EverQuest 2 Going Free-To-Play in Early December

[exfileme]

SOE is merging EverQuest 2 and EverQuest 2 Extended, creating one free-to-play service with optional subscription and free software.

EverQuest 2 Going Free-To-Play in Early December : Read more

 

[pocketdrummer]

Ahem... Pay-To-Win is the correct phrase for this.

 

[Marcus52]

I was thinking about restarting my sub to Everquest II, but this knocks the head off that idea.

If you don't understand why I won't play F2P games or on servers with F2P players, then check out the discussions on MMORPG.com. Basically, I don't want to play with more losers than there already are who think "Free to Play" means free. It clearly doesn't, because companies make MORE money off the F2P model than they do subscriptions! MMOGs are becoming less about skilled gaming and more about buying your way to the top with real cash.

I don't blame SOE for having F2P servers, but I do blame them for having badly managed player bases on the servers they have and mixing F2P players with subscription players. The RP servers on EQII are a joke, no better than WoW's regular servers. I remember when you couldn't have names in Everquest that broke the spirit of the game, period. Now, variations of "Ipwnnoobs" is common in these games.

It's a sad day for MMORPGs.

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]Pocketdrummer[/nom]Ahem... Pay-To-Win is the correct phrase for this.[/citation]

um, this isnt a pay to win, honestly its a 5$ to get most of the games content, and a monthly fee for full game.

if you dont know what this means, non raid casual get to play the game for free, and boost server size, and can be usefull party members, silver... if you get to level 90 and arent silver yet... you suck. and silver is really all you need.

but gold that would be for the hard core raiders

i dont know if you ever played everquest 1, but it would be like this, free group play, upgraded group play for 5$, full raid play for monthly.

you arent paying to win, but you are paying when you really get into the game, not from day 1 when you are a nube killing rats, but when you can start killing dragons and such.

 

[NuclearShadow]

I am honestly surprised it took this long. Remember when both EQ II and WoW were brand new? Heck they even released the same month. It was even clear during the betas of both games that EQ II wouldn't beat WoW. I'm not a fan of either game but have played both and can only imagine how low the player base must be in EQ II now.

I believe F2P games are soon going to run into the same problem as the pay to play that simply could not survive. Money is not the only factor that keeps people away from MMORPGs or makes one choose one over another. Time is a huge factor, and with so many F2P a gamer simply cannot play them all. The more appealing ones are going to take away from the less appealing to the wider audiences. F2P will soon not be a way to keep a MMORPG up and running but rather will be a desperate last effort in survival.

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]Marcus52[/nom]I was thinking about restarting my sub to Everquest II, but this knocks the head off that idea.If you don't understand why I won't play F2P games or on servers with F2P players, then check out the discussions on MMORPG.com. Basically, I don't want to play with more losers than there already are who think "Free to Play" means free. It clearly doesn't, because companies make MORE money off the F2P model than they do subscriptions! MMOGs are becoming less about skilled gaming and more about buying your way to the top with real cash.I don't blame SOE for having F2P servers, but I do blame them for having badly managed player bases on the servers they have and mixing F2P players with subscription players. The RP servers on EQII are a joke, no better than WoW's regular servers. I remember when you couldn't have names in Everquest that broke the spirit of the game, period. Now, variations of "Ipwnnoobs" is common in these games.It's a sad day for MMORPGs.[/citation]

i got into everquest year 1, shortly after launch, to get a name approved, took a long time, and people got banned due to bad names. hated that so much... did gms approve names back than? either way, i mispelt the name i wanted so badly that i came up with alidan, a human monk on the nameless server, and the name has suck with me ever sense than.

i like being able to pronounce names, so if it prevented me from sight reading it, and saying it i say good riddens.

all that said, its kind of a gauge on how much you want to group with people to... like if they name themselves "spawn killer" odds are, they have a bad rep.

 

[cronik93]

Ugh, they might as well make every other game Free-to-play now...

 

[spookyman]

So when are they going to pull the plug on EQ?

 

[hythos]

A few years ago, I was interested in what the Lego MMO could offer. I've had numerous real-life events to keep me busy, and was only reminded about the Lego MMO when I saw the "is closing" memo... SO, I loaded that up, clicked on stuff for a couple hours, and while I could see that it could be limitted, up to the point I had played, it was interesting, and I had a lil bit of fun.

When EQ2 was released, I was deep in SWG, and was far burnt out on EQ... BUT, the things I remember most about any MMO - was the "newness" of not being able to steam-roll everything on my own. The challenge. Naturally, that appeal doesn't last very long, but I now knowing that EQ2 is "free", I may consider taking a look at it before The Old Republic kicks off in 2 weeks.

And, in my opinion, Pay2Win only applies when there's some reason to compete for - IE, PVP. Any promise of prizes won through "Cyber Sport" of a game isn't worth the time investment compared to my employment. So, aside of better gear providing a clear advantage to gain loot and dominate in competition - I could care less if anyone has better stuff than I, regardless of how they had obtained it. Heck, even then, I don't care how someone else obtained gear, provided that the difference between P2P and a subscription doesn't mean completing the same dungeon and receiving different rewards...

 

[Raidur]

Project 1999 FTW! EQ lives in it's veterans!