HAVE YOU SEEN THIS YET!! -- A Message from John Smedley --

[toiletpunks]

I was surfing the eqlive website. I was just checking to see if anythign new was happining at sony. And also to read up on the future patches they are working on. And I wound up finding this. So I thought I would post it so everyone could see it.

A Message from John Smedley
With EverQuest II coming, what will happen to EverQuest? John Smedley puts fears to rest--it's full steam ahead for EQ--and reveals how you can play all SOE published games for one affordable price.

----- Start of Message -----

Future Plans

A Message from the President

Greetings Norrathians,

Over the course of the next week you will be hearing a lot from SOE about EverQuest II. It's coming along extremely well, and it's something that we as a company are very proud of. We hope that when it is released you'll feel it lives up to its distinguished heritage.

All the talk about EQ II will lead many of you to ask the logical question:

What about EverQuest?

The simple answer is this: We are going to continue to support EverQuest. As a matter of fact, we have two new expansions in the works. The first one's coming this Fall, and its focus is on dungeons! Many members of the EQ team are already hard at work on it. We've increased the size of the EverQuest team to add more amazing things to the game, to further expand places you've explored before and to continue to update the game on a constant basis. Our goal is to make sure EverQuest remains a dynamic game that continues to grow for years to come. We recognize that you've spent a lot of time in EQ over the years--so have we. Making this world exciting for you is our passion.

We are also working hard on making EverQuest a better experience. One of the ways we're doing this is by improving the way we communicate with you. From this point on you will see a constantly updated Web page that shows what we're working on for the next patch, and what's down the road a little further. This can be found at http://eqlive.station.sony.com/updates/

Above all else, we want you to know that our commitment to this game is very real.

The goal behind EverQuest II is not to replace EverQuest, but to offer a new experience with new ways to play.

I've had the privilege over the past few years to see how the EQ and EQ II design teams have worked together to make sure EQ II has the heart and soul of EverQuest, but is still different enough to attract new people to the MMORPG genre, and even bring back some players that have moved on to other things. We think that many of you are as excited about EQ II as we are. If we do our jobs right, you'll feel like EQ II is a remarkable gaming experience that you'll want to play for many years to come, and that it's not just "EQ with a new graphics engine." The designers have found some great ways to link the two games and to make the games actually affect each other. You'll hear more about this in the very near future.

So, would you rather play in EverQuest II's Age of Destiny? Or does EverQuest's Age of Turmoil still have plenty of exciting things you want to do? Our goal is to make that decision simple! Having spent so much time in EverQuest, you might feel torn between which game you want to play more. We realize that many of you will want to play both EQ and EQII, so we're introducing the SOE All Access

[Trumpcard]

Very smart move on there part.. I'm amazed they can offer all that access for 21.99. I guess the idea is while you are playing one, you wont be playing another. I'd be surprised if they didnt set it up so that the account can only be logged into one game at a time, which is the way it should be if you ask me.

Of course, I'm sure 50% of the people will start whining that they should get EQ2 and OA for free because they've been playing EQ for so many years, and they deserve more than anyone else because the poor things have sacrificed SO MUCH time of their lives....

And of course, 20$ a month is so expensive.. I love listening to people whining about how expensive EQ is when they walk home on Friday with 3 new cd's and 2 new DVD's that they never end up watching or listening to...

[a_Guest03]

When you consider the alternatives to EQ, it is pricey in the sense that I could have another phone line for $21.99/mo, but I can't have a nice dinner with my girlfriend for $21.99. For lower income brackets, EQ IS expensive, only because the amount of money in the pocket of a low-income person is lower than someone marginally better paid. I'm not rich, but I can live within my means and have a nice time at $25,000/yr. But can I afford to do 40 hours a week of work and 20 hours of EQ? Not if I want to keep my girlfriend happy or my education moving.

EQ is only expensive if you look at it as something less than a luxury. ALL luxuries are meant to be a little expensive, because they are unnecessary. Have you ever priced a diamond ring? Why the hell do they cost $1000?! It's not like the metals or the diamond cost more than $200 combined for the jeweller. It's a luxury, so markup is huge.

Bills: Water - (my half) $4/mo, Electricity - (my half) $45-$55/mo, insurances required by law - (was $90) $68/mo, cable bill (internet and TV) - (my half) $30/mo, cell phone $30/mo, home phone (my half) $15/mo, Sewage (my half) $6/mo, college parking $8/mo, RENT (my half) $287.50/mo.

Monthly expected expenses:
~$500/mo

Gasoline (approx. $50/mo) and car repairs (common purchases) not included. Education also not included (paying cash for community college) at approximately $700-1000/quarter for 4 quarters per year ($3600/yr or $300/mo.).

Luxury: Sony/EQ $21.99/mo.

Everquest looks like a bill!! $21.99/mo... against an already large guaranteed expense of $500/mo, it looks tiny! But out of my list, it's the third cheapest. You may pay $264/yr for the game, but how much did you pay for other luxury entertainment while you were playing EQ? If you're hooked, your entertainment bills probably went down, and your consumption of sodas and the like probably went up. So remove your expected expenses of maybe $100 to $500 of entertainment that you might have skipped out on during the year, and where are you?

Odds are, by the end of the year, you're not much farther from where you would have been without the game (except that you spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer). Did you have fun? Probably a good deal of it. Did you not have fun too? Yeah, otherwise you probably wouldn't be reading this.

I'd be happier if I could get my tank filled in the car less than once a week or for less than $18/tank. EQ would look like a gift from BP.

[Trumpcard]

Thats the way I look at it. I figure everyone has an entertainment expense, and I compare the amount of time spent doing something versus price. So , lets say you are a casual EQ gamer and you play 10 hours per week, thats 40 hours monthly. So, the cost per hour of EQ is 22/40, or around 50 cents an hour.

Now, lets compare a movie. Student rate ticket, and a drink. (6.00 ticket, 3$ drink, or 9 dollars.)

As a movie lasts around 2 hours, 9/2, = 4.50$ per hour.

So, on a comparison basis, eq is 9 times cheaper than a movie entertainment wise.

Also, looking at your list, you list 30$ on a cell phone. A cell phone is a luxury, not a staple, unless it is a business requirement..

I don't consider eq to be expensive by any stretch of the imagination, I think its about the cheapest entertainment you can come up with. The electrity required to run the computer is probably more expensive than the game itself, the biggest expense of it IMHO is in time, not money.

[a_Guest03]

Cell phone is a requirement, but home phone really isn't... I'm only at home for about 2 or 3 hours every day. Without a cell phone, I may as well not have a phone; nobody wants to call me an hour before I go to sleep, especially college professors, boss, family. I spend more time in the car every day than I do at home (not counting sleep). My roommate needs the home phone, and I use it when I'm home - I only pay half of that. Home phone is the luxury for me.

[Trumpcard]

Same here.. the only calls I get on my home phone are telemarketers (bastards!).

Im going to cut my home phone off eventually, its about useless with a decent cell phone plan anyways...

[a_Guest03]

I have unlimited incoming and local outgoing. It costs the same as home phone service. Too bad the carrier is filing for bankruptcy :(

I didn't have home phone before my roommate moved in. It was entirely useless. But sometimes it's nice to have a backup when I forget to charge the battery in my cell phone.

[a_Guest03]

Hell, talking about replacements - how much is a PS2, Gamecube, a DVD, a CD, a game... About $60/game? That's THREE MONTHs you need to get of enjoyment out of those. About $20/DVD, about $18/CD, about $150/console... How many months are they counting on? Granted, owning something allows you to forget it and enjoy it again later, but do we not already spend hundreds of dollars a year? It's about choices and which entertainment we will use. Personally, I find the video games a little antisocial (even the semisocial world of EQ!), and have had a great time going out places with people ever since I started doing that more often.

I guess I didn't know what I was missing, or I was too comfortable with what I knew.

[BLOOD_kane]

being I play EQ and EQOA and am going to play EQII, this is a deal from heaven. I already pay 24$ a month on just EQ and EQOA alone....but having 4 games for just one payment of 22$ a month? thats pie

[Windcatcher]

Why is a cell phone a requirement? I keep hearing that you can't live without one, but so far I've been able to live without one just fine. There are times when I *want* to be unreachable (especially when I'm driving. I listen to music when I drive, and that's *my* time).

I have a friend who has a cellphone. His wife calls him, *no lie*, every 20 to 30 minutes. When it's not her, it's his folks. It drives him absolutely insane.

"Just tell him to put his foot down!" you say.

We *all* know who's the real boss though, don't we? If she wants to call him she's going to call him; all he can do is complain after the fact. Another friend's wife wanted to get a cellphone "so she could check up on him". Now *he* put his foot down and said "no freaking way." They are still sans cellphone.

Now of course I have the benefit of still being single so that isn't an issue, but I still don't quite understand why a cellphone is a necessity and not a luxury...

[a_Guest03]

Cellphone service $30.00
Homephone service $30.00

I am available by cell phone 7 days a week, average of 8 hours per day.

I am available by home phone 7 days a week, average of 3 hours per day (heavily weighted by weekend time).

Because I work and go to school and have a girlfriend, I need to be able to be contacted. At work, I answer the phone for a living. I cannot receive calls at work on my work phone. I often leave my house at 7:30 AM and return at 11PM or 1AM. What is the purpose of having a home phone that can ring while I'm asleep!? My school counselors must be able to contact me. My dentist must be able to contact me. I don't get junk calls, and I put my foot down when my girlfriend calls and I simply cannot be bothered. I just hang up and put the phone on quiet. If she MUST reach me, she can call a few times.

Home phone is a luxury in this case. It has less ROI.

[runya]

hmm, when you put it into perspective, at $21 a month, adding the fact that you are paying for a game that isnt that fun anyways, and the time you put into is keeping you from doing anything productive, i'd say their screwing you out of $21 that can be used for explosives and lube. also, id have to agree that in ones early life, home phones are pretty much useless, as your still talking to the people you know back in your home town often and cell phones dont charge extra for long distance.

[Trumpcard]

well, it must be fun for alot of people, or so many people wouldnt be paying for it....

As far as keeping them from doing something productive, I'm sure all of them would be hard at work trying to win the nobel prize if it werent for the evil of everquest...
If they werent playing everquest, they'd be doing something equally as unproductive im sure

[runya]

true, most of us are just cogs in the wheel. but still, if i had the means, i would be doing much more than playing a game. possibly making one, or altering one.

[a_Guest03]

I know I'd be pissing my life away somewhere else... I just am lazy sometimes, and whether I'm gaming and happy or trying to get work done and standing to stretch and spending the day outside with dogs, or going to my girlfriend's house, I wouldn't be doing what I'm supposed to be doing.