The EQ2 xpac are kind of spendy ($50 or so for the standard and $70 - $80 for deluxe digital version). Purchasing those expansions should open up all the gear and drops for that expansion. Charging for additional unlocks after the xpac has been paid for is a gouge. It's why I didn't buy CoE.
Now if you don't buy the xpac and want to use the gear, then by all means, pay to have it unlocked. The problem is that EQ2 often double-dips in this way.
i hope in the future - SOE gives ftp players a reason to buy those expansions
Their problem is they have removed all incentive I have for logging back into the game with my high level character.
That isnt their problem, its yours. To appease you, they would make their freemiun plan so amazing that there is no real incentive to sub, so all the subs drop and there goes their main revenue stream.
You seem to be the type of person that cares more about the amount they pay vs what they play. In my opinion, EQ2 as a game is enormous leaps and bounds better than the very loose ftp models like AIon and TERA. GW2, on the other hand, is a very high quality game. But its shallow in the wrong parts to me. I would never think 'hey, i dont really like GW2 that much, but its free so Ill play it." Ill play the game I enjoy most and dont let something petty like 12-15 a month stop me.
very nice but gear restrictions are the most common complaint
in EQ2,
I'd like to see gear restrictions only for Fabled gear
I still just totally don't understand why you would do that. I would be a returning player, the type that SOE would like to have back because I still have like $90 worth of SC just sitting around.
I was a launch day vet on EQ2, ALL my gear is fabled. I don't even have a backup set of gear I can wear unless I sub, without buying/crafting, and it seems stupid that I would come back in F2P to be underpowered.
Restrictions, if any, should be content based. Limit the dungeons/raids I have access to, make my lockout timers longer, reduce my AA gain, etc. Just cripple my character to get me to sub and I just won't play your game any more.
Let me play, and I'll probably buy useless crap from the store, or boosts, or unlocks, etc. You'll get your $15/month from me and probably more.
I'd like to see gear restrictions only for Fabled gear
I still just totally don't understand why you would do that. I would be a returning player, the type that SOE would like to have back because I still have like $90 worth of SC just sitting around.
I was a launch day vet on EQ2, ALL my gear is fabled. I don't even have a backup set of gear I can wear unless I sub, without buying/crafting, and it seems stupid that I would come back in F2P to be underpowered.
Restrictions, if any, should be content based. Limit the dungeons/raids I have access to, make my lockout timers longer, reduce my AA gain, etc. Just cripple my character to get me to sub and I just won't play your game any more.
Let me play, and I'll probably buy useless crap from the store, or boosts, or unlocks, etc. You'll get your $15/month from me and probably more.
if all your gear is fabled - you are likely an endgame player
I agree with you that you should be able to return and wear your existing gear
when I advocated having ftp restrictions on Fabled gear
-- what I *really* meant to say was Legendary gear should be accessible to ftp players
especially when the lowest tier of gear available for the last 2 years has been legendary
alternatively: leave the gear restrictions as they are
but make ALL solo quest gear wearable -- why is all gear in DOV+ legendary or higher ?
SOE only has interest in making their older content ftp
for the last 3 expansions there have been no improvements to wear any of the gear in the newer content
I just want to know if they upgraded the character models. I havent played since they upgraded the models sometime around planes of power or something.
The sub model didnt fail them, the Devs failed and the players recognized it.. EQ was a great game until they started releaseing far too many expansions and making players get ticked because all the work they had put into getting gear was a waste of time...
Now dont get me wrong Games have to evolve or they lose thier player base.. however, World of Warcraft has had 4 expansions in a 9 year period and managed to maintain its multi million player subscription Base. Why?
Everquest did fine maintaining its sub base for the first 5 years and was the most popular Western mmo until WOW
when EQ had expansions
it wasnt gear chasing each expansion but SOE did throw too much paid content at players too soon
unlike WOW, during EQs first 5 years
- EQ did not raise the level cap every expansion
- EQ offered new content for all levels -- 1 to 60 -- in 2 expansions, Kunark and Luclin
So do you believe that EQ or EQ2 could still be sustained with its current development rate as a solely subscription model?
I'm not going to put away my umbrella today just because it was sunny during eq's first five years
People are so annoying. This is great, its more free stuff, exactly what you want. Stop expecting to be a freeloader all your life. If you don't want limits, pay up. Why does the whole world think everyone should give them everything they want for 100% free with no strings attached....That's not how life works!!! It's a lot like old shareware, play a bit of the game, if you like it pay up and enjoy everything or just buy the parts you want. Maybe I was just younger and didn't pay attention, but i feel like people didn't complain as much about shareware as they do with F2P, when essentially they are the same thing.
If I want a world in which people can purchase success and power with cash, I'll play Real Life. Keep Virtual Worlds Virtual!
The sub model didnt fail them, the Devs failed and the players recognized it.. EQ was a great game until they started releaseing far too many expansions and making players get ticked because all the work they had put into getting gear was a waste of time...
Now dont get me wrong Games have to evolve or they lose thier player base.. however, World of Warcraft has had 4 expansions in a 9 year period and managed to maintain its multi million player subscription Base. Why?
Everquest did fine maintaining its sub base for the first 5 years and was the most popular Western mmo until WOW
when EQ had expansions
it wasnt gear chasing each expansion but SOE did throw too much paid content at players too soon
unlike WOW, during EQs first 5 years
- EQ did not raise the level cap every expansion
- EQ offered new content for all levels -- 1 to 60 -- in 2 expansions, Kunark and Luclin
So do you believe that EQ or EQ2 could still be sustained with its current development rate as a solely subscription model?
I'm not going to put away my umbrella today just because it was sunny during eq's first five years
EQ, yes. It was p2p until last year, and with its age its doubtful the f2p made a significant boost.
EQ2 is trickier. the freemium model has certainly helped it at least acquire enough subs to keep the churn somewhat level (in fact I think EQ2 is one of the few games with more players now than 2 years ago, or at least close to it...but we have no real numbers for this). there is no question SoE liked the results because they rolled out the same system in VG and EQ and not the pay for content model of DCUO.
Now both games do make some decent money in their fluffshops, and i don't know if they can survive without that. I don't know how much of the money goes to SoE develpmont and to Sony itself.
The reality is the sub model didn't fail them-EQ still did well enough post WoW and EQ2 suffered from a poor product at launch, and you never want to launch the same time is the industry behemoth. The fact EQ2 was able to recover was pretty impressive. the notion of failing because of too much content is absurd.
The spell limits (at least for non raiders) can be overcome easily with a small purchase. I wish they had a similar purchase for gear, at least non raid gear.
Sony should just quit calling it Free to Play , Your Way and call it Buy to Play...
Legendary Gear is everywhere, Treasured gear is almost non existant, even in vanilla old content, I get more ornates than treasured gear and a lot of masters... Now, every company wants to make a profit but, not being able to use legendary is a huge problem for people when it seems like 90% of the gear is legendary and about 10% of drops are treasured. Back when we used to get Wooden Treasure Chests off names all the time it would have been a great idea, but this is then and that was several years ago.
Personally, from my own experience, I am finding a lot of legendary gear around forcing subscriptions on people, unless they really like just running around with Handcrafted and Adept spells, but you can still play that way, it just isn't exactly "your way".
The spell limits are not any problem imo, its just the legendary restriction, especially in Velious, where everything is Legendary forcing people to buy unlockers and then stop upgrading entirely. I've taken my character that I newly leveled with a subscription, and at level 94 with legendaries from Chains of Eternity solo zones I can play pretty well with low spell quality, a lot better than you could with Master spells and lacking equipment...
I haven't played my favorite game ever, EQII, since before it went F2P -- if it hasn't ruined the subscriber experience then I'll be elated. I will return to see.
Anyone playing for free and barely if at all supporting the game by purchasing anything at all are cry babies for griping.
I wish the pressure to make games F2P had never happened. If you can't spend $15/mo. on something that has this much maintenance in it you don't belong on anyones server.
I haven't played my favorite game ever, EQII, since before it went F2P -- if it hasn't ruined the subscriber experience then I'll be elated. I will return to see.
Anyone playing for free and barely if at all supporting the game by purchasing anything at all are cry babies for griping.
I wish the pressure to make games F2P had never happened. If you can't spend $15/mo. on something that has this much maintenance in it you don't belong on anyones server.
Everquest rules.
these are two types of gamers. The freebies and the subscribers. Now, What about the people stuck in the middle like me who dont like to commit to a subscription but are more than happy to give constant support through cash shop every time they add new stuff? It doesnt matter how much we spend in the cash shop we still lose because we cant wear competitive gear or get high level skills. That is the only reason why i dont play EQ2 and Swtor anymore. Supporting the game you like is always good, as long as you are not left out in the wild just because you arent subscribing. I dont play the games that treat non-subscribers like trash even if they constantly use the cash shop to support the game.
Comments
i hope in the future - SOE gives ftp players a reason to buy those expansions
at least make the quest gear wearable
EQ2 fan sites
That isnt their problem, its yours. To appease you, they would make their freemiun plan so amazing that there is no real incentive to sub, so all the subs drop and there goes their main revenue stream.
You seem to be the type of person that cares more about the amount they pay vs what they play. In my opinion, EQ2 as a game is enormous leaps and bounds better than the very loose ftp models like AIon and TERA. GW2, on the other hand, is a very high quality game. But its shallow in the wrong parts to me. I would never think 'hey, i dont really like GW2 that much, but its free so Ill play it." Ill play the game I enjoy most and dont let something petty like 12-15 a month stop me.
I still just totally don't understand why you would do that. I would be a returning player, the type that SOE would like to have back because I still have like $90 worth of SC just sitting around.
I was a launch day vet on EQ2, ALL my gear is fabled. I don't even have a backup set of gear I can wear unless I sub, without buying/crafting, and it seems stupid that I would come back in F2P to be underpowered.
Restrictions, if any, should be content based. Limit the dungeons/raids I have access to, make my lockout timers longer, reduce my AA gain, etc. Just cripple my character to get me to sub and I just won't play your game any more.
Let me play, and I'll probably buy useless crap from the store, or boosts, or unlocks, etc. You'll get your $15/month from me and probably more.
if all your gear is fabled - you are likely an endgame player
I agree with you that you should be able to return and wear your existing gear
when I advocated having ftp restrictions on Fabled gear
-- what I *really* meant to say was Legendary gear should be accessible to ftp players
especially when the lowest tier of gear available for the last 2 years has been legendary
alternatively: leave the gear restrictions as they are
but make ALL solo quest gear wearable -- why is all gear in DOV+ legendary or higher ?
SOE only has interest in making their older content ftp
for the last 3 expansions there have been no improvements to wear any of the gear in the newer content
EQ2 fan sites
So do you believe that EQ or EQ2 could still be sustained with its current development rate as a solely subscription model?
I'm not going to put away my umbrella today just because it was sunny during eq's first five years
I really have no idea regarding subs post WOW (circa Fall 2004)
when WOW launched, the entire mmo landscape changed for *all* other mmos w subs
Even Lineage, the worlds largest sub game suffered and lost subs
EQ2 fan sites
To everyone complaining about gear restrictions:
If you're at a point in the game where those restrictions are impacting you, then maybe you just need to subscribe already.
You make me like charity
If I want a world in which people can purchase success and power with cash, I'll play Real Life. Keep Virtual Worlds Virtual!
EQ, yes. It was p2p until last year, and with its age its doubtful the f2p made a significant boost.
EQ2 is trickier. the freemium model has certainly helped it at least acquire enough subs to keep the churn somewhat level (in fact I think EQ2 is one of the few games with more players now than 2 years ago, or at least close to it...but we have no real numbers for this). there is no question SoE liked the results because they rolled out the same system in VG and EQ and not the pay for content model of DCUO.
Now both games do make some decent money in their fluffshops, and i don't know if they can survive without that. I don't know how much of the money goes to SoE develpmont and to Sony itself.
The reality is the sub model didn't fail them-EQ still did well enough post WoW and EQ2 suffered from a poor product at launch, and you never want to launch the same time is the industry behemoth. The fact EQ2 was able to recover was pretty impressive. the notion of failing because of too much content is absurd.
Sony should just quit calling it Free to Play , Your Way and call it Buy to Play...
Legendary Gear is everywhere, Treasured gear is almost non existant, even in vanilla old content, I get more ornates than treasured gear and a lot of masters... Now, every company wants to make a profit but, not being able to use legendary is a huge problem for people when it seems like 90% of the gear is legendary and about 10% of drops are treasured. Back when we used to get Wooden Treasure Chests off names all the time it would have been a great idea, but this is then and that was several years ago.
Personally, from my own experience, I am finding a lot of legendary gear around forcing subscriptions on people, unless they really like just running around with Handcrafted and Adept spells, but you can still play that way, it just isn't exactly "your way".
The spell limits are not any problem imo, its just the legendary restriction, especially in Velious, where everything is Legendary forcing people to buy unlockers and then stop upgrading entirely. I've taken my character that I newly leveled with a subscription, and at level 94 with legendaries from Chains of Eternity solo zones I can play pretty well with low spell quality, a lot better than you could with Master spells and lacking equipment...
I haven't played my favorite game ever, EQII, since before it went F2P -- if it hasn't ruined the subscriber experience then I'll be elated. I will return to see.
Anyone playing for free and barely if at all supporting the game by purchasing anything at all are cry babies for griping.
I wish the pressure to make games F2P had never happened. If you can't spend $15/mo. on something that has this much maintenance in it you don't belong on anyones server.
Everquest rules.
these are two types of gamers. The freebies and the subscribers. Now, What about the people stuck in the middle like me who dont like to commit to a subscription but are more than happy to give constant support through cash shop every time they add new stuff? It doesnt matter how much we spend in the cash shop we still lose because we cant wear competitive gear or get high level skills. That is the only reason why i dont play EQ2 and Swtor anymore. Supporting the game you like is always good, as long as you are not left out in the wild just because you arent subscribing. I dont play the games that treat non-subscribers like trash even if they constantly use the cash shop to support the game.
Hmmm, think i'll log into EQ and give my Wixzard and Beastlord a whirl.