Everquest II going free to play

[Timman_24]

It looks like they are really putting up some barriers in the game. Class and races have to be unlocked by purchasing access to them. You only get 4 races to choose from of the 12+ that are currently available. Also, they restrict what level armor you can equip to lower tiers. You can not send mail and the auction house is restricted.

Seems cool if someone is looking for a casual experience, but without higher tier gear the end game is off limits to only subscribers.

http://everquest2.com/_themes/defaul...shipMatrix.jpg

[[PinPals]Apu]

Its pretty much what Turbine has done with DDO and LoTRO. SOE is taking a different approach and is keeping the freebie game and the payed games separate.

I kinda like the approach theyre taking with the Silver membership, where you pay a one time fee of a few bucks and get an enhanced version without having to pay a monthly fee.

[posthumous_GRIN]

Sucks the high level zones aren't free too. I don't really see these changes bringing in many new people but I can imagine high level people rerolling on the free server.

[ImaNihilist]

MMOs are getting worse and worse. Back in the original UO, EQ, AC, and DAoC days it was about making a game that people would want to play for YEARS. They probably expected 2-3 years of revenue for each player. It was a great model, and in a less crowded space it worked really well.

Now it's a cluster ****. Everything is about expansion packs and paid items. What's the point? You can essentially just buy characters. You don't even need to play the game anymore.

[Colossus]

Yes but the free version sucks...

Limited spells to Adept, limited gold, etc...

[Timman_24]

MMOs are getting worse and worse. Back in the original UO, EQ, AC, and DAoC days it was about making a game that people would want to play for YEARS. They probably expected 2-3 years of revenue for each player. It was a great model, and in a less crowded space it worked really well.

Now it's a cluster ****. Everything is about expansion packs and paid items. What's the point? You can essentially just buy characters. You don't even need to play the game anymore.

I agree. They want to get you hooked for just a short period of time and then get the most amount of money possible out of you during that time. There is no sense of the long haul anymore. I played EQII for a month and was level 49 (of course Wurm PLed me, but still lol.) I remember playing EQ1 for a years and not being that high. Wow is the same way about leveling. Leveling is more like an initiation into the "real game" (end game) instead of the meat of the game. What happened to the journey being the fun part instead of the final destination?

[ImaNihilist]

I agree. They want to get you hooked for just a short period of time and then get the most amount of money possible out of you during that time. There is no sense of the long haul anymore. I played EQII for a month and was level 49 (of course Wurm PLed me, but still lol.) I remember playing EQ1 for a years and not being that high. Wow is the same way about leveling. Leveling is more like an initiation into the "real game" (end game) instead of the meat of the game. What happened to the journey being the fun part instead of the final destination?

In UO, EQ, and AC one of the key aspects was that it took forever to reach end level. It took a YEAR of dedicated play to hit 50 in EQ. UO was pretty similar for certain skills, like 100 Magic Resist.

It was fun because it was challenging, and it was challenging because there were so many players at so many different levels. You can level from 1-80 in WoW in the time it took to go from like 1-20 in EQ. What's the point? They might as well just start everyone at level 80.

[Nabby]

I think people are failing to see that the genre and consumer has completely changed. It's all about instant gratification. There is no long haul anymore. I tried EQ2 for a few weeks but got bored fairly quickly. I played EQ for a few years as well but after my friends stopped playing it got boring. I moved to wow but after I reached endgame and realized there was a lack of it so I stopped playing, this was all pre-expansions. WOW went the opposite way with this and now it's all end game content with little to nothing in between.

[ImaNihilist]

I really just want Blizzard to create a hardcore server with real PvP and an exponentially difficult leveling curve. Perhaps with the MaNGOS Project that will one day be possible.

[Wurm]

The whole *cough* "Free" *cough* version sucks balls, to have what I get with my monthly fee you end up paying more.

I'm going to keep playing normal EQ2 until I stop having fun. Until then I'm not going to really care about the new FTP BS at all.

[taggart6]

In UO, EQ, and AC one of the key aspects was that it took forever to reach end level. It took a YEAR of dedicated play to hit 50 in EQ. UO was pretty similar for certain skills, like 100 Magic Resist.

It was fun because it was challenging, and it was challenging because there were so many players at so many different levels. You can level from 1-80 in WoW in the time it took to go from like 1-20 in EQ. What's the point? They might as well just start everyone at level 80.

What are your thoughts regarding skill based MMO's that no longer place an emphasis on leveling. Such examples are EVE online and the upcoming The Secret World.

Although this mechanic can stil be gimped and abused, I would hope that an emphasis on skills would actually force a person to take their time developing it.

[ImaNihilist]

What are your thoughts regarding skill based MMO's that no longer place an emphasis on leveling. Such examples are EVE online and the upcoming The Secret World.

Although this mechanic can stil be gimped and abused, I would hope that an emphasis on skills would actually force a person to take their time developing it.

That's how UO was. But the same thing applies. You have to make skills progress slowly.

[Adisharr]

In UO, EQ, and AC one of the key aspects was that it took forever to reach end level. It took a YEAR of dedicated play to hit 50 in EQ. UO was pretty similar for certain skills, like 100 Magic Resist.

It was fun because it was challenging, and it was challenging because there were so many players at so many different levels. You can level from 1-80 in WoW in the time it took to go from like 1-20 in EQ. What's the point? They might as well just start everyone at level 80.

I started EQ1 when it first came out and remember looking in awe at the level 40 guys running around thinking about how much time that took them to get there. That game was a lot of fun and always challenging- especially the death experience reduction where you could actually go back down levels :-P

For all the same reasons you mentioned, a lot of today's MMO's suck. Where's the fun in leveling? Everything is a race to get to the RAID level.

I also liked DAoC a lot. I tried to play that about a year or two ago with my cousin but he couldn't get it to run on is machine for some reason.

[md1198p]

I hate the face that most MMO's have very little penalty for dieing. Takes a lot of excitement out of the games for me. Especially in PvP. I had an argument with someone on here about it a while back.

[johnny.dacu]

I played Wow (a paid MOO) and a free one. The differences are huge. we shall give some credit to their work and... if their revenue is bigger then a game will be more fun. The MMO market is very big, and there is room for everybody (players and games). Every one can find the perfect MOO