please explain.
Also, you state that Character transfers between these servers WILL happen. That is pure speculation and you know it. I'm not saying it won't happen, the only one saying that is SOE (didn't even bother to look up a quote, since they're repeating it all over anyway).
I would say only one thing...............that doesn't come as a surprise for me.
SoE focus too much on the size of their poket rather than focusing on the quality of their product.
EQ2 will bomb dramatically, people is leaving EQ2 faster than the people that is joining. When games like D&L, D&D and Vanguard will come out, EQ2 will die slowly and will fade into oblivion. So give the poor sods a way to make some money now they can.
Enjoy til it lasts SoE
PS: By the way, I am one of those people that has still an active account of EQ2, but who doesn't play it. So if you are counting on customer like me for the future, your calculations are wrong. Like me there are lots of people in "stand by" waiting for a new game to come out or hoping that SoE will start to understand players need and will rethink the entire game (which is very unlikely). That s the kind of customer you have, and make no mistake (as Bush like to say), we will leave the game sooner rather than later, so I won't be so excited by the fact that your subscriptions don't drop rigth away. They will in the very near future.
Now, you have a valid point that Botters/Farmers/etc will remain on the non-exchange servers because there are customers there. But they will likely DECREASE in number, because A; it's easier to sell on the Exchange servers and B; buyers will prefer the secure transactions on the exchange servers. If you think this somehow will make things worse than they are today, please explain.
Also, you state that Character transfers between these servers WILL happen. That is pure speculation and you know it. I'm not saying it won't happen, the only one saying that is SOE (didn't even bother to look up a quote, since they're repeating it all over anyway).
Ahem, by your post you have I believe manged to only offer argument opposing two of my at-least-half-a-dozen arguments as to why this station exchange is going to be a bad thing, or rather, IS a bad thing. I did not state that this would elevate the problem, but it surely won't offer a form of solution - it is as another poster said, a way for sony to line their pockets - and if it does at all, it will be a mild one not affecting anything on a grand scale...I personally as a player would HATE to play regularely on a server where these exchanges are legal, because I would be surrounded by farmers/bots ergo one could assume that alot of the good loot mobs would be perma camped (the IGE industry is not weak..there are crews working around the clock, and a term being coined is "sweat shop gamers" ..people who play the game for a small cut of the profits made for their employers). Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game - recall, that by this definitive term applied to this genre, we are to enjoy immersion in a living breathing high fantasy world with other like minded gamers...and thats why the majority of us are still here.
Sad to see Sony take something wonderful like Norrath and rip it to shreds...
"when life knocks you to your knees...well, thats the best posistion to pray in, isn't it ?"
That was SOE does is the best solution in a bad case. They probably found out that they can not stop sites like IGE with any legal means. Therefore they makes the best thing out of this bad case and opens an exchange service on their own. They can really cut down the fraudulences with their own system very well.
Yes one really concern as many people already mentioned is what happens if you buy that uber sword of instant killing for $1000 and then it get nerfed to a dull blade of rustyness? I'm sure you'll have to accept that loss! But this can happens if you buy that item from IGE also!
Generally as long this does affect only PvE server, I can respect it. My real concern is what will happens if an Exchange service will be offered on a PvP server? Especially if the looser can be looted like in Shadowbane? If they need really to open an exchange service for such servers then they should only sell accounts and non lossable items. But I'm still against it.
Generally does all Exchange services hurting the ingame economy! Suddenly stuff can no longer be afforted by ingame stuff only because the player sold stuff is inflating to such high levels that you need 10 millions gold just to get 1 high level armor piece (assume that a mob drops about 200 to 1000 gold per kill.) (Yes, there are some free MMOPRGs which are selling ingame money/items in some way for real money.)
This is kind of like the government saying, "Well, since we can't stop the drug-trade, let's open up our own crackhouses. It will be legal as long as you buy from us!" In a nutshell, the same as SOE's obvious move to get in on the action. With this move, SOE has shown to be nothing but a bunch of "if we can't beat them, join them" hypocrites.
Not only that, it's going against Sony's EULA - seriously, you write those things pretty much as the commandments..abide by them, if you expect your playerbase to as well those agreements are as such to mantain and erect a common relationship and agreement between the consumer and the producer.
I know of at least 200 people, across several gaming forums, WTF & GU Comics, etc, that have deleted their Sony accounts..and some of those aren't just EQ2 accounts..im talking EQ and SWG as well. No doubt, Sony will begin to feel the sting of their actions in some fashion and more so as time progresses...
To me, it's not simply SOE anymore...henchforth it is SOigE
"when life knocks you to your knees...well, thats the best posistion to pray in, isn't it ?"
From one point of view, they're just "legalising" what is already happening. It is true that it's difficult to track and ban botters or other people who violate the rules of the game and it is quite a large market. Since it is a phenomenon that cannot be effectively stopped, it makes sense to allow such transactions to take place, in a safe enviroment where the buyer can be sure there is little chance of a fraud (and, of course, SOE makes money in the process).
However, this will turn a game into an actual profession and I believe it's that point where the game stops being fun. I think that Jacobs, CEO of Mythic Entertainment, provided some interesting points, for example monopolising certain zones will increase, harassment issues will increase and generally an unhealthy competition among players will be developed.
A game's goal is to have fun. SOE's decision will make the game fail in this goal.
Currently playing: * City of Heroes: Deggial, Assault Rifle/Devices Blaster. Server: Defiant. * City of Villains: Snakeroot, Plant/Thorns Dominator. Server: Defiant.
Originally posted by nexus42 Like death and taxes, this was inevitable. It's worth noting, however, that no one likes death or taxes either.
If no one has noticed it's meant to be a game, NOT real life. SOE are encouraging botting and farming, and facilitating a grown industry of gaming sweatshops.
I've played and paid for Planetside and SWG and I'm an active member of of the largest EQ2 Guilds. I enjoy EQ2 very much, and I will miss it but as soon as this goes live I'll quit my account and will encourage as many guild members to do the same. I will also never buy another SOE game again. I'll will actively take my custom to other companies who take a stance against SOE.
Bad idea.. For those thinking of making a quick buck.. Dont forget about the chineese farmers who will undoubtly force down the prices of items. Plus the endless fights over money making spots and mobs.
Originally posted by Stormsender My opinion of this move by SOE is its the worst move they could have made, period. I will never play a SOE MMO again, they don't value the time and effort of the player. They just allow anyone to have the equiopment that the hard working player has to sweat and fight for. I like the games that take effort to succeed not games that bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator. I will say it again, I WILL NEVER PLAY A SOE MMO AGAIN.
/agree I will never play a SOE MMO again
This is greed pure and simple, cutting 40% of calls, who believes this rubbish?!
The dollar sign is so well earnt in $OE.
Now playing: VG (after a long break from MMORPGS) Played for more than a month: Darkfall online, Vanguard SOH, Everquest, Horizons, WoW, SWG, Everquest II, Eve
Wow, its to bad that this post asked for mature replies, and not bashing of sort. Because i was swear the lad that just bashed those that actually work and earn a living is pretty upset with what i just said in my post.
Look at it this way, i pay to play and do what i want ingame, you nor anyone else can tell me how to play my game. If it's money or gear i want, i'm going to get it one way or another, regardless of time spent ingame playing, so, if SOE wants in on the band wagon and earn some money towards the game they made, so be it and congrats to them for doing it.
Next time Tyrgris you start bashing folks, make sure your typing is a bit more readable, and your not so upset with what folks post about certain things before you go and make your own posts. They asked for mature content, not other player bashing, grow up kid and post a mature reply about the game and the idea of what SOE is doing, stop being a spoil child.
How come no one wants to discuss the underlying issue, which to me is ... people wouldn't need to buy their level/equipment advancement IF the game made that trek enjoyable in the first place. Sure there will always be those that have to have the best of everything, but if more folks enjoyed the "journey" instead of the end result, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
I played EQ1 for over 5 years and EQ2 since launch. I terminated my EQ2 account at the beginning of April because it is just no fun anymore. I think the /pizza crap was the first nail in the coffin, but there are myriad other reasons. Not to mention the already rampant botting and farming that seems to go unchecked no matter what SoE claims about cancelling accounts. I reported a list of the alphabet named farmers months ago and they never seemed to get stopped. It seems a shame that I had to battle farmers in both EL and Zek just trying to accomplish little quests. No thanks...it will only get worse from here.
As for ebay in game? No thanks...and make no mistake, if it becomes popular it WILL end up on all servers regardless of what SoE promises. It's all about the $$ afterall. If it wasn't, SoE wouldn't be doing everything they can to turn EQ2 into WoW...
1.EQ2 is going out of business once they implement these exchange servers.
2.SWG is going out of business on May 5th because of the CU.
Ok suure they are yeah thats a great assumption on 2 games that SOE spent millions on to build.SOE is just going to let these 2 games die a miserable death.
Whats really going to happen is the same thing that always happens.New games get released and players flock to them. When a expansion pack for the game they WERE playing comes out they come right back.
Personally i like smaller communities in mmo's inside large game worlds.
Im sure that SOE knew the mmo fans would be upset by this when it was announced.A lot of players will leave and a few more will stay.The only reason the other companies even said anything is because they didnt think of it 1st.Here we have a company embracing 2 concepts of gaming.On one hand letting players buy items that the company already owns and thus taking a market share away from IGE and other compnies like them.Then they have servers where this wont be implemented.
2 vastly different ways of playing eq2 so i dont really see the issue here.
Want to ENJOY an mmo?
Dont start a guild and dont be a leader or volunteer to be coleader or captain.
When I read this letter, first thing that came to my mind was, there will be a lot ppl flaming around, threaten to quit or whatever. Calm down guys! You do not have to care about ppl buying stuff. It's their concern whether they wanna ruin the experience of a mmorpg or even ruin their financial situation.
The market has existed for a long time and will exist in the future, no matter it is against any policies or not.
I say: Why not?! And believe me I never will buy virtual stuff for real cash and I never will play on such a server.
You all got the opportunity to stay on a normal server.
Personally I think those ppl who rail against SOE because of Station Exchange are the same who rail against EACH and EVERY patch. They always find things, of what they think it ruins the game. They always find things they think SOE or any other game developer did it wrong.
I played quite a few games and in every one of them I experienced the same thing. Patch day, you log on, ppl argue and argue and argue. Grow up and learn to take things as they are. Learn to take things easy, its just a game! And if you feel like your time is being wasted because your char was nerved or whatever... Dont play MMORPGS!
There is, and there will be no change to how it was before! Just look at IGE and tell me what's the difference.
I think SOE does a good job! You can see a real progress of the game development. They fix things, they add great stuff, they hear what ppl want. What is your problem?
This Station Exchange aint new (again look to IGE!), its just a maintained and legal way to do it. And when ppl tend to move their chars to Station Exchange enabled servers, hey thats fine by me! Then I can be a bit more certain that the guys playing with me have really earned their stuff.
I am greatly saddened, but not surprised by this move by SOE. Its basically a case of "if you can't beat em, join em"
I will definately be ending my EQII account and will have a really difficult problem deciding what to do with my kids' accounts as they really enjoy the game.
As many have said, the whole point of an MMORPG is to be able to strive and achieve things in a virtual world, where real life circumstances have minimal effect on what you can achieve.
My biggest fear is that, now that SOE have made this move, many other games will follow, whatever they are saying at the moment. Basically, there is a big market for this and it will earn companies significant extra revenue without much additional expenditure
Don't know if someone brought this up but if 40% fo their customer service calls are regarding fraudulent transactions and these transactions are against the EULA, shouldn't each and every one of those callers be getting suspended or banned after it is determined what the root of their complaint is?
That in my opinion would be a better way to deal with this instead of legitimizing it if their concern is simply the stress it puts on their CS team.
Originally posted by Zeaus I play EQ2 and I don't want it turned into ebay thank you. As you can probably guess I won't be playing much longer with such stunts as /pizza and now this. Other Game developers laugh at SOE with EQ2 take a look at WoWs April 1st joke about the /takeout or something like that. They should as well, they've always been money grabbing suits and they won't change. I'm sure they've got great plans for EQ2 lots of expensive expansions, ebay items, /pizza... hey all they need to do now is have some advertising.."Welcome the Coke Cola island, inhabited by the evil Pepsi wizard."
To Zeaus and anyone else that feels the same, it doesn't matter what game you are playing, if it's an MMO then it's an Ebay cashcow.
At least Sony is doing something about it rather than just pretending like it doesn't exist.
Mythic and others make me think of a ostrich with it's head in the sand, I guess so long as they don't want to see it then it doesn't affect their players, except it does, it's everywhere, and there is no way to stop it.
I don't argue with the morality or the reasons any of you have for opposing the sale of items and characters from these games, but it's happening, Sony is the only Ostrich of the bunch that is willing to admit that.
Originally posted by Twiz How come no one wants to discuss the underlying issue, which to me is ... people wouldn't need to buy their level/equipment advancement IF the game made that trek enjoyable in the first place. Sure there will always be those that have to have the best of everything, but if more folks enjoyed the "journey" instead of the end result, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
I'd just like to make another thing clear. I like many others won't be quitting because I feel this will affect me personally.
My issue is with SOE and their willingness to open a whole new can of worms that could change the whole genre for the worst, and for the sake of some quick cash.
Sadly theres plenty of people on here who think that as long as SOE make money from it it's OK.
And no, I've never complained or moaned about a patch. Until this point I've been very supportive of SOE and delighted with the regularity of fixes, patches and great content updates in EQ.
I understand the reasoning and if the game community wants this type of service then SOE has done the right thing , by thier players. On the other hand I do not think it will help gaming what so ever. I peronaly do not like the idea of buying ingame items and currnecy with real cash.
I understand that there is a black market of these things and always will be, but that dose not mean that it is a good idea. I believe that it will give the game company too much control and influnce on the game and it's economy. Yes they have a fair amount of control now and this is yet another tool to do so.
SOE also states that they are doing this for the noble cause of customer service right after they tell you how much $$ is slipping through thier fingers. Yes they are a company and a very sucessfull one. I respect them for what they have acoomlished. I also see a company that wants to make sure if you have $$ to burn they are glad to take it no matter how it may affect the game you play.
I peronaly like the idea of just not allowing such things in the TOU and letting the company chase down bad guys. I am also interested to see what happens with this so i will stand off to the sidelines and watch. In some ways I hope it all works out for them, but I do not expect it to really benifit the vast majority of the community.
What freaks me out of all this Exchange station thing, is the possibility that in the future SOE will create new uber items that will be ONLY available if you buy them. Not more quest drops....only money. They will first introduce the concept of buying things with real money, aftter that is a matter of time to be able able to acquire items only if you pay for them.
See? What keeps SOE from create super-uber-exotic armor sets/weapons that can only be bought using the exchange server? That will leave the farmers out of the market and will oblige people to pay for their in-game cloths!!!!! 200% profit if you put it in financial terms. No more farmers as a side effect. see? It is a whole new product and whole new market waiting to be explored.
IMO that's where they are aiming....but in order to implement that they need to change the "concept" and the "perception" of people towards MMOs.
They are focusing in trying to get more money instead of delivering more fun as originally intended.
What is the problem with farmers? After all they paid their game, they pay their monthly fees!!! That was all what the game designers want from people in first place, right? The problem is us, the community . We are the ones that promotes the fact of selling and buying things for real money.
Comments
I would say only one thing...............that doesn't come as a surprise for me.
SoE focus too much on the size of their poket rather than focusing on the quality of their product.
EQ2 will bomb dramatically, people is leaving EQ2 faster than the people that is joining.
When games like D&L, D&D and Vanguard will come out, EQ2 will die slowly and will fade into oblivion.
So give the poor sods a way to make some money now they can.
Enjoy til it lasts SoE
PS: By the way, I am one of those people that has still an active account of EQ2, but who doesn't play it.
So if you are counting on customer like me for the future, your calculations are wrong.
Like me there are lots of people in "stand by" waiting for a new game to come out or hoping that SoE will start to understand players need and will rethink the entire game (which is very unlikely).
That s the kind of customer you have, and make no mistake (as Bush like to say), we will leave the game sooner rather than later, so I won't be so excited by the fact that your subscriptions don't drop rigth away.
They will in the very near future.
Enjoy
Erhhh.......double post again
Ahem, by your post you have I believe manged to only offer argument opposing two of my at-least-half-a-dozen arguments as to why this station exchange is going to be a bad thing, or rather, IS a bad thing. I did not state that this would elevate the problem, but it surely won't offer a form of solution - it is as another poster said, a way for sony to line their pockets - and if it does at all, it will be a mild one not affecting anything on a grand scale...I personally as a player would HATE to play regularely on a server where these exchanges are legal, because I would be surrounded by farmers/bots ergo one could assume that alot of the good loot mobs would be perma camped (the IGE industry is not weak..there are crews working around the clock, and a term being coined is "sweat shop gamers" ..people who play the game for a small cut of the profits made for their employers). Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game - recall, that by this definitive term applied to this genre, we are to enjoy immersion in a living breathing high fantasy world with other like minded gamers...and thats why the majority of us are still here.
Sad to see Sony take something wonderful like Norrath and rip it to shreds...
"when life knocks you to your knees...well, thats the best posistion to pray in, isn't it ?"
Just my 2c to this issue.
That was SOE does is the best solution in a bad case. They probably found out that they can not stop sites like IGE with any legal means. Therefore they makes the best thing out of this bad case and opens an exchange service on their own. They can really cut down the fraudulences with their own system very well.
Yes one really concern as many people already mentioned is what happens if you buy that uber sword of instant killing for $1000 and then it get nerfed to a dull blade of rustyness? I'm sure you'll have to accept that loss! But this can happens if you buy that item from IGE also!
Generally as long this does affect only PvE server, I can respect it.
My real concern is what will happens if an Exchange service will be offered on a PvP server? Especially if the looser can be looted like in Shadowbane? If they need really to open an exchange service for such servers then they should only sell accounts and non lossable items. But I'm still against it.
Generally does all Exchange services hurting the ingame economy! Suddenly stuff can no longer be afforted by ingame stuff only because the player sold stuff is inflating to such high levels that you need 10 millions gold just to get 1 high level armor piece (assume that a mob drops about 200 to 1000 gold per kill.)
(Yes, there are some free MMOPRGs which are selling ingame money/items in some way for real money.)
Play My magic Tales
Play Rise of Immortals
Play Regno card game for free.
Premium membership available.
Not only that, it's going against Sony's EULA - seriously, you write those things pretty much as the commandments..abide by them, if you expect your playerbase to as well those agreements are as such to mantain and erect a common relationship and agreement between the consumer and the producer.
I know of at least 200 people, across several gaming forums, WTF & GU Comics, etc, that have deleted their Sony accounts..and some of those aren't just EQ2 accounts..im talking EQ and SWG as well. No doubt, Sony will begin to feel the sting of their actions in some fashion and more so as time progresses...
To me, it's not simply SOE anymore...henchforth it is SOigE
"when life knocks you to your knees...well, thats the best posistion to pray in, isn't it ?"
...Pika
From one point of view, they're just "legalising" what is already happening. It is true that it's difficult to track and ban botters or other people who violate the rules of the game and it is quite a large market. Since it is a phenomenon that cannot be effectively stopped, it makes sense to allow such transactions to take place, in a safe enviroment where the buyer can be sure there is little chance of a fraud (and, of course, SOE makes money in the process).
However, this will turn a game into an actual profession and I believe it's that point where the game stops being fun. I think that Jacobs, CEO of Mythic Entertainment, provided some interesting points, for example monopolising certain zones will increase, harassment issues will increase and generally an unhealthy competition among players will be developed.
A game's goal is to have fun. SOE's decision will make the game fail in this goal.
Currently playing:
* City of Heroes: Deggial, Assault Rifle/Devices Blaster. Server: Defiant.
* City of Villains: Snakeroot, Plant/Thorns Dominator. Server: Defiant.
If no one has noticed it's meant to be a game, NOT real life. SOE are encouraging botting and farming, and facilitating a grown industry of gaming sweatshops.
I've played and paid for Planetside and SWG and I'm an active member of of the largest EQ2 Guilds. I enjoy EQ2 very much, and I will miss it but as soon as this goes live I'll quit my account and will encourage as many guild members to do the same. I will also never buy another SOE game again. I'll will actively take my custom to other companies who take a stance against SOE.
<aref="http://www.enjin.com/"; alt="rift guild hosting"><img src="http://sigs.enjin.com/sig-rift/14060_d62c0a5a4ba0df2e.png"></a>;
Bad idea.. For those thinking of making a quick buck.. Dont forget about the chineese farmers who will undoubtly force down the prices of items. Plus the endless fights over money making spots and mobs.
Might be time to quit EQ2 when this goes live.
/agree I will never play a SOE MMO again
This is greed pure and simple, cutting 40% of calls, who believes this rubbish?!
The dollar sign is so well earnt in $OE.
Now playing: VG (after a long break from MMORPGS)
Played for more than a month: Darkfall online, Vanguard SOH, Everquest, Horizons, WoW, SWG, Everquest II, Eve
Wow, its to bad that this post asked for mature replies, and not bashing of sort. Because i was swear the lad that just bashed those that actually work and earn a living is pretty upset with what i just said in my post.
Look at it this way, i pay to play and do what i want ingame, you nor anyone else can tell me how to play my game. If it's money or gear i want, i'm going to get it one way or another, regardless of time spent ingame playing, so, if SOE wants in on the band wagon and earn some money towards the game they made, so be it and congrats to them for doing it.
Next time Tyrgris you start bashing folks, make sure your typing is a bit more readable, and your not so upset with what folks post about certain things before you go and make your own posts. They asked for mature content, not other player bashing, grow up kid and post a mature reply about the game and the idea of what SOE is doing, stop being a spoil child.
How come no one wants to discuss the underlying issue, which to me is ... people wouldn't need to buy their level/equipment advancement IF the game made that trek enjoyable in the first place. Sure there will always be those that have to have the best of everything, but if more folks enjoyed the "journey" instead of the end result, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
I played EQ1 for over 5 years and EQ2 since launch. I terminated my EQ2 account at the beginning of April because it is just no fun anymore. I think the /pizza crap was the first nail in the coffin, but there are myriad other reasons. Not to mention the already rampant botting and farming that seems to go unchecked no matter what SoE claims about cancelling accounts. I reported a list of the alphabet named farmers months ago and they never seemed to get stopped. It seems a shame that I had to battle farmers in both EL and Zek just trying to accomplish little quests. No thanks...it will only get worse from here.
As for ebay in game? No thanks...and make no mistake, if it becomes popular it WILL end up on all servers regardless of what SoE promises. It's all about the $$ afterall. If it wasn't, SoE wouldn't be doing everything they can to turn EQ2 into WoW...
Ok 2 things that i see lately regarding SOE.
1.EQ2 is going out of business once they implement these exchange servers.
2.SWG is going out of business on May 5th because of the CU.
Ok suure they are yeah thats a great assumption on 2 games that SOE spent millions on to build.SOE is just going to let these 2 games die a miserable death.
Whats really going to happen is the same thing that always happens.New games get released and players flock to them. When a expansion pack for the game they WERE playing comes out they come right back.
Personally i like smaller communities in mmo's inside large game worlds.
Im sure that SOE knew the mmo fans would be upset by this when it was announced.A lot of players will leave and a few more will stay.The only reason the other companies even said anything is because they didnt think of it 1st.Here we have a company embracing 2 concepts of gaming.On one hand letting players buy items that the company already owns and thus taking a market share away from IGE and other compnies like them.Then they have servers where this wont be implemented.
2 vastly different ways of playing eq2 so i dont really see the issue here.
Want to ENJOY an mmo?
Dont start a guild and dont be a leader or volunteer to be coleader or captain.
Just play the damn game:)
When I read this letter, first thing that came to my mind was, there will be a lot ppl flaming around, threaten to quit or whatever. Calm down guys! You do not have to care about ppl buying stuff. It's their concern whether they wanna ruin the experience of a mmorpg or even ruin their financial situation.
The market has existed for a long time and will exist in the future, no matter it is against any policies or not.
I say: Why not?! And believe me I never will buy virtual stuff for real cash and I never will play on such a server.
You all got the opportunity to stay on a normal server.
Personally I think those ppl who rail against SOE because of Station Exchange are the same who rail against EACH and EVERY patch. They always find things, of what they think it ruins the game. They always find things they think SOE or any other game developer did it wrong.
I played quite a few games and in every one of them I experienced the same thing. Patch day, you log on, ppl argue and argue and argue. Grow up and learn to take things as they are. Learn to take things easy, its just a game! And if you feel like your time is being wasted because your char was nerved or whatever... Dont play MMORPGS!
There is, and there will be no change to how it was before! Just look at IGE and tell me what's the difference.
I think SOE does a good job! You can see a real progress of the game development. They fix things, they add great stuff, they hear what ppl want. What is your problem?
This Station Exchange aint new (again look to IGE!), its just a maintained and legal way to do it. And when ppl tend to move their chars to Station Exchange enabled servers, hey thats fine by me! Then I can be a bit more certain that the guys playing with me have really earned their stuff.
My two cents.
I am greatly saddened, but not surprised by this move by SOE. Its basically a case of "if you can't beat em, join em"
I will definately be ending my EQII account and will have a really difficult problem deciding what to do with my kids' accounts as they really enjoy the game.
As many have said, the whole point of an MMORPG is to be able to strive and achieve things in a virtual world, where real life circumstances have minimal effect on what you can achieve.
My biggest fear is that, now that SOE have made this move, many other games will follow, whatever they are saying at the moment. Basically, there is a big market for this and it will earn companies significant extra revenue without much additional expenditure
By alowing IGE to post adds on www.mmorpg.com, this page already in a way "legalize" online selling of virtual items. Think about that one.
VERY good point!!! I totally agree...
Don't know if someone brought this up but if 40% fo their customer service calls are regarding fraudulent transactions and these transactions are against the EULA, shouldn't each and every one of those callers be getting suspended or banned after it is determined what the root of their complaint is?
That in my opinion would be a better way to deal with this instead of legitimizing it if their concern is simply the stress it puts on their CS team.
To Zeaus and anyone else that feels the same, it doesn't matter what game you are playing, if it's an MMO then it's an Ebay cashcow.
At least Sony is doing something about it rather than just pretending like it doesn't exist.
Mythic and others make me think of a ostrich with it's head in the sand, I guess so long as they don't want to see it then it doesn't affect their players, except it does, it's everywhere, and there is no way to stop it.
I don't argue with the morality or the reasons any of you have for opposing the sale of items and characters from these games, but it's happening, Sony is the only Ostrich of the bunch that is willing to admit that.
Great post here.
I'd just like to make another thing clear. I like many others won't be quitting because I feel this will affect me personally.
My issue is with SOE and their willingness to open a whole new can of worms that could change the whole genre for the worst, and for the sake of some quick cash.
Sadly theres plenty of people on here who think that as long as SOE make money from it it's OK.
And no, I've never complained or moaned about a patch. Until this point I've been very supportive of SOE and delighted with the regularity of fixes, patches and great content updates in EQ.
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I understand the reasoning and if the game community wants this type of service then SOE has done the right thing , by thier players. On the other hand I do not think it will help gaming what so ever. I peronaly do not like the idea of buying ingame items and currnecy with real cash.
I understand that there is a black market of these things and always will be, but that dose not mean that it is a good idea. I believe that it will give the game company too much control and influnce on the game and it's economy. Yes they have a fair amount of control now and this is yet another tool to do so.
SOE also states that they are doing this for the noble cause of customer service right after they tell you how much $$ is slipping through thier fingers. Yes they are a company and a very sucessfull one. I respect them for what they have acoomlished. I also see a company that wants to make sure if you have $$ to burn they are glad to take it no matter how it may affect the game you play.
I peronaly like the idea of just not allowing such things in the TOU and letting the company chase down bad guys. I am also interested to see what happens with this so i will stand off to the sidelines and watch. In some ways I hope it all works out for them, but I do not expect it to really benifit the vast majority of the community.
See? What keeps SOE from create super-uber-exotic armor sets/weapons that can only be bought using the exchange server? That will leave the farmers out of the market and will oblige people to pay for their in-game cloths!!!!! 200% profit if you put it in financial terms. No more farmers as a side effect. see? It is a whole new product and whole new market waiting to be explored.
IMO that's where they are aiming....but in order to implement that they need to change the "concept" and the "perception" of people towards MMOs.
They are focusing in trying to get more money instead of delivering more fun as originally intended.
What is the problem with farmers? After all they paid their game, they pay their monthly fees!!! That was all what the game designers want from people in first place, right? The problem is us, the community . We are the ones that promotes the fact of selling and buying things for real money.
Well..that is my thought on this.