EQ Goes Free to Play

[blackdragonsdg]

Not a big surprise EQ live has been getting progressively worse for years now. Free to play is just another way to hopefully make a quick buck or two before they pull the plug.

[Taurinus2]

I believe it to be not about it "getting worse" but about SOE gravitating toward a micro-transaction model.

There is one small, yet tingling implication that comes with this. I believe that Sony in the past did not pursue the emulation community because they felt that unless an emu server was charging a subscription to play, then they would not have an easy win, simply because of the difficulty in proving financial damages (their business model and resulting income were simply at odds with this). Now with their micro-transactions aligning with donations* (on the emu side of things), it would be a lot easier to convince a court of this.

Doom-saying? Nah not really. I think it is something to keep in mind, though.

*Donations here refering to quid pro quo transactions in which players get in-game items on specific servers. Not donations given to the development team.

[FirestormXL]

Originally Posted by Taurinus2

I believe it to be not about it "getting worse" but about SOE gravitating toward a micro-transaction model.

There is one small, yet tingling implication that comes with this. I believe that Sony in the past did not pursue the emulation community because they felt that unless an emu server was charging a subscription to play, then they would not have an easy win, simply because of the difficulty in proving financial damages (their business model and resulting income were simply at odds with this). Now with their micro-transactions aligning with donations* (on the emu side of things), it would be a lot easier to convince a court of this.

Doom-saying? Nah not really. I think it is something to keep in mind, though.

*Donations here refering to quid pro quo transactions in which players get in-game items on specific servers. Not donations given to the development team.

Haha, your right. However it is a shit model. How are you going to lure old players back with promises of gold and AA caps, as well as caps on ability ranks like in EQ2... it's foolish and asinine of them. You would be better off opening a store for cosmetic items and just let people play the FULL game.

[Soulcold]

Originally Posted by blackdragonsdg

Not a big surprise EQ live has been getting progressively worse for years now. Free to play is just another way to hopefully make a quick buck or two before they pull the plug.

I guarantee the population will skyrocket back up, because a lot of the old time players will be checking the game out again. It may fall back down, but it certainly won't be one big ghost town anymore... might even see some new raiding guilds rise up to beat RoI :P

[Dinggo]

Originally Posted by blackdragonsdg

Not a big surprise EQ live has been getting progressively worse for years now. Free to play is just another way to hopefully make a quick buck or two before they pull the plug.

EQ1 is and was never in danger of being closed down, even if they did not do this it would still be around 10 years from now, you can bet on that just like you could bet on death and taxes.

All this does is bring it in line with the way SOE bills games from now on, so they dont need to keep two systems for accounting purposes. I strongly doubt SOE will ever introduce a new game that is soley subscription based, I assure you Planetside 2 will also be the same new F2P model, as will any other game SOe creates from here on out.


The real Irony here is the only people that MIGHT be hurt by this is the EMU servers. There will be a population dip when this first comes out, it is almost assured, the real trick is will that population come back after a month or two.

[Lillu]

Originally Posted by Dinggo

EQ1 is and was never in danger of being closed down, even if they did not do this it would still be around 10 years from now, you can bet on that just like you could bet on death and taxes.

All this does is bring it in line with the way SOE bills games from now on, so they dont need to keep two systems for accounting purposes. I strongly doubt SOE will ever introduce a new game that is soley subscription based, I assure you Planetside 2 will also be the same new F2P model, as will any other game SOe creates from here on out.


The real Irony here is the only people that MIGHT be hurt by this is the EMU servers. There will be a population dip when this first comes out, it is almost assured, the real trick is will that population come back after a month or two.

I completely disagree.

Other than death and taxes, nothing is sure in life, period.

None will change game billing because of an accounting system, lol. They do it because that's their only chance to keep EQ1 alive (at least to try it), just like other MMOs who lose player base and interest day after day.

I highly doubt many would go back from EQEMU to live EQ. EQEMU is EverQuest on crack, it's nostalgia, it's custom, it's versatile, it's basically endless fun, evolving day after day. We have an awesome community here.
If you want to play EQ live, get 95 levels, grind 7000+ AAs, do endless timesink progression quests, etc, you still need a subscription and have to pay just like before. Nothing really changed there.

Actually, I don't think many players pick EQEMU over Live EQ because it's free.. imo it's simply more fun. This is why I stuck here many moons ago.. and fyi I have 3 active EQ live subscriptions atm. I got bored of VoA during the beta period.. :P

That's my 2cp anyway.

[Taurinus2]

I suppose it comes down to this question:

Is the game a testament to the community or is the community a testament to the game? Sony is betting on the latter.

[Banderas]

Originally Posted by Lillu

I completely disagree.

Other than death and taxes, nothing is sure in life, period.

None will change game billing because of an accounting system, lol. They do it because that's their only chance to keep EQ1 alive (at least to try it), just like other MMOs who lose player base and interest day after day.

I highly doubt many would go back from EQEMU to live EQ. EQEMU is EverQuest on crack, it's nostalgia, it's custom, it's versatile, it's basically endless fun, evolving day after day. We have an awesome community here.
If you want to play EQ live, get 95 levels, grind 7000+ AAs, do endless timesink progression quests, etc, you still need a subscription and have to pay just like before. Nothing really changed there.

Actually, I don't think many players pick EQEMU over Live EQ because it's free.. imo it's simply more fun. This is why I stuck here many moons ago.. and fyi I have 3 active EQ live subscriptions atm. I got bored of VoA during the beta period.. :P

That's my 2cp anyway.

Agreed. I am sure the reason SOE changed the EQ1 model (as well as EQ2) is because they are losing subscriptions (look at LOTR, D&D, DC Universe, etc etc etc). I don't see WoW going to a free-play model?

I predict that if anything, MORE players will come from EQ1 to EQEMU than leave EQMEU to EQ1. I have many friends and none of them want to go back to EQ-Watered-Down (tm).

EQEMU is where is at. Custom content, no grinding, fast and fun. BLEEP EQLive.